The city of Sacramento, California, known as the City of Trees, is nearing the finish line on a heavily debated ordinance to create new regulations for the management of trees.
"In the City of Trees, a new ordinance might put more bite in protecting our bark," reports the clever opening of an article by Anita Chabria and Adam Ashton.
The Sacramento City Council recently approved a controversial ordinance that would establish new regulations for "safeguarding, maintaining and removing trees on both public and private land."
"Backers of the new ordinance say it will add protections for about 25,000 trees now excluded from city purview and create a long-term plan for preserving the leafy canopy of 100,000 trees viewed as a defining characteristic of the city," according to Chabria and Ashton.
The ordinance has its opponents, however, and the city had yet to achieve a consensus on the ordinance, days ahead of an expected vote by the City Council. Critics of the plan say it doesn’t go far enough to protect the city's trees.
Among many details reported in the article, Chabria and Ashton note that "the ordinance calls for the city to create a tree master plan to address policy issues such as canopy protections and ways to diversify tree species with ones more suited to the environment." A separate article by Cathy Locke reported the results of the City Council's vote.
Hat tip to Jen Kinney for sharing the news of Sacramento's tree ordinance.
FULL STORY: New tree ordinance could give Sacramento’s urban forest closer scrutiny
The Problem with Tree Planting Programs
Ambitious campaigns to plant trees in urban areas often don't take into account the complexities of growing and maintaining effective urban forests.
Hug a Tree. Protect a Forest.
Communities have good reasons to protect trees and forests. Planners can help make this happen.
A New Study Asserts the Importance of Urban Trees in Conservation Efforts
Data collected from 13 million tree planting records in 473 urban areas across 73 countries provides insight into the role of urban trees in biodiversity conservation.
Planning for Congestion Relief
The third and final installment of Planetizen's examination of the role of the planning profession in both perpetuating and solving traffic congestion.
Minneapolis Housing Plan a Success—Not for the Reason You Think
Housing advocates praise the city’s move to eliminate single-family zoning by legalizing triplexes on single-family lots, but that isn’t why housing construction is growing.
Car Noise Is Killing Us
It’s not just traffic collisions that kill—a new study from researcher at Rutgers finds that the loud noises emanating from cars has direct impact on heart health in Americans.
Parks as a Weapon Against Climate Change
The 2022 ParkScore finds that cities are increasingly employing green space as a tool for mitigating heat and extreme weather effects, but the distribution of parks remains inequitable.
Louisiana Capital Shifting to Electric Transit
The Baton Rouge area is now served by a fleet of nine all-electric buses.
New Community Engagement Practices for Seattle’s Comprehensive Plan Update
A major update of Seattle’s comprehensive plan is just getting under way, with new opportunities for local groups to get involved with outreach and engagement.
City of Malibu
EMC Planning Group Inc.
Jefferson Parish
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Harvard GSD Executive Education
City of Rohnert Park
City of Hot Springs
City of Lakeway, Texas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Hand Drawing Master Plans
This course aims to provide an introduction into Urban Design Sketching focused on how to hand draw master plans using a mix of colored markers.
