Having learned from a pair of recent controversies, the city of Atlanta is ready to study and draft a new tree ordinance.
"Plans for a new [Atlanta] tree ordinance are in the works in order to address problems with the current ordinance and make it easier to understand," reports Evelyn Andrews.
According to Department of City Planning Commissioner Tim Keane, quoted in the article, the new tree ordinance will "determine how to protect old-growth forest and tree canopy." The department "has put together a team of consultants and is working on funding for a 12-month study on what the new ordinance should encompass." The study will pick up where a 2014 effort to rewrite the ordinance, scrapped over concerns about a lack of public input, left off.
The new tree ordinance gained new relevance after the city allowed trees in Peachtree Hills Park to be cut down for the sake of a pipe requested by a developer. According to Keane, the current system allows developers, construction companies, and residents the easy route of paying the fee to cut down trees, rather than creating incentives to design with existing trees in place.
Read the full story: Atlanta’s next tree ordinance will be simpler to understand, says city official
Atlanta Housing Targets 10,000 Affordable Units in Five Years
Atlanta Housing plans to use a combination of development and preservation to ensure 10,000 affordable housing units in the next five years.
Tim Keane, Atlanta Planning Commissioner, Headed to a New City
Tim Keane, who has led the Atlanta Department of City Planning since 2015, is set to take a new job in a new city.
Atlanta City Council Adopts Amended Version of the City's New Comprehensive Development Plan
What started out as an ambitious example of planning and zoning reforms has been trimmed back to respond to opposition from neighborhood groups—and the threat of secession from one neighborhood in particular.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.
NYC DOT wants faster, more permanent street upgrades
The city is examining ways to build more concrete infrastructure without getting entangled in 'decades-long' projects.
'Something we’ve never seen before:' rising utility rates could strain city finances nationwide
Data centers, climate change and other factors have caused utility rates in the United States to increase by 38% since 2020.
Trump to overrule local leaders, lease millions of acres of America’s Pacific Island territories’ seafloors to mining companies
International law says that the Indigenous people of America’s territories have a right to prior and informed consent regarding projects that impact their countries.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
Greater Baltimore Committee
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello