Atlanta Needs 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.