TURNING OVER NEW LEAVES?

Cit Y Offi Ci Als Are Considering Cha Nges To The Tree Or Din A Nce

For three years, the Urban Forestry Advisory Committee, with members appointed by mayors Miller and Leppert, has been meeting regularly to discuss updates to the D allas Tree “Preservation” Ordinance. Recently, the committee presented its proposed revisions.

A number of recommendations would significantly improve the ordinance. One of the most important is that control over tree decisions would change from the city’s building official to its chief arborist. That makes a great deal of sense because the arborist’s role is to protect the city’s tree canopy, but the building official is part of the D evelopment Services D epartment, which promotes development in D allas. An official whose role is to both make devel- opment easier and also protect trees has a major conflict in job responsibilities.

Another recommendation is to establish a D epartment of Urban Forestry, with arborists assigned to this department rather than to D evelopment Services, as is currently the case. Although city officials have discussed creating an Urban Forestry