City Council okays legislation to achieve 50% tree canopy

By Dyana Bagby

The Atlanta City Council approved legislation on April 17 that seeks to establish a goal of achieving and maintaining a 50% average tree canopy cover in Atlanta.

The legislation also requests a study be conducted every five years to determine if the city’s tree ordinance is helping meet the 50% goal.

The resolution approved by the council notes that Atlanta is commonly described as a “City in the Forest” but studies dating back to 2008 showed the city’s tree canopy is shrinking.

“An informal goal of 50% tree canopy cover for the city was described over a decade ago by a previous city administration and, while socialized in Atlanta, the goal has never been formally recognized,” the resolution says.

The most recent city-wide canopy study from 2018 showed Atlanta’s cover at about 46.5%, or nearly 41,000 acres of the city’s total area, excluding the airport.

The legislation was approved as the city begins implementing amendments to its tree ordinance approved by the council in December. The tweaks include giving the city arborist more enforcement resources and stricter tree-planting requirements in parking lots.

The amendments being implemented now are Phase 1 of an “incremental approach” to rewriting the city’s tree ordinance, according to a city news release.

Phase 2 of the rewrite is set to begin in early summer and is expected to include updates to the tree ordinance on tree preservation, recompense, and an incomesensitive tree replacement program. A draft of the Phase 2 rewrite is set to be finalized by the end of the year.