Preview of April 17, 2018 P&Z Special Meeting

This meeting is to discuss the tree plan for a portion of the Heath Yacht & Golf Club.

Under the City of Heath Tree Preservation Ordinance, a developer is required to replace “protected” tree species with trees of a similar caliper. For example, if there were a live oak tree with a trunk that measured 12" in diameter, a developer would be required to plant trees with a total of 12" of trunk diameter. That could be 4 3" trees, or 2 6" trees. However, due to the fact that trees are dramatically more expensive with small increases in trunk size, developers will want to replace trees with the smallest size allowable. In the case of Heath’s tree ordinance, that is a 3" diameter tree. That is a rather small tree.

The excerpt above shows that the developer is being required to plant trees to replace 9 protected trees that will be cut down. A total of 96" of trees are to be planted. If they are of the 3" variety, that will be a total of 32 trees.

The location of the trees appears to be fine, although the two open spaces at the ends of St. Johns Court should be planted with trees as well.

The total number of trees being planted will be 32, and with 3" live oak trees being about $330 apiece, so the total replacement cost will be around $11,000 in tree costs. That seems a low price to replace 9 fully grown trees and that the tree preservation ordinance probably needs to be adjusted to have a larger offset in replacement like a 2 to 1 ratio.