At last night’s three and a half hour long meeting, the Decatur City Commission unanimously approved a temporary 12+ inch diameter-at-chest-height tree removal moratorium that will remain in effect until January 24, 2014.  Commissioner Scott Drake recused himself from the tree moratorium discussion and vote.  The moratorium doesn’t apply to sick or dying trees – as determined by the city arborist.

The commission then discussed and voted 3-2 (with Mayor Baskett and Commissioner Boykin voting in favor) to deny the residential demolition moratorium.  Mayor Baskett opened the discussion saying he hoped the consultants could provide options to deal with the issues of teardowns, adding “We don’t want to stop growth and progress in this city, we just want some better handles on how much is appropriate height in scale on very small lots and houses very close together.

The commission also asked the city manager to provide recommendations – which could cost upwards of $60,000 – to have permanent tree ordinance changes in place by the end of the moratorium in January and a recommendation on zoning changes regarding teardowns.

Check out Decaturish for a good report.