On tonight’s Decatur City Commission agenda…trees!  The commission is set to vote on two significant changes to the tree ordinance.

According to a letter from City Planning Director Amanda Thompson and City Arborist Ed Macie, the first change would address the issue of healthy trees “being removed from existing single family houses prior to their sale to circumvent the tree ordinance requirements that apply once a demolition permit has been issued.”

The change would apply the current requirements of the tree ordinance to “all R60 and R85 zoned properties that are pending real estate sale or title transfer or have been sold or title transferred in the past 18 months. The terms and provisions of the ordinance shall apply to all areas of a R60 and R85 zoned properties that are pending demolition or have had a dwelling on the site that has been demolished in the past 18 months.”

The second change would address the varying quality of tree preservation plans that are being prepared by builders or surveyors “who are not educated in tree protection practices” and require that all tree preservation plans “be prepared and signed by a certified arborist, landscape architect, or registered forester.”

At a commission meeting a few weeks ago, Ms. Thompson stated to the commission that a larger revision to the tree ordinance was currently being worked on, but it is still a ways off from being completed.  City Commissioner Fred Boykin had asked if there were any interim steps that could be taken now to deal with the most pressing issues.  These revisions seem to be along those lines.