Save the Trees: Residents Petition City Commission to Strengthen Tree Ordinance

Residents from all four corners of Decatur brought a petition to the City Commission meeting Monday evening, calling for a stronger tree ordinance to protect historic trees from being cut down by developers.  The current ordinance requires that violators pay a fee for cutting down trees without a permit or variance, but the fees are nothing compared to the profits developers make off of building huge houses on small lots. 

Several residents from the Melrose area and other parts of Decatur, came out to speak about the issue after resident Ralph Kittler began circulating a petition around the Melrose neighborhood on Sunday afternoon.      

Kittler began the petition after speaking with the developer who is building a house across the street from him.  The developer plans to remove a century-old tree from the property’s backyard telling Kittler that he would pay the $9,000 fee for violating the ordinance and continue the construction of the 4-bedroom, 5-bathroom house he was building where a 900-square-foot home once stood.  

“This isn’t just happening in our neck of the woods, it’s happening everywhere,” Kittler said. 

As more developers come in to the area, the tree ordinance is proving to be ineffective in deterring the destruction of historic trees. 

For resident Catherine Fox, this issue became personal when the oak tree in her front yard was threatened by the construction of a new home next door.

Though the developer agreed not to build underneath her tree’s canopy, he changed his tune, putting a silt fence underneath the tree’s drip line, which is prohibited by the tree ordinance. 

“What’s happening is Decatur’s really hot right now, the real estate market is hot, developers are coming in…they get rid of the trees, they pay the tree bank significant funds, but all of the big trees are gone,” Fox said. 

Kelter, speaking on behalf of those who signed his petition, said that the groups’ goal is not to slow development, but to strengthen the existing tree ordinance encouraging a balance between development and preservation.

“We’re not anti-developer, obviously we know that needs to happen,” Kittler said.  “Our end game here is to develop an ordinance that’s going to protect something.”

The petition will continue to circulate around Decatur neighborhoods and online until a formal presentation is made to the City Commission later this month.

“I wish [the City Commission] would start helping the residents as much as it appears that the developers are getting their way,” Fox said.  “It’s not the right thing to do, [they] have to help us as much as [they] help the developers.”

To read the petition, click on the link below:

 http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/petition-to-save-decatur?source=c.em.mt&r_by=8547258