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Atlanta councilors, developers and advocates spar over tree protection ordinance; item remains held
Summary
Dozens of public commenters, affordable-housing builders and tree advocates urged revisions to the City of Atlanta's proposed Tree Protection Ordinance, with speakers sharply divided over preservation standards, recompense fees and affordable-housing waivers. Council held the item for further work.
Councilors heard more than an hour of public comment and stakeholder testimony on the proposed Tree Protection Ordinance, and the measure remained held in committee at the close of the meeting.
The dispute centered on whether the ordinance should require on-site tree preservation, how high recompense fees should be and whether developers building affordable housing should receive waivers. The proposed ordinance had been revised in May to remove some preservation standards and lower recompense fees; opponents said that change effectively removes tree protection.
Tree advocate Carol Holiday urged stronger protection and immediate fee increases, asking, "Why would you wait another 7 months to implement this increase instead of implementing it immediately?" Holiday said she was "deeply disappointed" the city was "again…
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