Maumee advisory commission begins overhaul of city tree ordinance, will seek ODNR review

The Environmental Entry Advisory Commission on Aug. 28 began detailed revisions to Maumee's tree ordinance, focusing on updating a list of prohibited species, aligning standards with a new street-tree planting design and clarifying removal and pruning rules.

Commission members said the ordinance — portions of which date to 1992 (Ordinance 56-1992) and had minor edits through the 1990s — needs modernizing. The group discussed moving the list of prohibited species out of the city code and onto a web-managed resource so the list can be updated without returning to council for each change.

The proposal to relocate the prohibited-species list follows guidance members cited from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. "ODNR recommends not having it in your code," one member said, noting a web list would be easier to update. The commission emphasized that removing the list from the ordinance would not eliminate the list itself; it would remain available online for public reference.

The commission also discussed references throughout Chapter 9.66 to a new "street tree planting design." Members agreed to insert consistent references to that design document across relevant subsections so planting and street-tree siting follow a single, current standard. "Street tree planting design is what it what they're calling it now," a member said during the discussion.

Members reviewed other technical items: pruning and corner-clearance procedures; municipal authority in public rights-of-way; definitions tied to diameter-at-breast-height (DBH); the 8-inch DBH threshold for certain protections; and repetitive or overlapping language in sections addressing tree preservation, topping and pollarding.

Specific clarifications and potential edits discussed included: - Relocating the list of prohibited species from the ordinance to the city's website to allow updates without a council ordinance vote. - Inserting references to the street-tree planting design throughout Chapter 9.66 and removing conditional language that conflicts with the master plan. - Updating language in 9.66.06 to explicitly reference the right-of-way and public grounds when describing the city's authority to plant, prune, maintain and remove trees. - Removing or rewording provisions that assign the city authority over utilities' vegetation work (members noted electric and gas companies regulate their own lines). - Standardizing DBH references and adding the DBH definition in alphabetical order in the definitions section to improve readability.

Commissioners asked the ODNR representative, Stephanie Miller, for technical input on several numeric thresholds and best-practice details — including whether the existing 8-inch DBH threshold remains the appropriate standard and whether minimums in the landscape chapter (Chapter 11.45) should be reconciled with Chapter 9.66. The commission agreed to send the full draft and a list of suggested edits to the ODNR rep for review.

Members also recommended that the commission consult the city planning staff on how newly created streets and subdivisions should be added to the street-tree planting design during site-plan review.

The commission did not take formal votes on the ordinance changes during the meeting. Instead, members agreed on next steps: each member will review the proposed edits, the commission will finalize its recommended changes, and staff will forward the draft to the ODNR representative for formal feedback. The group plans to reconvene with suggested edits and any guidance received from ODNR before submitting formal language to city council.

The commission scheduled follow-up work and asked members to prepare specific recommendations for the next meeting, including any species to add or remove from the prohibited list and clarifications to DBH and planting standards.