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Committee approves tree-fund changes, waivers for affordable housing and staffing boost; Carlucci adds 5-year sunset on waiver
Summary
The Land Use & Zoning Committee on April 1 approved a substitute to ordinance 2025-0102 that lowers the replacement-tree size requirement, allows tree clustering with arborist approval and creates a fee waiver for qualifying affordable-housing projects, while directing Tree Mitigation Fund money to staffing and planting.
The Land Use & Zoning Committee on April 1 approved a substitute to ordinance 2025-0102 that lowers the minimum replacement tree size in the zoning code, allows tree clustering with professional approval, and creates a limited waiver of certain tree-mitigation monetary contributions for projects that develop affordable housing.
Planning staff said the original draft reduced mitigation standards in a way that would harm long-term canopy protection, but a neighborhood substitute and a working revision addressed those concerns. The substitute directs tree-mitigation and related-expense funds toward additional public-works staffing and equipment to enable planting and long-term maintenance; staff told the committee the Tree Mitigation Fund has grown substantially and needs capacity for implementation.
Scenic Jacksonville representatives and the Tree Commission testified in support of the substitute, urging that the city hire additional arboriculture staff so the fund can be spent on planting projects rather than accumulating. The substitute was unanimously recommended by the Planning Commission.
Councilman Joe Carlucci offered an amendment adding a five-year sunset on the ordinance’s affordable-housing fee waiver provision so the city can evaluate the waiver’s impacts and effectiveness before extending it longer term; the committee approved that amendment. Carlucci also said the waiver applies to one of the two mitigation accounts (the ordinance account), while projects would still pay into the charter account.
Committee members discussed concerns about the large fund balance and whether the city should pause collection; staff and the sponsor said that legally pausing the fund would be difficult and that past efforts to broaden waivers had faced opposition. Several council members urged the administration to begin spending the fund on planting and to report back on metrics and staffing.
Votes at a glance 2025-0102 — Substitute and amendments approved: Approved, 7-0.
