Michelle Marks, presenter for Austin Transportation and Public Works, told the Design Commission on Oct. 28 that staff and the Technical Advisory Review Panel (TARP) developed the Austin Roadmap for Advancing Green Infrastructure in the Right of Way in response to a March 2024 City Council resolution.

The roadmap lays out 12 recommendations focused on aligning criteria manuals, streamlining permitting and revising maintenance approaches so more street trees can be planted and sustained in Austin’s sidewalk corridors. “The TARP really focused their efforts on street trees specifically,” Marks said, calling trees “the low‑lying fruit” for heat‑island mitigation, stormwater benefits and safer active-transportation corridors.

Why it matters: Commissioners and staff framed the work as a practical, technical set of fixes to a long‑standing problem. Marks said the TARP’s priority actions are (1) clarify the Transportation Criteria Manual (TCM) as the place where street‑tree requirements live, (2) publish standard construction details, (3) update the Utility Criteria Manual for coordination with planting zones, (4) revise the approved species list, and (5) consider future code language requiring trees with frontage improvements.

Key debate and details: Commissioners repeatedly pressed on maintenance and on the city’s license‑agreement process, which Marks and several commissioners described as a major disincentive for developers and property owners. Marks said license agreements are onerous and “a huge barrier” and that the TARP recommends eliminating license agreements for street trees and then studying maintenance options — from private responsibility written into code to city‑led maintenance programs or community groups — before removing the agreements.

Marks said staff will conduct a condition‑assessment inventory and asset management audit (recommendation 10) to establish costs and maintenance cycles before any shift to city maintenance. She also said staff plan to publish the full TARP report within weeks and send a memo to the mayor and council describing how departments will fold the recommendations into work plans over the next two years.

Commissioners highlighted measurable outcomes and sequencing. Commissioner Ladner said solving interdepartmental communication alone would be a significant win; Commissioner Carroll asked whether the license‑agreement change would apply only to trees or to low‑level landscaping and irrigation as well. Marks replied that the city would likely continue to require private maintenance for low‑level landscaping but expects the change to apply specifically to street trees, though she said the question is not fully settled.

Other technical points in the presentation included soil‑volume and root‑barrier standards, aligning underground utility clearance requirements, and improving tree species diversity to increase long‑term resilience. Staff flagged peer cities’ approaches — some fully city‑maintained and others that require adjacent owners to maintain street trees — as possible models, and said a cost‑benefit analysis will inform the city’s approach.

Next steps and timeframe: Marks said staff will return to commissions as work plans develop and will prepare a memo to mayor and council in the coming weeks outlining sequencing and which recommendations staff will prioritize. She estimated implementation would take “a couple of years” to work through regulatory, process and funding changes.

Ending: The commission asked staff to return with more-detailed timelines, the proposed text changes to criteria manuals, and options for treatment of irrigation and maintenance costs. Marks said staff welcome the commission’s continued input as they move from recommendations to implementation.