Franklin City advisory committee to review revised tree ordinance; vote targeted for March 20

The Franklin City Tree Advisory Committee reviewed a proposed, comprehensive rewrite of the city's tree ordinance and discussed how the city should enforce penalties, manage permits and notices of work, and publish a prohibited-species list.

Speaker 4, a committee member who described the draft as a rewrite by Lindsay that follows ISA (International Society of Arboriculture) and Tree City standards, said the ordinance is a work in progress and asked members to mark up the draft so it could be reviewed by department heads and the city attorney before going to the Board of Works and City Council. The committee agreed to aim for a final draft at the March 20 meeting, with the goal of completing adoption steps before the April 26 Arbor Day event if feasible.

The committee discussed enforcement language in the draft. Speaker 1 noted past fines were difficult to enforce and recalled that penalties had been removed previously after enforcement problems. Members debated ranges discussed in prior packets (examples in discussion ranged from about $100 up toward $500 or $1,000), and several speakers urged practical enforcement mechanisms rather than high-dollar penalties that cannot be collected. "I don't mind if it was a $100 or $50 up, but a $1,000 is real rich," Speaker 1 said.

Committee members explored administrative options for handling public work on trees on city property: a $0 informational permit to notify staff, a formal permit routed through planning or engineering, or a notice-of-work system giving the city time to review proposed work (transcript reference: "39 60 days" was suggested). Speaker 6 said permitting would need review by a staff member (Jim or Clyde were named in discussion) and questioned who would collect fees or administer the program if fees were charged.

The group also noted that the prohibited-species list appears in the tree care manual rather than the ordinance and that the manual and related ordinances (chapter 12-20 and chapter 12-24) are older, scanned documents that are cumbersome to find online. Several members recommended converting the documents to an easier-to-update digital format to make the species list and guidance more accessible.

Committee members flagged Tree City USA standards during the review: the community forest program requires an annual budget of at least $2 per capita; Speaker 6 said Franklin's program was about $9 per capita last year. Members asked staff to confirm document availability ahead of the March 20 meeting and requested that suggested edits be sent to Jim or Jason so a final draft would be available for review.

Procedurally, Speaker 2 moved and Speaker 4 seconded approval of the Nov. 21 minutes; the committee voted in favor. No public comments were offered during the meeting.

The committee set homework to review the draft ordinance and the tree care manual and to return with suggested edits so members could prepare a final document for the March 20 meeting, after which the ordinance would be forwarded for legal review and consideration by the Board of Works and City Council.