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City council adopts tree‑protection changes to align UDC with urban forestry plan
Summary
The council adopted code amendments to chapter 167 to align the Unified Development Code with Fayetteville’s 2024 Urban Forestry Management Plan. Changes require ISA‑certified arborist reports for projects failing on‑site canopy minimums, clarify allowed activities within tree‑preservation easements (including invasive removal), tighten construction fencing standards and raise minimum preservation expectations in the Hillside and Hilltop Overlay District (HHOD).
Fayetteville adopted amendments to its Unified Development Code to implement parts of the 2024 Urban Forestry Management Plan. The changes—presented by Urban Forester Willa Thomason and planning staff—aim to increase preservation of mature canopy through a mix of process improvements and clearer on‑site standards.
Key amendments include: a new requirement that projects failing to meet their on‑site canopy minima submit an analysis prepared by an ISA‑certified arborist; clarified provisions describing permitted maintenance inside tree‑preservation easements (explicitly allowing targeted invasive‑species removal while prohibiting activities that damage native mature canopy); and clarified tree‑protection fencing and mitigation steps where standard tree‑protection distances cannot be met. In the Hillside and Hilltop Overlay District, the code raises the minimum on‑site preservation threshold by 5% and clarifies applicability across zoning districts.
Council discussion focused on data formats for tree‑preservation plans (staff receive DWG files now, and fuller ArcGIS integration was discussed as a future technical step), the length of landscaping maintenance bonds (staff noted the current market typically provides three‑year bonds), and how the city enforces maintenance agreements (staff said the city rarely has had to draw bonds but will do so if property owners do not remedy noncompliance). Council suspended the rules and approved the revisions on final reading.
What this means: Projects that remove canopy and cannot meet on‑site minima will now require professional arborist justification earlier in the design process; easement language clarifies what low‑impact maintenance is allowed; and HHOD projects must achieve a slightly higher on‑site canopy preservation minimum. Staff will follow up on integrating submission data into GIS systems and may propose further tweaks (for example, longer maintenance periods) in later code updates.
