Helotes council debates stronger protections for heritage trees, asks staff to study 75% preservation threshold

Amy Burrell, a Helotes resident who spoke during Citizens to Be Heard, told the City Council the "elephant in the room is the tree" and asked how protections in chapter 94 of the municipal code allowed a large tree to be removed.

City arborist Corey Rouleau explained how the ordinance classifies protected versus heritage trees, saying, "When they reach the heritage class, instead of being preserved at 40, they have to be preserved at 60%," and described current mitigation options (replanting or a fee-in-lieu). Rouleau also noted a 3-to-1 mitigation ratio for heritage inches and urged replanting where feasible.

Councilmembers debated whether the existing 60% heritage threshold provides sufficient protection. Several members signaled interest in strengthening the standard; Mayor Rich Whitehead summarized the direction: staff should research best practices and return with comparative data and options, including raising the preservation threshold toward 75%. "So we'll start with at least bumping up to 75 and come back in 2 weeks," the mayor said.

The council also discussed related provisions: reducing the diameter that qualifies small tree species as heritage from 5 to 3 inches, clearer tree-survey and tag requirements for developers, and uses for the tree-mitigation fund. Staff said the mitigation fund historically supports activities such as large-tree trimming and oak-wilt mitigation, and that limited reimbursements (an example figure cited was $500) could be used for replacement plantings.

Council did not adopt final ordinance language at the meeting; instead, members directed staff to return with the requested research, clearer language on mitigation accounting (planting vs. fee-in-lieu), and options for xeriscaping limits and commercial artificial-turf guidance. The item will return for further readings according to the council's calendar.