Trees on Public Property Gain New Protections

UPDATE: Mayor John Cooper signed Nashville’s new public tree bill into law on August 19, two days after the bill won final approval from the Metro Council.

More than two years after the Cherrygate incident provoked widespread outrage, Metro Council is moving toward passage of a public tree bill that would strengthen protections for trees on city-owned land. The bill, set for second reading at tonight’s Council meeting, designates a Metro Tree Review Panel to consider all large scale removal of trees on Metro property.

In spring 2019, thousands of Nashvillians reacted with furious opposition to the last-minute revelation that Metro planned to remove 21 cherry trees from Riverfront Park to accommodate the NFL’s three-day draft event. More than 80,000 people signed an online petition by Nashville Tree Conservation Corps chair Jim Gregory to block the trees’ removal. The controversy became a major issue in the 2019 mayor’s race and prompted backpedaling from the NFL and Metro.

In response to the Cherrygate debacle, Vice Mayor Jim Shulman reached out to the Tree Corps in May 2019 for input on legislation that would prevent similar missteps in the future. This new public tree bill is the culmination of that effort — one that required many months of commitment and persistence.

Council member Jeff Syracuse is lead sponsor of the bill and has worked closely with NTCC’s policy committee and affected Metro departments to develop the ordinance and ensure agreement and compromise among stakeholders. “There were over a dozen different drafts of proposed ordinances and multiple meetings with affected Metro Departments,” says Will Worrall, NTCC co-chair. “I'm proud of our NTCC volunteers, as well as our partners, for being persistent and for coming together to improve our community.” The proposed ordinance was filed on July 20, with Council members Russ Bradford and Mary Carolyn Roberts as co-sponsors.

CM Syracuse says Nashville’s development boom makes it especially important that the Council put safeguards in place now for public trees. “As we all know, Nashville’s growth is extraordinary, and rampant development requires equally strong sustainability initiatives to ensure that we can grow with intention that is beneficial to future generations.  A strong and healthy urban tree canopy is essential to sustainable growth, and this bill helps ensure our policies are consistent across all departments and we encourage strong community engagement in those decisions.”

Syracuse, who has served as Donelson’s Council representative since 2015, says he has seen Metro departments struggle to manage the city’s growth because they had inadequate funding. “Now that we’re finally focusing critical resources to our departments, accompanied with this legislation that codifies policies and procedures, we can be assured we’re all working together to protect our public trees.”

Key features of the bill

The ordinance would make permanent and expand on a series of executive orders from Mayors Megan Barry, David Briley and John Cooper that have outlined recent Metro tree policies:

• A Tree Working Group selected by Metro department heads will meet monthly to review and coordinate tree-related policies.

• A Tree Review Panel with representatives from Water, Parks, Codes, Transportation, General Services, Planning and the Mayor’s Office will be responsible for oversight of public trees.

• The Panel will review any tree removal plans on Metro property “that include the removal of Covered Trees over 90 aggregate inches in diameter at breast height (“DBH”) or of any single specimen Covered Tree over 30 inches in DBH.”

• The public will be notified of plans to remove trees at least 14 days in advance, through onsite signage and electronic communication. The public will also be allowed to submit comments on the proposed tree removal to the responsible Metro department.

• All trees that are approved for removal must be replaced with new trees, via a new, more stringent tree replacement table.

• Metro government construction projects will be required to plant 20 percent more trees than similar private projects.

• Private persons or entities will be prohibited from cutting publicly owned trees on locations such as sidewalks and public parks. Though this activity has been illegal for some time, the new ordinance would require offenders, for the first time, to replace the trees or pay into the Metro tree bank.

• Metro will complete and update a countywide tree canopy study at least every five years.

If the ordinance is approved on second reading as expected, third reading and final passage is scheduled for August 17. Considering incidents from Nashville’s recent past, including not only Cherrygate, but also the cutting of trees at Fort Negley and Cleveland Park, passage of this legislation would represent a significant step forward for the city of Nashville and its tree policy.