Decatur Tree Canopy Conservation Ordinance Update

Huge tree with people sitting under it at picnic tables

The City Commission will be considering revisions to the City’s tree canopy conservation ordinance in the coming months. Changes under review will include additional protection for trees located on single-family residential, townhome and multiple-family residential properties and new requirements for commercial developments.

At the request of the City Commission, proposed revisions to increase protection of Decatur’s tree canopy have been developed by City staff and members of the City’s Environmental Sustainability Board (ESB).

Among the significant changes under consideration are a requirement for a pre-permit conference with the City arborist at the start of the building permit process, additional protection of higher-value trees during development and more aggressive enforcement. Many participants in the 2020 Strategic Planning process have expressed concern about the City’s tree canopy and its importance in mitigating the impacts of climate change, the urban heat island effect and global warming.

Tony Giarusso, Senior Research Scientist at Georgia Tech, and Mike Edelson, Director of Operations at Interdev, presented an assessment of Decatur’s tree canopy to the Decatur City Commission at their work session on March 1, 2021. Links to a video of the presentation, the slides and the final report are below.

Giarusso and Edelson studied the City’s tree canopy using aerial imagery and on-the-ground site visits and determined that the tree canopy remained consistent at about 57% of Decatur’s land cover over the 10-year period between 2009 and 2019. Tree canopy is more than 70% over Decatur’s residential neighborhoods and is about 42% on the City’s street rights of way. Downtown Decatur has the least tree canopy coverage.

The study indicated that canopy values are stable with canopy losses from development, storms and maintenance generally balanced by gains in canopy growth from young and existing trees. Most of the City’s trees are located on private single-family residential properties. Much of the canopy loss results from redevelopment of single-family dwellings, suggesting a need to identify new ways to preserve existing trees during redevelopment.

The research team also found that there are an abundance of older trees and recommended looking for strategies for renewal and replanting, protecting the remaining large tracts of undisturbed woodlands, removing invasive plants that damage trees, and encouraging the use of native and naturalized non-invasive trees to maintain a diverse and sustainable urban tree canopy.

This webpage has been established to provide background information on the City’s tree ordinance and will be supplemented as additional materials are developed. A summary of proposed revisions and a number of possible development scenarios have been prepared to illustrate how the existing and proposed ordinances would be applied to development on single-family residential, townhome, and commercial properties. While additional changes to the tree ordinance are anticipated as a result of the civic engagement process, the City Attorney has completed a preliminary review of the proposed revisions.

A community open house to discuss revisions to the tree ordinance will be scheduled for the fall. If you have comments regarding the tree ordinance, please send them to: treeordinance@decaturga.com.

The City of Decatur is recognized as a Tree City of the World by the Arbor Day Foundation and received a 2020 Arbor Day Foundation grant to plant 89 trees to increase canopy. It is an inaugural City partner of Trees Atlanta’s One Million Trees Initiative and participates in the Trees Atlanta NeighborWoods and Front Yard Tree Programs.