by Neil W. Norton

The DeKalb County Tree Protection Ordinance (DTPO) has been in place for over one year. I worked on its creation and have closely followed its implementation. In working on the TPO, the goal of our group of committed Dekalb citizens was to preserve the county's excellent existing trees and to eliminate clear cutting. View the DeKalb Tree Ordinance.

While the DTPO has help raised the awareness of the importance of trees and has required significant replanting it has done very little in actual preservation. Our hope was to encourage builders and developers to design around trees, leaving individual specimen trees and groups of trees intersprsed throughout newly developed properties. The ordinance left a great deal of flexibilty to developers since they argued that they needed this flexibility in order to save tress. However, we have seen time and time again that the only trees being saved are located in the buffer areas. I have observed that the trees being preserved are not chosen based on quality but rather their location. For example, a grove of specimen oaks might be removed in the middle of the property while some lower quality trees are preserved along the perimeter.

Developers and builders are also frustrated because it requires substantial effort on their part to comply. The county is frustrated because it is difficult to enforce. What can be done to encourage preservation of outstanding natural characteristics? The answer might not lie in creating additional ordinance or changing the current one but instead to create overlay districts and /or new zoning categories. The advantage being that both overlay districts and zoning changes must be considered before the development is designed, encouraging developers and builders to incorporate the lands special characteristics into their design.

What can be done to encourage preservation of outstanding natural characteristics? The answer might not lie in creating additional ordinance or changing the current one but instead to create overlay districts and /or new zoning categories. The advantage being that both overlay districts and zoning changes must be considered before the development is designed, encouraging developers and builders to incorporate the lands special characteristics into their design.

Oridinances on the otherhand, are often considered after the design process and only if they are enforced. One solution that is currently being considered by the Commission,Citizens, and Public Works Department is the "Conservation Overlay District." The concept is to exchange high density for more green space. For each square foot lots are reduced from the minimums under its current zoning requirements, a foot is added to the green space. Each green space shall be at lease 50' wide and perpetually protected from future development.

The "Conservation Overlay District" has tremendous potential for preserving trees and open space, especially if the public and developers support developments that require them to live closer together in exchange for open space. Since the open space will be an important selling point, it makes sense that they try to preserve the most impressive portions of land
available to them.

A second possibility is to consider a new zoning category for properties with outstanding natural and historical characteristics. Under this category it would be necessary to incorporate that property's watershed, historical significance, undisturbed habitat, trees, etc. into a design that would be subject to approval by the Planning Commission. While there are categories that permit up to 90 percent lot coverage, there are none that restrict disturbance to a portion of the property.

Ordinances in general, the DTPO, in particular, are limited because of the challenge of enforcing them, to apply them to specific circumstances, and to have them be considered at the early stages of design. They serve a purpose but have not accomplished preservation of our county's natural resources. I look forward to working on new approaches like the Conservation overlay and research into creating a new conservation zoning category.