The City of Atlanta has been talking for years about making changes to its tree protection ordinance, the rule that guides developers and homeowners on what trees can be cut down.
This week, City Council delayed a work session to dig into the ordinance itself, but it did make a change to how the city considers trees in its permitting process.
Starting in July, trees will be considered earlier in the city’s building permit application process. Councilwoman Natalyn Archibong, who introduced the resolution, said that in the past, the tree review was towards the end of the process.
“What we’ve done is we flipped it so the possibilities around protecting the trees happens earlier rather than later,” she said. “We’ve got to do everything we can to protect our tree canopy, and the best way to do that is not treat it as almost an afterthought, but as a priority.”
The change is a positive step that will help save trees, said Greg Levine, co-director of Trees Atlanta. He’s pushed for revisions to the tree protection ordinance.
