Tree ordinance passed with concessions

At yesterday’s City Council committee meetings, the tree ordinance moved forward for final approval, albeit with several last-minute concessions to special interests.

The proposed changes to the tree ordinance were designed to promote the preservation of more trees in the City by providing an increased financial disincentive for cutting down large “heritage” trees.

The largest concession was to Sacred Heart and Baptist Hospitals, who will now be exempt from the provisions of the ordinance, and instead would merely have to pay a flat fee of $5,000 per acre of impervious development. The hospitals did not raise this language during the many prior meetings on the tree ordinance and instead waited until the eleventh hour, in a clearly tactical move. Unfortunately, their regressive amendment was adopted by a 6-3 vote, with Council members Mack, Johnson, and Jerralds opposing it.

Progressive Pensacola is disappointed in the six Council members who voted to kowtow to the hospitals’ demands. We are especially disappointed in Council members Maren DeWeese and Megan Pratt, from whom we have grown to expect better. They have reinforced the idea that it’s acceptable for special interests to show up before Council at the last minute with a list of demands. They have reinforced the idea that Council lacks the political will to make bold, progressive changes.

We commend Councilman Diane Mack, who rightly condemned the last-minute tactics of the hospitals and Moulton Properties, and urged adoption of the tree ordinanced unamended.

Other amendments to the tree ordinance at yesterday’s meeting:

• Councilwoman Pratt successfully lowered the per-tree mitigation fee to $400 from the proposed $500; that fee is currently $300
• The maximum mitigation fee for residential parcels was capped at $1000