Thursday, April 18, 2024
In its quest to find equilibrium with developers, the Granbury City Council has voted unanimously to make compliance with the city’s tree ordinance voluntary.
The move will bring relief to builders while giving the city a bargaining tool as it works to bring manufacturing and other businesses here.
For years, the city and developers have clashed over tree and landscaping rules. Compliance has at times been difficult and costly, especially where landscaping is concerned. There is some overlap with the landscaping and tree preservation stipulations.
The City Council has changed in recent years but its members have sought to preserve and expand upon Granbury’s aesthetically pleasing image, especially since Granbury earned a Scenic City designation from the state.
The city’s policing of trees and landscaping has risked turning off developers to the point that they build elsewhere.
“It’s just onerous for developers,” City Manager Chris Coffman said of the rules at the April 4 regular council meeting. “And I understand we need trees. There just needs to be a balance.”
Developers have either had to comply with the tree ordinance or contribute to the city’s tree fund. Coffman noted that one developer who needed to cut down some trees protected by the ordinance ended up contributing $100,000 to the tree fund. The money was used to plant trees at the new police facility, he said.
Coffman implied that detailing the strict rules to developers or business representatives could hinder the efforts of the city’s Economic Development department, which was created less than one year ago. Since the city at times offers incentives such as tax abatements, a tree ordinance that is voluntary “can be used as a tool to negotiate,” he said.
It was noted during the council meeting that eliminating the tree ordinance entirely would mean that the city could never impose one again. Making compliance voluntary would allow for more freedom, even if the Legislature ultimately takes power away from cities to impose such rules.
Mayor Pro Tem Trish Burwell stated a belief that businesses that want to come to Granbury will already want their business to look good.
“They’re going to do what’s right voluntarily,” she said.
The council voted unanimously to make compliance with the tree ordinance voluntary. As for landscape regulations, they will remain in place except for those portions of the landscape requirements that pertain to tree preservation. Those are now voluntary.
Landscape requirements will continue to go through the Planning & Zoning Commission with any appeals going before the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
After the vote, Coffman stated of developers, “They’re going to go where there’s the least amount of resistance, where people are friendly and they want to work with them and there’s not some kind of penal code that’s going to make them write a check for a half million dollars to the city because they had to bulldoze the site to have their 100,000-square-foot building for manufacturing. We need some room there to be flexible.”
