Mayoral Candidate - Mayor David Briley - Speaks for the Trees!

Mayor David Briley

Mayoral Candidate

Nashville Tree Conservation Corps asked candidates running for Nashville’s 2019 election how they would solve some of our city’s most challenging tree canopy issues. See how they responded in the question and answer below!

QUESTION #1:

The Fort Negley clear-cutting and the NFL cherry-tree incidents illustrated something obvious: When it comes to the urban canopy, there is a breakdown of communication between the segments of Metro Government responsible for trees. The problem is that trees fall under the jurisdiction of many different departments (codes, stormwater, electrical, parks). What internal operational changes need to be made to better protect the existing canopy?

Mayoral Executive Order No. 40 empowers an Urban Forestry Program Manager, housed at Metro Water Services Stormwater Division, to ensure alignment on tree-related matters across all applicable Metro Departments. The Urban Forestry Program Manager: 1) leads coordination and ensures communication with key agency directors, project staff, and relevant non-government partners; 2) advises Mayor Briley on tree-related issues; and 3) regularly convenes tree-related governing bodies and partners within Metro—including quarterly meetings with Department heads and monthly meetings with Department staff to coordinate and share updates on tree-related policy and initiatives. Staff members involved in this latter meeting are codified as the “Metro Tree Working Group” in Executive Order No. 40.

The Metro Tree Working Group has recently produced an “Application for Tree Removal” to better institutionalize Metro’s internal approach to Section V.b. of Executive Order No. 40, which calls for reviews and approvals of projects and land-management activities on Metro properties that include any removal of trees over 100 aggregate inches in diameter at breast height, or any single specimen tree over 30 inches in diameter at breast height. In an effort to establish an even greater amount of transparency around Metro’s urban-forestry management practices, the Application will more specifically document trees proposed for removal, the purpose for removal, a replacement proposal (including site plan), and a sign-off for the Metro Tree Working Group on whether the appropriate replacement standards have been met (four MTWG member signatures needed for quorum).

Also per Executive Order No. 40, tree-replacement standards for Metro projects must meet more stringent tree-density requirements than those imposed on private properties under MCL 17.24 (Tree and Landscape Code).

QUESTION #2

Do you support the city’s first tree bill in over a decade (BL2018-1416) in its current form? If not, what changes do you want to see? Or should it be stronger and broader in scope? BL1416 impacts only commercial and multi-family land use types. Do you support enacting tree laws for single-family residential?

As Nashville grows, we know we must take proactive steps to protect the natural assets that make our city a great place to live, work and play. We can be proud of the collaborative work done by Metro Departments, the Metro Council Office and sponsoring Councilmembers, Planning Commissioners, environmental advocates, and the builder community to arrive at a consensus proposal that makes important and progressive updates to Metro’s current Tree and Landscape Code (MCL 17.24).

The Metro-Nashville Planning Department led a robust, months’ long, stakeholder-engagement process that produced a compromise proposal—an excellent step forward for growing the urban tree canopy, with an estimated 57%-increase in required tree densities for commercial and multifamily development (a large portion of current building permits). The trust, cooperation, and partnership achieved by this stakeholder dialogue will not only lend itself toward successful implementation of these policy changes by both Metro Departments and developers, but also a more holistic evaluation of our Tree and Landscape Code in future, to help bring Nashville’s tree policies more in line with those of our peer and aspirational cities. The participating stakeholders mentioned above all seem to agree that BL2018-1416 represents a solid and foundational “good first step” toward that end.

Citizens interested in how the recent stakeholder-engagement process resulted in BL2018-1416 can watch the recent staff presentation to Metro Planning Commissioners on the Metro Nashville Network’s YouTube channel, here (beginning at 2:59:00).

In the interim, Metro is proactively growing the countywide tree canopy by formally partnering with the Cumberland River Compact to launch Root Nashville, an ambitious grassroots campaign to plant 500,000 trees by the year 2050. With this unique public-private partnership in place, Metro is better able to focus on working with individual homeowners to replant in neighborhoods where our recent development boom has resulted in canopy losses. Mayor Briley has been a strong and consistent proponent of Root Nashville as a means to clean the air we breathe and the water we drink, improve our health, mitigate flooding and extreme heat, and deliver economic benefits for the city.

QUESTION #3

Atlanta, Charlotte and Austin all have laws protecting a class of trees they consider to be “heritage trees; property owners must get approval for cutting them down and pay into a tree bank to offset the loss of a large trees in their communities. We feel this sets a tone that makes people more aware and respectful of the urban tree canopy. Do you approve of such legislation?

BL2018-1416 happily introduces a new framework for heritage trees in Metro’s Tree and Landscape Code, and offers developers additional credit toward their required tree-density units to incentivize those who take steps to retain heritage tree(s). Further, to incentivize tree-retention BL2018-1416 also adjusts tree-density-unit schedules for retained and replacement trees—which should help to ensure retention of existing trees is worth more credit per inch of tree retained than a replacement. It also requires development to survey trees on the property measuring larger than 24" in diameter (aids both transparency and data-collection). These are opportune and fortunate improvements to the current Tree and Landscape Code (MCL 17.24), and through these two new incentives we hope to see a visible and formidable impact on tree retention at commercial and multifamily development sites. Where tree-retention can’t reasonably be achieved under this new framework, Metro’s Tree Mitigation Bank provides flexibility and predictability for developers while ensuring the appropriate resources to fund city-sanctioned replanting of new trees elsewhere in the county.

Section VI of Mayoral Executive Order No. 40 (Enforcing Tree Standards) also requires responsible Metro Departments to ensure compliance with all tree-related policies and regulations during the permitting process for any development or construction, and establishes trees as a “major consideration” in the review of grading or building permit applications, as well as the issuance of occupancy permits. The Metro Codes Director has recently required additional training and procedural checks among the department’s building inspectors to ensure more consistent enforcement of builder compliance with MCL 17.24. Quarterly meetings with Department heads and monthly meetings with the Metro Tree Working Group (as convened by the Urban Forestry Program Manager) are helping to provide leadership, accountability, and measurable progress on the implementation of E.O. No. 40’s directive.

QUESTION #4

TREES ATLANTA is considered by many to be the model for a public/private cooperative that works to protect urban tree canopy. TREES ATLANTA employees even help the city as on-site inspectors who follow up to make sure developers have complied with tree ordinances. What do you think of this model, or what would you do to strengthen the implementation and enforcement of Nashville’s tree code?

In October 2018 Mayor Briley launched Root Nashville, a campaign to plant and care for 500,000 trees across Davidson County by 2050, in collaboration with private, nonprofit and philanthropic partners. The campaign is designed to increase the city’s tree canopy and create a more equitable distribution of the health and sustainability benefits of urban trees across all neighborhoods. Root Nashville rests on a formal Memorandum of Understanding between Metro Water Services’ Stormwater Division, and the nonprofit Cumberland River Compact as the official campaign operational partner.

Along with other successful tree-planting schemes in peer cities (Philadelphia, Miami, Charlotte etc), Mayor Briley’s administration studied and borrowed from Trees Atlanta as a relevant model in setting up Nashville’s public/private urban-forestry initiative. Root Nashville is governed by an Advisory Board chaired by former U.S. Senator Bill Frist and NashvilleHealth, as well as representatives from The Nature Conservancy, Hands on Nashville, the Nashville Tree Foundation, and the Urban Land Institute.

Leadership from CRC and the Root Nashville Advisory Board have traveled south to meet with Trees Atlanta to learn more about their role in the Atlanta community, and returned with great ideas on how to implement their best practices here in Nashville. And because of the formal MOU between CRC and Metro Water, the city arborist in particular (among others) works in close coordination with Root Nashville’s tree-care experts. Planting and maintenance strategy for each season are well communicated at quarterly department-head and monthly Tree Working Group meetings, and as-needed other relevant municipal partners [ex., Metro Tree Advisory Committee, Metro Beautification & Environment Commission, Metro Public Health Dept., Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods and Community Engagement, Metro-Nashville Public Schools] are enlisted to contribute to Root Nashville’s priority goals.

Root Nashville is specifically focused on planting trees in neighborhoods that most urgently need to: · Meet tree-canopy coverage goals outlined in Metro’s Urban Forestry Master Plan;

· Lower rates of hospitalizations attributed to respiratory illness such as asthma;

· Address challenges related to polluted waterways and stormwater management;

· Improve equity-of-access to the benefits of trees among vulnerable populations (low-income, elderly, children under five);

· Reduce high-heat areas within the city (urban heat-island effect).

QUESTION #5

How could we entice private property owners not to cut down mature trees? How can we encourage developers/builders to keep mature trees in the designing of the home and lot?

Mayoral Executive Order No. 40 recognizes Nashville’s Urban Tree Canopy as a utility that improves air quality, manages stormwater, supports public health, provides economic benefits, and increases quality-of-life for all Nashvillians. It further calls on Metro to manage this utility as an infrastructure asset, with tree protection and expansion programs that also provide a balance of flexibility to ensure development can still continue throughout Nashville. In addition to new policy provisions such as those proposed in BL2018-1416 –described in response to Question #3, above– increasing awareness of the many benefits of trees among the general public, builders and developers, neighborhood and homeowners associations, the business community, and other relevant stakeholders such as Nashville’s vibrant healthcare industry will help to grow a stronger cultural imperative and sense of urgency around improving and retaining a healthy urban forest. During his time as Mayor, David Briley has been a consistently vocal and strong public champion of trees and the urban forest—particularly as a solution to both climate-change mitigation and adaptation, and grounded in a focus on health equity and environmental justice.

By the Metro Charter, District Councilmembers also have immense influence on zoning policy and practice, and can be integral to on-the-ground negotiations between neighbors and developers to produce site designs that document plans for tree retention pre, during, and post-construction. Vigilant community activists and neighbors working with vigilant tree-friendly Councilmembers can be essential partners to Metro staff on retaining valuable, mature trees in Nashville’s neighborhoods. BL2018-1416 also adds a requirement for a registered landscape architect to sign-off on landscape plans for multi-family residential and commercial development projects.

QUESTION #6

Metro Nashville has just 3 employees to oversee all of Davidson County trees, while other peer cities with less tree canopy coverage have 15 to 20 employees on staff for trees. As a result, the Nashville Tree Conservation Corps has cataloged countless incidents where developers eluded complying with tree codes, the city has hundreds of hazardous trees that need to be replaced, and staff have trouble keeping up with just their everyday responsibilities. Do you support spending the money to bring us up to a par with our peer cities? If not, how will you fix this issue?

In recent budget cycles, Metro has added three additional full-time positions dedicated exclusively to tree-related work at the departments of General Services, Water Services, and Codes. And in order to help successfully raise matching funds from the private sector for Root Nashville, Metro has documented its government-wide, tree-related investment [between staff time/salaries, new trees planted, maintenance equipment/supplies, vendor contracts, etc.] at $2 million per year.

In order to strategically plan ahead for budgeting appropriately in future years, Metro is also beginning to document its need to respond to the Emerald Ash Borer infestation, its potential impact on public safety in parks and along Metro Public Works’ right-of-way.

Mayor Briley’s leadership has also been integral in generating new financial investment in Nashville’s urban forest from corporate and philanthropic partners—such as multiyear commitments to the Root Nashville campaign from The Atticus Trust and NISSAN North America.

BONUS QUESTION FOR MAYORAL CANDIDATES

QUESTION #7

Is the current zoning board well balanced in terms of competing interests (i.e. environmental, developer, new revenue interests, etc.). And, if not, what would you look for in new appointees?

In 2017, Metro’s Livable Nashville Committee –comprised of leaders from the public, private, environmental, academic, and philanthropic sectors– recommended that more citizens with an environmental ethic or a background in environmental sciences be appointed to serve on Metro Boards and Commissions. Mayor Briley not only played a key role in putting forth this policy recommendation, he has a demonstrated track record of implementation during his term as Mayor. Environmental advocates and nonprofits can help make a difference by working with members of Council and the Mayor’s Office to identify, recruit, and nominate Davidson County citizens with an affinity for or formal training in sustainability to serve on Metro Boards and Commissions. By engaging qualified leaders to serve in these important administrative roles, Metro can harness significant public interest in environmental concerns and generate diverse ideas to impact the city’s livability and resilience.