State Representative John Ray Clemmons Speaks for the Trees…

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?

We need to streamline services and communication to facilitate the protection of the urban canopy. Multiple departments are currently involved and there is only two Urban Foresters, while our peer cities have upwards of 20 such employees. We need more staff positions in Metro whose jobs are to protect and expand the tree canopy. A sufficient amount of staffers would allow Metro to work with builders on landscape designs at earlier stages of projects to ensure trees are preserved and planted accordingly. Additionally, we should train Metro codes enforcement personnel on tree ordinances so that they are better equipped to examine and evaluate properties. Increasing awareness of this important issue across Metro departments and within neighborhoods is key to ensuring transparency in projects so that we can prevent another incident.

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?

I appreciate the Council’s initiative in finally attempting to address the decreasing number of trees in our city. The bill is a good start for our city, but much more action needs to be taken to fully address the issue. For one, the bill proposes a Tree Density Unit (TDU) factor increase of 22 (up from 14 previously), yet many of our peer cities have an average factor of 23. There doesn’t seem to be any data on why the Councilmembers would decide to keep our TDU factor one point below the average when they had full opportunity to equalize it, or even make it higher. A big hole in the bill comes from the building footprint exclusion, which would allow developers who use 100% of their acreage for their building to skip the regulation of planting or maintaining a certain number of trees. In other words, it would penalize the owners of smaller buildings and would fail to offset environmental negatives that trees would otherwise counteract. The current exemption should only apply to buildings with green roofs, because they already have the necessary technology to help offset environmental negatives that trees usually handle.

I believe that the bill should apply to single family residential buildings. The cost of planting trees is negligible, and we must do everything we can to protect and increase the tree canopy in our city.

The bill also fails to address the preservation of mature trees. While most premature trees are protected by the TDU schedule, developers are not given incentives to preserve mature or “old growth” trees, leading to their destruction. As a result, we should increase incentives to keep mature trees on properties.

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?

YES!

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?

TREES Atlanta has done great work to protect their city’s urban tree canopy. Nashville needs to empower our nonprofit communities to fill any gaps and advocate for a more sustainable future. Together, we should increase transparency and accountability to build a sustainable city.

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?

By raising awareness of the benefits of mature trees and publicly recognizing heritage trees, we can make the preservation of our tree canopy more attractive to residents. Overall, it’s important that we increase our city’s tree advocacy and education efforts so that the community at large will understand how important this issue is to preserving our quality of life. On a policy level, we should encourage developers to preserve mature trees by increasing the TDU credit table for mature tree retention during the construction process.

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?

Yes.

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?

No. Every board should represent the diversity of our city and be weighted to represent the best interests of Nashville residents, first and foremost. By preserving the character of our neighborhoods and all that makes Nashville so unique, we can allow our city to continue its prosperity.