At Large Council Candidate - CM Sharon Hurt - Speaks for the Trees!
CM Sharon Hurt
At Large Council Member 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!
CM Sharon Hurt 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?
First and foremost trees should be moved under one department - whether the department is codes and or parks,the city needs to hire enough staff to ensure that we’re replacing trees lost to development, conserving our cities existing trees and educate the community.
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 support this bill and I look forward to working to ensure that we enhance the legislation for a greater Nashville.
I believe that we should look at the law and work to ensure that single-family communities are just as beautiful as our entire community.
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, I do.
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?
Nashville is growing rapidly and in order for our city to be a good place to live, work and play we must have our own TREES NASHVILLE to aid the city with creating an urban forest by planting, conserving and educating. I must be honest that I am not well educated on our city and trees, however, I look to organizations such as this to educate me so that I can work to ensure that we’re implementing the right programs and laws.
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?
No tree wider than 19 inches in diameter can be removed on private property without the city’s approval, and homeowners or developers have to replace the tree with enough trees to produce similar shade. For instance, to remove a 20-inch tree, a developer would have to plant 10 trees with 2-inch diameters. It also doesn’t allow “heritage trees,” which it defines as 24 inches in diameter or wider, to be removed on private property unless dead or diseased, without city approval.
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 COUNCIL CANDIDATES
QUESTION #7
How will you work to bridge the divisions we often experience when talking about advancing tree legislation in Nashville between the community-builder dynamic? How can we advance Nashville’s livability standards while avoiding the risk of State preemption?
I believe that we need to educate the community on why we need to keep our trees, how they beautify our community so that they have a vast understanding of the importance of the trees and how they must stand with the city to ensure that builders will not just remove them from their building plan - legislation is only as good as those who sponsor and that the people are supportive to ensure a good future for Nashville. Nashville is a target due to the fact that our city is the capital city and therefore we tend to attract the state’s overreach in our city business. We need to work with our state partners to ensure that they understand that Nashville is looking out for Nashville and that we do not wish to impact any other city - we want to ensure that our city is giving our residents the best place to live, work and play.