Local Tree Politics: Three-Minute Read

Reporting from Lynn Green

For Nashville Tree Conservation Corps

January 14, 2020

Did you know that Nashville has a Tree Bank, an account with funds used to plant trees on public properties? Unless you’re a commercial developer or a tree advocate (like us!) you’re probably unaware that such an account exists — much less how it operates. Since Metro’s new tree ordinance took effect on September 1, 2019, city officials have reworked procedures for the Tree Bank, trying to bring more transparency and accountability to the process.

The the new tree ordinance, BL1416,, sponsored by Council Member Angie Henderson and passed in July, increased the tree density requirements for commercial and multifamily projects (offices, retail spaces, apartments and condos). It was the first new tree law in Metro Nashville in more than 10 years. Under existing law, developments that can’t plant enough trees to meet the legal standards for tree density must deposit funds in the Tree Bank.

“The Tree Bank was a little bit mysterious,” Henderson says of the account’s handling in the past. “If we were going to elevate the tree density requirements, we needed to show the builder community that this was a formalized process. It’s not that it was mismanaged or used incorrectly, but that it really wasn’t tracked or organized.”

Before the new law, the Tree Bank was controlled by Metro Parks and Recreation, with horticulturalist Randall Lantz deciding when and how to use funds to plant trees at Metro parks. Under the new system, the Tree Bank can be used to plant trees on any city property, including schools and rights-of-way. Applications for planting will be reviewed by the Tree Working Group (which includes tree-related staff from Parks, Public Works, Water Services, General Services, Codes and Planning).

Metro Water Services will control disbursal of the funds. Much of Nashville’s tree policy is now centered in Water Services, “a logical, supportable nexus since trees are stormwater infrastructure,” Henderson says.

As before, Nashville’s urban forester, Stephan Kivett, will determine which developments are eligible for fee-in-lieu payments to the Tree Bank, and how much is owed. The fees are based on a sliding scale, mandated by a 2008 Council Resolution.  For 1 to 99 Tree Density Units (TDUs), developers must pay $725 per TDU into the Tree Bank. The city’s goal is to plant at least two new trees on public property for each TDU payment collected, and every tree planted will be recorded and tracked in Metro’s Tree Keeper software.

The Tree Bank received one payment of $2,392.50 in 2019 after the new ordinance was passed. “It is too early to determine how much will be deposited under the new system,” says Rebecca Dohn, environmental compliance officer at Metro Water Services. “But we expect it to be more than was previously collected.”

Henderson says the Tree Bank funds are not “huge” because exemptions are rarely granted. “We want people to plant the trees they’re required to plant” whenever possible, rather than make payments to the Tree Bank. Poor soil for trees and limitations of historic buildings on small sites are two factors that could support an exemption.