new Fayette County ordinance designed to save

more mature specimen trees from developers'

bulldozers is pruned and ready for planting.

The

county Planning Commission and a special study

committee plowed through the 27-page proposed law

one last time last week, and declared it ready

for a vote at the Planning Commission's Jan. 6

meeting, 7 p.m. at the County Administrative

Complex.

First

Thursday Planning Commission meetings normally

are in the public meeting room at the complex,

but the Board of Commissioners will have a

special public hearing on its plans for a new

jail and judicial complex in that room Jan. 6.

The Planning Commission will meet in room 212

instead.

If

Planning Commission members vote to recommend the

new tree protection ordinance Jan. 6, the Board

of Commissioners can take action in its zoning

meeting Jan. 27. Public comment will be accepted

at both meetings.

Concern

over rules for tree preservation in subdivision

construction sparked spirited discussion in the

group's final work session last week. Developer

Jeff Ellis said a requirement that developers

submit tree protection plans for their

subdivisions would cost too much.

If

a surveyor has to identify each tree worth

saving, and then the entire tree protection area

must be protected using orange plastic fencing,

cost could be more than $800 per house just for

that, he said. He presented a breakdown of the

cost using Horseman's Run subdivision as an

example, and said the requirement would add

almost $50,000 to the developer's cost.

And

the developer disturbs only about 12 percent of a

subdivision, he said. After streets and other

infrastructure are built by the developer,

individual builders buy lots and put homes on

them.

But

county engineer Kirk Houser said Ellis' fears are

misplaced. Black silt screen, already required,

would suffice to section off tree save areas, he

said, and identifying specimen trees to be saved

could be accomplished by simpler methods than

having a surveyor show exact locations.

Environmentalist

Dennis Chase had a completely different concern.

The ordinance states that the county engineering

staff has "the authority" to stop work

and cite developers who destroy trees in

violation of the ordinance, he said, but doesn't

state in no uncertain terms that penalties

"shall" be meted out.

"Without

a real hard and fast statement, we've just got a

lot of words on paper," he said. "It

says that he can do this or not do it, based on

the circumstances, and I've been `circumstanced'

to death on a lot of these issues," he

added.

But

engineer David Borkowski said enforcers have to

have some leeway. "I just don't want to get

to the point where if they knock a tree down by

accident we've got to shut their site down,"

he said.

Commissioners

promised to revisit that issue later if

enforcement becomes a problem, but said they

don't think it will be. "I kind of like [the

engineers] having that leeway," said

commission Chairman Bob Harbison.

Commissioners

also will vote Jan. 6 on a new set of subdivision

regulations.

Rules

that govern everything from what should be

included in a subdivision plat to how to measure

the length of a street, the regulations have

received a thorough review by the Engineering

Department for grammatical problems and general

updating.

<!--

-----------