10.135 Alternative Methods of Compliance amendments
SEC. 51A-10.135. ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF COMPLIANCE WITH TREE REPLACEMENT REQUIREMENTS.
(a) In general.
If the building official determines that, due to restrictive site conditions, it would be impracticable or imprudent for the responsible party to plant a replacement tree on the tree removal property, the responsible party shall comply with one or more of the mitigation methods in this section.
(b) Mitigation by legacy trees.
(1) Lots or artificial lots smaller than five acres on properties that are not using sustainable development incentives may attain replacement credit for planting legacy trees on the tree removal property.
(2) Each tree planted and designated as a legacy tree is given a 12 inch replacement credit.
(3) For lots containing a single-family or duplex use, credit will only be provided for legacy trees planted in the portion of the lot that abuts a street and extends across the width of the lot between the street and a main building and lines parallel to and extending outward from the front facade of a main building.
(c) Habitat preservation and restoration areas.
(1) Habitat preservation and restoration areas that are established to provide a dedicated open landscape area for native flora and fauna habitat preservation or restoration may be credited toward tree mitigation.
(2) To receive credit, habitat preservation and restoration areas must be a minimum of 1,200 square feet of contiguous area, as shown on a landscape plan.
(3) Credit will only be given for a maximum of 2,400 square feet of habitat and preservation area or 20 percent of the tree canopy cover goal for the property, as determined by the street typology of the adjacent street in Section 51A-10.135(d)(2)(A), whichever is greater.
(4) Every 1,200 square feet of habitat preserved that is not under a tree canopy may be counted as 12 diameter inches of tree replacement credit.
(5) These areas must be actively monitored and managed to be fully sustained as a protected habitat area including compliance with a maintenance plan provided to the building official.
Refer to 10.135 SDI subpage in the link.
For a development to qualify for sustainable development incentives it must meet the requirements in this subsection.
Properties:
Minimum of 2 acres.
Private commercial, multifamily or shared access development. No other single family subdivision.
Landscape architect or consulting arborist provides a forest stand delineation, a conceptual landscape plan, a forest resource assessment, and a site maintenance schedule.
Protect all primary natural areas and minimize utility intrusions in design.
(e) Tree canopy cover credit for single family and duplex uses.
To reduce tree replacement requirements, a portion of existing tree canopy coverage over a single family or duplex construction building site must be preserved.
(1) The tree canopy cover goal is 40 percent of the building site.
(2) Healthy large and medium trees preserved on the building site, including boundary trees, may be included in tree canopy cover calculations. Invasive trees and trees located within 20 feet on center of the nearest overhead public electric line are not included in the calculation.
(3) Each large and medium nursery stock tree planted as landscaping may also qualify as 300 square feet of tree canopy cover. If the tree canopy cover goal is met, additional landscape trees are not required, except that one tree must be provided in the front yard
(4) Healthy large and medium trees preserved in the required front yard setback may qualify for double the total square footage of preserved tree canopy coverage.
(5) Boundary trees located on adjacent private property must be protected to the drip line according to the tree protection plan.
(6) The tree canopy cover must be measured by a forest stand delineation, verified and approved by the building official. The forest stand delineation must be provided by a consulting arborist.
(f) Conservation easement.
Tree mitigation requirements may be reduced by granting a conservation easement to the city in accordance with this subsection.
(1) The conservation easement area must contain protected trees with a combined diameter equal to or exceeding the classified diameter inches for which replacement tree credit is being requested.
(2) The conservation easement area must be a minimum of 20 percent of the size of the development impact area on the tree removal property and must be:
(A) configured primarily for urban forest conservation and preservation by protecting natural topography, waterways, forest vegetation, and wildlife habitation; and
(B) a suitable size, dimension, topography, and general character for its intended purpose.
(3) No portion of the conservation easement may be narrower than 50 feet in width.
(4) A conservation easement must have frontage on an improved public street or have public access through private property to a public street.
(5) The city manager is authorized to accept and approve on behalf of the city a conservation easement to conserve trees and other natural features, upon:
(A) approval as to form by the city attorney;
(B) submission by the applicant of a metes and bounds property description prepared by a licensed surveyor; and
(C) a determination by the building official that the easement area is suitable for conservation purposes, based on:
(i) the submission of baseline documents prepared by a qualified professional describing the property's physical and biological conditions, the general age of any tree stands, locations of easements and construction, and the conservation values protected by the easement;
(ii) the likelihood that the proposed conservation easement area would preserve vegetation on a parcel otherwise attractive for development;
(iii) the overall health and condition of the trees on the conservation easement property, and the extent of invasive and exotic plants on the property and a strategy to manage the population;
(iv) the suitability of the area as a wildlife habitat;
(v) other unique features worthy of preservation, e.g. water channels, rock formations, topography, or rare herbaceous or woody plant species; and
(vi) the preservation of undeveloped areas located in a flood plain on a building site before and after construction, except as authorized by the director for engineering infrastructure.
(6) The conservation easement may be structured to be monitored and managed by a nonprofit association dedicated to the conservation of land, with the city as a joint grantee having the right, but not the duty, to monitor the management of the conservation area.
(7) The city manager may not accept a sole or joint conservation easement on behalf of the city, unless and until the owner provides the building official with:
(A) a tree survey as set forth in Section 51A-10.132, or an estimate of the caliper and type of protected trees documented in a manner determined to be reasonably accurate by the building official, or a forest stand delineation verified and approved by the building official; and
(B) a preservation strategy for the conservation easement area.
(8) No person may place playground equipment or park amenities in a conservation easement area unless the building official has made a written determination that the amenities indicated on a site plan are unlikely to be detrimental to the conservation easement area.
(9) Conservation easement areas must be located wholly within the Dallas city limit.
(g) Use of other property for tree replacement.
Replacement trees that cannot be planted on the tree removal property, and for which credit is not given through a conservation easement, may be replaced by the methods in this subsection. The applicant may:
(1) provide a replacement tree to a city department for planting on city property, with the approval of the director of the city department.
(2) plant a replacement tree on property in the city that is within five miles of the tree removal property as long as the responsible party obtains the written approval of the building official and provides:
(A) a site plan indicating the location of the tree to be removed or seriously injured, the address of the property where the replacement tree will be planted, and a site plan indicating the location of the replacement tree; and
(B) a written agreement between the owner of the property where the replacement tree will be planted and the responsible party, to transfer responsibility for the replacement tree under this article to the receiving party.
(i) The agreement may be structured to allow a non-profit association dedicated to tree advocacy or the conservation of land to monitor and manage the replacement trees.
(ii) The agreement must include a written affidavit by the owner of the property where the replacement tree will be planted agreeing to maintain the tree for five years and to be the responsible party for the replacement tree.
(C) A responsible party who obtains permission to plant the replacement tree on other tree replacement property in the city shall ensure that the planting and maintenance of the tree on the other tree replacement property complies with the requirements of this article.
(h) Park land dedication.
Preserved protected trees on dedicated park land and private park land may be used to meet tree mitigation requirements in accordance with Subsection (f).
(1) Except as provided in this subsection, to be eligible for tree mitigation credits, dedicated park land and private park land must meet the conservation easement standards in Sections 51A-10.135(f)(1), 51A-10.135(f)(3), and 51A-10.135(f)(5).
(2) Park land dedication requirements may be met on an acre for acre basis for any land dedicated as a conservation easement under this section that meets the conservation easement standards in this section and the requirements for publicly accessible private park land in Section 51A-4.1007(b)(2)(A)(i) and is accepted by the director of the park and recreation department.
(i) Reforestation fund.
(The Reforestation Fund provisions were amended in 2020 to authorize the use of trees purchased by the Fund to be used on private property under the condition of storm damage restoration and the replacement of city tree canopy. The ordinance (with edits) is provided below the original 2018 amendment language.) Additional edits were provided in 2022 due to the EAB.
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(1) Mitigation requirements may be met by making a payment into a special city account, to be known as the Reforestation Fund in accordance with this subsection.
(2) The director shall administer the reforestation fund to purchase trees to plant on public property, to create an urban forest master plan and to update it periodically, to fund a staff position for managing and directing the fund for planting and urban forest education, or to acquire conservation easements or wooded property. A minimum of 50 percent of all funds provided for each fiscal year must be available to planting trees on public property or to acquire conservation easements or wooded property.
(3) The amount of the payment required is calculated by using the formula for appraising the value of a tree, as derived from the most recent edition of the Guide for Plant Appraisal published by the Council of Tree & Landscape Appraisers, unless another publication is designated by the building official. If more than one tree is being removed or seriously injured or not planted, the values of the trees are added when calculating the payment required.
(4) All property purchased through this fund must be located within the city of Dallas.
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“(i) Reforestation fund.
(1) General.
(A) Mitigation requirements may be met by making a payment into a special city account, to be known as the Reforestation Fund in accordance with this subsection.
(B[2]) [The director shall administer the reforestation fund to purchase trees to plant on public property, to create an urban forest master plan and to update it periodically, to fund a staff position for managing and directing the fund for planting and urban forest education, or to acquire conservation easements or wooded property. A minimum of 50 percent of all funds provided for each fiscal year must be available to planting trees on public property or to acquire conservation easements or wooded property.
(3])] The amount of the payment required is calculated by using the formula for appraising the value of a tree, as derived from the most recent edition of the Guide for Plant Appraisal published by the Council of Tree & Landscape Appraisers, unless another publication is designated by the building official. If more than one tree is being removed or seriously injured or not planted, the values of the trees are added when calculating the payment required.
(C[4]) All property purchased through this fund must be located within the city of Dallas.
(2) Administration.
(A) Except as provided in this paragraph, the director shall administer the reforestation fund to purchase trees to plant on public property, to create an urban forest master plan and to update it periodically, to fund a staff position for managing and directing the fund for planting and urban forest education, or to acquire conservation easements or wooded property. A minimum of 50 percent of all funds provided for each fiscal year must be available to planting trees on public property or to acquire conservation easements or wooded property.
(B) Exception for natural deforestation events. In response to natural deforestation events, the director may administer the reforestation fund to purchase trees to plant on private property.
(i) Definition. In this paragraph NATURAL DEFORESTATION EVENT means a recorded weather event or a period of infestation of an invasive species damaging threatened tree species which causes localized catastrophic tree failure and irreparable structural tree damage resulting in a loss of the urban forest canopy.
(ii) Applicability. This paragraph only applies to lots with an existing single-family or duplex use in a residential district.
(iii) Qualification. Private properties affected by a natural deforestation event may qualify for reforestation if they are:
(aa) Located within a declared federal, state, or local disaster area; or
(bb) Declared eligible for reforestation by the city council.
(cc) Confirmed by the director to have contained a vulnerable or threatened tree species on the property, as specified by the Texas Department of Agriculture, and was in imminent threat of infestation.
(iv) Additional requirements. A minimum of one of the following must be provided in determining whether an area has been affected by a natural deforestation event.
(aa) A tree survey or forest stand delineation must be provided that meets minimum requirements established by the director.
(bb) Physical evidence must be presented by the owners of individual lots documenting individual tree loss.
(v) Reforestation.
(aa) Parkway trees and trees located in alleys adjacent to residential lots may be replaced at the discretion of the director.
(bb) All reforestation tree planting projects on private property must be conducted between November and March.
(cc) The owner of a reforestation property is responsible for providing any necessary proof of the loss of a large or medium established tree to a natural deforestation event on their property. Photo documentation, Google Street View, and aerial imagery may qualify as confirmation.
(dd) Property owners are not required to participate in a neighborhood reforestation project to replace damaged or destroyed trees. The city will not replace a parkway tree if the adjacent property owner chooses not to receive a tree for a location the property owner must maintain.
(ee) Replacement trees must be planted on the same property that sustained the tree loss.
(ff) The caliper size of replacement trees will be between one and three inches.
(gg) Boundary tree replacements must be placed on a single property. Two adjoining properties may each qualify for a tree.
(hh) All replacement trees must be planted in accordance with the requirements of this chapter.
(ii) An approved planting plan may be required by the director.
(vi) Prohibition on reforestation funds being used to plant trees on private property.
(aa) Reforestation fund expenditures are limited to the purchase and provision of trees. Reforestation Funds may not be expended on installation or maintenance.
(bb) Reforestation fund replacement trees may not be used as required landscaping on lots permitted for new construction.”