History

• The City of Antonio adopted Ordinance No. 85262, dated December 5, 1996, relating to Tree Preservation.  The ordinance has been amended several times since that date with the most recent amendment in November 2006
• The ordinance, in brief, places restrictions of the removal of trees located on land within the jurisdiction of the City.  It also allows for the preservation, reforestation, or mitigation of trees.  The ordinance distinguishes between "Significant Trees" and "Heritage Trees."
• Although mitigation rules are fairly complex, this provision allows for the payment of fees, in lieu of preservation or reforestation, into a Tree Mitigation Fund at the rate of $100 per inch of tree diameter for Significant Trees and $300 per diameter inch for Heritage Trees.
• The effect of the Tree Ordinance, while protecting and preserving tree canopies around the city, also challenges residential and commercial developers to carefully plan their land development schemes, trees must be removed, and the ordinance lays out the terms under which trees can be removed or mitigated.
• This mitigation portion allows the owner or developer to pay into a Tree Mitigation fund an amount equal to $100 per diameter inch of the trees to be removed and up to 90% of the trees on the property can be removed, with some exceptions as to the size or species of the trees.
• Developers can find themselves in a situation where these requirements are difficult to comply with, thereby requiring perhaps a combination of removal, reforestation, preservation and mitigation.  This can become quite expensive and can,  in some instances substantially alter a development plan. 

Description of Tree Credits

• 199 Cedar Elm J. V. owns tree credits granted to them by the City of San Antonio by virtue of the Agreement for Development and Donation dated October 22, 1999.
• These Tree Credits can be transferred, sold, or donated to interested parties. 
• The credits are then used for mitigation purposes for the removal of trees when needed for development.
• They are used in the same manner as paying the mitigation fees except that when they are used, no actual payment is made to the City of San Antonio.