Five Myth's about Our "Tree Ordinance"

Five Myths about Our “Tree Ordinance”

Myth 1:   The “grand tree” definition only imposes restrictions on developers and road projects.

False.   Both individual homeowners, as well as large and small developers, are subject to heavy fines for cutting down or damaging any grand tree without a permit.  “Damage” includes excessive pruning.    A permit requires a $25 fee, approval by the Town’s Board of Zoning Appeals, and then planting new trees on an inch-by-inch basis in mitigation. 

Myth 2:  The Town only has a “temporary” or “emergency” tree ordinance.

False. The Town’s Zoning  and Subdivision Regulation Ordinance was passed on an emergency basis at the first meeting of Town Council on August 2, 2012.      However, a “permanent” ordinance passed second and final reading on October 18, 2012, after a public hearing and first reading on October 1, 2012.   Since that time, there has been nothing “temporary” or “emergency” about any part of the Town’s Zoning and Subdivision regulations.

What does this have to do with trees?    In Chapter 9, ”Development Standards,” there are regulations regarding trees, including grand trees.  The Town’s current rules define a “grand tree” as any oak species with a diameter 24 inches or greater.   This definition is unchanged from the Zoning and Subdivision Regulation Ordinance from the Town’s third incorporation, which was passed in early 2007.    The current definition of grand tree has applied in the Town portions of James Island for most of the last six years.

Myth 3:  The James Island Planning Commission had a consensus that the definition of grand trees should be changed to all trees other than pines with a diameter greater than or equal to 18 inches.

False.  At the JI Planning Commission meeting on April 11, 2013, Commissioner Milliken proposed changing the Town’s definition of grand tree.  Charleston County planning staff, which is helping the JI Planning Commission revise the Town’s Zoning and Subdivision Regulations Ordinance, changed the working draft of chapter 9, Development Standards, to define “grand trees,” as all trees other than pines with a diameter greater than or equal to 18 inches.   When the Town Administrator, Hal Mason, reported this to me the next day, I asked “What was the vote?”   He replied that the Commissioners didn’t vote, because they worked by consensus.   I said that must mean it was unanimous.

Later that month, I ran into a Planning Commissioner at the Free James Island commemoration on April 24.   I asked why he supported the change in the definition of grand tree.   He said he didn’t.    I was troubled that the working draft had been changed when there was no consensus.     I told Councilman Blank about it.   He said that another Planning Commissioner had called him about another issue, and he had asked about the change in the definition of grand tree.   That Commissioner didn’t support the change either.     Clearly, there was no consensus, but perhaps a narrow 3 to 2 majority in favor of the new rule.    I called a third Commissioner who reported being neither in favor or opposed.    So, it was 2 opposed, one neutral, and, I assumed, one other Commissioner who supported Milliken’s proposal for new and stricter tree regulation.

I assumed that since the Planning Commission works by consensus, and there had been no consensus, it would be a simple matter to return the draft back to the existing definition of grand tree at the next JI Planning Commission meeting on May 9^th.    However, Commissioner Milliken insisted that they vote to change the working draft.  The vote was 4 to 1 against Milliken’s new regulation.
The next day, Commissioner Hardin emailed me to say she regretted her vote and wanted to back Commissioner Milliken.    At the next meeting of the Planning Commission on June 13 and at the Town Council meeting on June 20, Commissioner Hardin said she supported changing the definition of grand tree.  

Commissioners Bevon, Lohr, and Neal voted to keep the Town’s definition of grand tree unchanged for now.    There was never a consensus on the Planning Commission in favor of stricter tree regulation.

Myth 4:  Charleston County and the other area municipalities all define grand trees at smaller diameters than the Town of James Island.

False.   Charleston County, the City of Charleston, and the City of North Charleston all define grand trees as being 24 inches or greater in diameter.   The Town of Mount Pleasant does the same, but calls them “historic” trees.    However, most municipalities have other categories of “protected trees” that are given less protection than “grand” trees.   In Charleston County and the City of Charleston, only the rules for grand trees apply to individual homeowners.

Myth 5:  The Town’s “tree ordinance” defines protected trees as all trees greater or equal than 8 inches in diameter.

False.  The JI Planning Commission recommended that the Town change its Zoning and Subdivision Regulation Ordinance to define “protected tree” as all trees greater than or equal to 8 inches in diameter.   The proposed regulation of these protected trees follows Charleston County and is very similar to the City of Charleston. 

However, the existing Town ordinance, while based on the County ordinance from 2002, includes no separate category of “protected tree.”   Apparently, when the existing ordinance was drafted in 2007, every mention of “protected tree” was replaced with “grand tree.”   The current Town ordinance remains the same.     There is currently no category of “protected tree,” in Town law.   Only if the ordinance recommended by the Planning Commission receives a proper first and second reading will the Town regulate “protected trees,” along the lines of Charleston County and the City of Charleston.

(I helped spread this last “Myth.   I was mistaken and apologize for my error.   It is the Planning Commission’s recommendation that defines “protected trees” as all trees with a diameter greater than or equal to 8 inches.   The existing Town ordinance does not yet include a category of “protected tree.”)