Comment NOW on the City's updated Tree Protection Ordinance!
The Department of Parks & Parkways-- and our urban canopy-- could really use your input! Parks & Parkways introduced the first draft of the updated Tree Protection Ordinance (first update since 1956!) on Oct. 7, 2024 to the New Orleans City Council's Quality of Life Committee chaired by Cm. Lesli Harris. The second draft was posted on Dec. 17, 2024. The Department is now accepting public commentary until next Tuesday, Jan. 21.
Review the Department of Parks & Parkways’
Updated Tree Protection Ordinance and
submit your comments by Tuesday 1/21/2025. (Thanks for making it easy, Parks & Parkways!)
If you've ever planted a tree, or loved a tree, or lost a tree, your voice is important now to ensure better, stronger, more transparent and effective tree protection for that very vital piece of our green infrastructure, our urban forest. Don't have time to review the entire ordinance? Not sure what to say? We get it! These easy-to-digest resources might help you formulate your comments:
- This brief bullet list includes some of the errors and omissions identified by passionate and knowldegeable tree advocates in the current ordinance.
- Tree Canopy NOLA and its member organizations* have identified "three guiding principles that should govern the proposed City Code update":
● Comprehensive and Inclusive Scope of Reform—Don't piecemeal the revisions. Try for ordinances that address a broad scope of needs.
● Stakeholder Interests Represented at the Table—Representatives of stakeholder interests, including neighborhood associations, should be part of a public-private task force engaged in updating the City Code provisions.
● Transparency—Build transparency into the ordinances.
See also TC NOLA's brief
side-by-side comparison of the current draft ordinance under consideration and
TC NOLA's draft ordinance submitted for consideration to council members in March 2024.
*TC NOLA members include the Carrollton Area Network, the Garden District Association, the
Louisiana Landmarks Society, Maple Area Residents, Inc., and Mid-City Neighborhood Organization
