City branching out to seek feedback on proposed tree code

The City of Rehoboth Beach is inviting residents, property owners, and tree and landscape professionals to provide feedback on its proposed, revised tree code. The city has been working on an exhaustive revamp of its tree code over the past two years.

The Board of Commissioners will hold what is expected to be one of its final discussions on the proposed tree code, before considering adoption, at a 9 am workshop meeting Tuesday, April 11. While the public is invited to comment during the workshop, advance written comments are appreciated. The deadline to submit written comments is Friday,

March 17. Written comments may be submitted to City Secretary Ann Womack at [email protected].

Information and documents related to the revised tree code – including the current and proposed codes, proposed approved tree list, and a high-level comparison of the current and proposed codes – is available on the city’s online legislative portal.

Some of the changes to the code include:

• reducing the size of trees to be planted from 12’ tall and 3” in diameter to 8’ tall and 2” in diameter
• maintaining minimum density at three trees, but requiring that one tree must be a native canopy tree and come from a city-approved list
• providing greater measures for tree protection during construction, especially of heritage trees
• simplifying mitigation for removed trees, requiring tree-for-tree replacement
• setting a fee to cover real costs of planting and maintaining a tree on city property for two years.

In addition to eliminating inconsistencies in the ordinance and making it clear, concise, and user-friendly, the code update is designed to address tree retention and replacement, reforestation, and preservation of both individual trees and the urban forest as a whole.

The revised tree ordinance is a compilation of work undertaken by various committees over the past decade as well as the Board of Commissioners over the past two years.