On the February 1, 2023 City Commission agenda, I have sponsored an amendment to Chapter 46 of the City Code to provide that an existing palm tree may be replaced with a new palm tree at the same location (i.e. “a palm for a palm”) with no additional mitigation requirement.
Please place a dual referral to the Land Use and Sustainability Committee and the Planning Board on the February 1, 2023 agenda to consider this companion agenda item, to amend Chapter Sec. 126-6(a)(1) of the Land Development Regulations, which provides that “[p]alms shall not count towards the required number of street trees.”
In order to conform the landscaping requirements in the LDRs to my proposed amendment to the mitigation requirements in Ch. 46, this section would, at a minimum, need to be amended to permit palms to count toward the minimum number of street trees. Otherwise, the removal of a palm tree could trigger a new street tree requirement, and palms could not count toward that requirement.