Panel to discuss tree law

Members of the Columbia County Tree Ordinance committee will meet again Monday night to hammer out details in a proposed countywide tree ordinance.

The group already has taken the ordinance, which is currently applying to the Evans Town Center, and applied it countywide - excluding land zoned for agricultural use and single and double-family residences on a single lot. The editing and revision of that plan began at a meeting earlier this month.

"It was not totally difficult," said Planning and Development Director Jeff Browning. "There was a lot already in the ordinance. Reviewing a lot of other county ordinances, particularly from similar counties in the Atlanta area, gave us a sense of security that to do this or to do that made sense because it had been done before in other places."

The committee has reviewed the first three of five pages and will have some guidance from professionals before finishing their review.

"My main problem with this tree ordinance is not knowing (the tree's) species because that is my profession, but knowing how many trees you can justifiably establish on a site," said Steve Brown, a county commissioner and forester.

Roger Davis, a landscape architect who helped put together Richmond County's tree ordinance, will be speaking to the group Monday night about standards in the city and give advice on spacing, layout and what you can accomplish on tracts of land regarding buildings, parking and other commercial site requirements.

Once the committee approves a draft, it will be passed to the county's Planning Commission, who must endorse any change to the zoning ordinance. If that body approves, it then will be passed on to the full county commission for a final vote.

"I think we are doing well," Brown said. "I hope that by the end of the year, we will have something to present to the people of the county."

The meeting will be at 6 p.m. Monday in the government complex auditorium on Ronald Reagan Drive.