INC NEWS - Mint Hill mulling tree ordinance

[Pat Carstensen]

www.charlotte.com/someck/story/574372.html

Rules drafted to save trees
Clear-cutting of canopy by builders would be prohibited
KARA LOPP
klopp at charlotteobserver.com
MINT HILL --
Officials are considering rules that would prevent builders of new shopping centers, offices and other developments from clear-cutting trees.  The proposed rules would require developers building on 10 acres or more to save or plant trees to equal between five and 10 percent of the site.

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The proposal requires every builder to walk the development site with town officials before submitting plans and mark trees that could be saved. It also calls for trees around the perimeter of the property to either be planted or saved, and street trees must be planted. Developments under 10 acres also have these requirements.

The rules wouldn't apply to owners of duplexes or single-family houses.

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Though the town has a conservation ordinance for homebuilders, which gives incentives for saving trees, it isn't enough, town officials say.

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Projects like the 18-acre Mint Hill Village, 7417 Matthews-Mint Hill Road, have given the ordinance urgency, he said. Developers with the $30 million office and retail project led officials to believe mature trees were going to be spared during construction -- but they weren't.


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