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Notice/Advertisement Title: Tree Technical Manual Adoption
Contact Name: Rosalie Hendon
Contact Telephone Number: (614) 639-0673
Contact Email Address: rfhendon@columbus.gov
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Columbus Recreation and Parks Department
Tree Technical Manual Adoption
The City of Columbus Urban Forestry Master Plan (UFMP) was approved by City Council in 2021 and is a strategic plan to prioritize, preserve, and grow our tree canopy over the next decades. One of the key actions in the UFMP is to update public tree protections in the City of Columbus.
Public trees are all trees growing on City-owned properties. In Columbus, approximately 30% of the overall tree canopy grows on public land and includes more than 125,000 street trees. Protecting these trees is important to the UFMP’s canopy goals, particularly, stopping net tree canopy loss by 2030.
Columbus City Codes gives authority over all trees planted or to be planted on City-owned property to the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department. Columbus City Council passed amendments to City Codes Chapter 912, Trees and Shrubs, to modernize our public tree protections on December 11, 2023. Enforcement of the new code will begin on August 1, 2024.
One of the updates to Chapter 912 granted authority to the Director of Recreation and Parks to promulgate rules and regulations to implement the code. The Tree Technical Manual is the compilation of these rules and regulations. While the Tree Technical Manual will not be enforced until August 1, 2024, the Recreation and Parks Department plans to put the manual online and host educational sessions for the design community to ensure a smooth implementation. Finalizing and adopting the manual will allow designers, consultants, contractors, and project managers several months before enforcement begins.