Lexington firm agrees to plant dozens of trees after axing 4 protected red oaks

An engineering company and Lexington officials have reached an agreement after being at loggerheads for weeks over how the company will replace four red oaks it cut despite originally pledging to protect.

On Thursday, Urban County Planning Commission approved a tree mitigation plan proposed by Vision Engineering that includes the planting of 83 trees on the property near Palomar Drive and Harrodsburg Road. Ongoing construction plans for the property include multiple retail buildings, townhomes and single-family homes.

Those 83 trees are in addition to more than 200 trees that were already required to be planted as part of the city’s ordinances.

Traci Wade, the city’s planning manager, said the Division of Environmental Services, which will oversee the tree mitigation plan, will have a say over what types of species of trees are planted.

Matt Carter, of Vision Engineering, said the plan gives them flexibility so they can move the location of the proposed trees if deemed appropriate by city staff. In total, there will be 306 trees planted on the property, he said.

How four trees were axed

Vision Engineering, which is overseeing the development of the property, and Greer Companies, the developer, had proposed saving the four trees at 4085 Harrodsburg Road when the development plan for the property was approved.

Those four trees were in an area that was a different elevation than the surrounding landscape. A retaining wall and a fence would have needed to be built, which could jeopardize the life of those trees. So the trees were cut, Jihad Halany, president of Vision Engineering, has previously said.

Developers are allowed to change tree protection plans if they get the urban forester to sign off on the changes. But that didn’t happen.

Eric Sutherland, the city’s urban forester, discovered the axed trees earlier this year when he happened to be in the area on another job Sutherland then alerted city officials.

Vision Engineering and city officials have gone through several tree mitigation proposals since mid-June. There was a disagreement between the engineering firm and the city about the amount of square footage of tree canopy that needed to be replaced.

Planning Commission members were not satisfied with Vision Engineering’s initial plans to replace the trees.

During Thursday’s meeting, Planning Commissioner Mike Owens thanked Vision and city staff for finally coming to an agreement on the tree mitigation plan.

Putting teeth in city’s tree protection ordinance

Also on Thursday, the planning commission voted to approve initial changes to the city’s tree protection and landscape ordinance that will help the city have more power to go after developers who cut protected trees.

Eve Miller, a senior planner, told the commission the tree protection and landscape ordinance was first adopted in 1983 and has not been substantially changed since it was passed.

In addition to tree protection, the ordinance also sets standards for landscaping for new development, among other things.

The second phase of the update to the ordinance, which has not yet been proposed, will go into more detail about tree mitigation plans.

Some of the proposed changes will clarify that there can be fines of up to $500 per violation and additional civil penalties if developers or contractors raze protected trees. It also makes clear the city’s environmental division can issue citations.

However, the city can enforce tree protection only during construction. After construction is completed, the city has no authority over those trees.