Tree Management Committee

Note: The following proposed guidelines, which have not been approved by the town council, are intended to be used for the writing of new tree management ordinances for Lake Lure. They are the result of public discourse, feedback and research into ordinances from other communities. Through a workshop, a citizen group articulated the goals below.

 

It is the intent of the Town of Lake Lure to conserve our natural environment, maintain the deeply forested visual landscape on mountainsides and ridgelines and provide for the reasonable economic use and enjoyment of property.   The town supports and encourages the maintenance and preservation of native trees and shrubs, the harmonious design of structures into the landscape and the protection of natural views from the impact of man-made structures.   

 

To these ends, a protective ordinance section should be written; adopted and enforced that supports the following town goals (and provides definitions where needed). The Lake Lure Tree Protection Ordinance should:

 

- Provide standards and requirements for the maintenance, removal and planting of trees on private land.  It should prohibit clear cutting on undeveloped or developed property and provide requirements for replanting trees & shrubs to maintain the forest canopy and aid in erosion control.

 

- Provide standards and requirements for managing trees and shrubs on public and commercial property as appropriate to improve appearance, maximize benefits and minimize hazards.

 

- Provide requirements and incentives that minimize the unnecessary removal of trees by encouraging the integration of existing trees into site design throughout the town.   

 

- Provide hillside and ridgeline development standards to prevent the sawtooth appearance of over cleared ridgelines and minimize the impact of man-made structures on views of existing landscape and open space.

 

- Detail a town requirement to develop and maintain a long-range tree management plans to ensure sustainability of the forest. This plan should identify mechanisms to (1) achieve a healthy proportion of hardwoods, especially along roadways and (2) achieve diversity of native tree and shrub species and range of ages while balancing the need to remove peril trees (a tree that jeopardizes human life or property).

 

- Provide requirements and incentives to use buffer zones on lots through the saving of trees and vegetation in required setback areas.

 

- Provide requirements that protect native trees, shrubs and ground cover during design and construction. 

 

- Provide requirements to reduce the runoff of sediments on properties with insufficient tree, shrub and vegetative cover.

 

- Provide standards and requirements to ensure that trees are integrated into the landscaping of parking lots to provide shade and visual relief from the open space and buildings.

 

- Provide requirements that make environmental preservation a key decision factor in zoning decisions and in variance approvals or denials.