Title
Amending Title IV of the Administrative Code to add Chapter 92, titled Tree Preservation for City Sponsored Projects.
Body
SECTION 1
WHEREAS, trees provide critical benefits to the public, including purifying the air, storing carbon, protecting soil from erosion, reducing the urban heat island effect, providing habitat for wildlife, helping to manage storm water, and providing shade and beauty to the city; and
WHEREAS, Saint Paul’s tree canopy has been devastated by the spread of Emerald Ash Borer; and
WHEREAS, heat islands are urbanized areas that experience higher temperatures than areas with tree canopy cover, due to the absorption of the sun’s heat in buildings, roads and other structures; and
WHEREAS, according to the 2019 Saint Paul Climate Action & Resilience Plan, the greatest risk of exposure to extreme heat is in areas across the city with less dense vegetation and tree canopy cover - namely, portions of downtown Saint Paul, Frogtown, Greater East Side, and Dayton’s Bluff neighborhoods, many of which are also low-income neighborhoods, and on the southern edge of Highland Park; and
WHEREAS, heat islands lead to poor air and water quality, higher energy costs, and an increase in heat-related illnesses, deaths, and negative health outcomes; and
WHEREAS, resiliency strategies within the 2019 Saint Paul Climate Action & Resilience Plan include accelerating tree replacement programming in neighborhoods most impacted by the urban heat island effect; prioritizing tree planting in areas of concentrated poverty and low tree canopy coverage; and supporting early maintenance and care of trees; Now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Saint Paul does hereby ordain:
SECTION 2
Title IV - POLICIES AND PROCEDURES of the Saint Paul Administrative Code is hereby amended to add Chapter 92, titled Tree Preservation for City Sponsored Projects as follows:
Sec. 92.1. Council Finding of Need.
The Council finds that a healthy tree canopy i...
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