Chs new policy in place to protect trees as development continues

The city of Charleston Board of Zoning Appeals discussed the possibility of removing 39 Grand Oak Trees on Johns Island Wednesday night.

Those trees, near Caine Slash Road, would make way for a new development phase to come in.

Many people are against the removal of trees, that's why moving forward the city of Charleston has some new requirements.

"We've seen the results of some developments that haven't done the best job at tree preservation," Jacob Lindsey, Director of Planning for the city of Charleston, said.

Lindsey said this comes after not only city officials, but residents of Johns Island have complained.

"This is exactly what happens when they fill in these sights and leave the trees and there's nowhere else for the water to go," said Rich Thomas as he looks at a flooded Grand Oak.

Thomas is worried about the removal of trees, and the trees that would stay.

"As we've seen in Stonoview, the ones they've preserved and protected have been built into these wells and they flood and they drown and they die," Thomas said.

The city is working on new policies to prevent that from happening.

"The developers will be required to submit a reforestation plan and plant over 200 new trees to repopulate the site with new greenery," Lindsey said.

The plan would not only plant new trees to replace the canopy but protect the existing ones.

"In addition, in the next phase of this project, we're looking at practices that would prevent existing trees from being placed at a different level of land around them. We're updating the way we do things in order to protect the existing trees on the site and to require trees to be replanted," Lindsey said.

Copyright 2018 WCSC. All rights reserved.


Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content