The ordinance passed its first reading Dec. 16 and is expected to be approved by City Council in January. Director of Community Development Craig Meyers said it will help ensure the look of Tomball remains the same for years to come.
“It’s Tomball’s plan to try to preserve our community to the extent we can, preserve our natural resources, our environment [and] try to keep the aesthetic feel that Tomball has had before all this massive growth—to keep it as a forested area that it once was,” Meyers said.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 2023 5-Year estimates released Dec. 12, the population within the city of Tomball grew 12% between the years 2018-2023—rising from 11,644 to 13,032.
“With all this growth came clear-cutting of all this land,” Meyers said. “Even established communities that are adjacent to these [wooded areas] were seeing areas they had seen wooded for so long just being obliterated of trees.”
The setup
Discussions about a tree preservation ordinance began in October 2021 during a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, council member Dane Dunagin said. Dunagin served as a board commissioner at the time.
“We were tired or worried about the clear-cutting that was going on, so we started talking to people, and [the] Planning and Zoning [Commission] asked me to head it up,” Dunagin said.
Dunagin said he created the original list of trees that should be protected with guidance from arborists near and around the community. Over a three-year period, the list grew, and once Dunagin was elected to City Council in May 2022, he said the ordinance became a priority for him, with other council members collaborating to shape it into its current state.
The ordinance would protect 45 different tree types ranging from the American Elm to Willow Oak. It would also require tree classifications and potentially require a survey before the removal of any trees within city limits. No properties will be grandfathered in, according to the ordinance.
Additionally, if an applicant cannot replace a tree, they are allowed to participate in a fee-in-lieu payment mitigation option, according to the ordinance. The payment would go into a city-administered tree fund account.
During a citizens meeting earlier this year where community members could voice what they want to see in the next 10 years, quality of life, sidewalks, parks and green space were on the top of the list, Mayor Lori Klein Quinn said. She also said the ordinance could help Tomball receive the title of a Texas Scenic City, which could help bring more commerce into the area.
- “The city’s seen so much growth, so much clear-cutting, ... and Tomball just didn’t want to wait any longer and wanted to [pass this ordinance] before we build ourselves out to where we don’t have any trees or very limited amounts of trees.” —Craig Meyers, director of community development, Tomball
- “We wanted to have those buffers, that green space, that park-like atmosphere, and it was important to me and to our board that we not clear-cut the whole property. ... We feel like the overall benefit to the area ... is worth the extra effort, the extra trouble. —Jeffrey Klein, CEO, Tomball Regional Health Foundation
- “When a developer does come in, you have a green buffer between the developments—commercial and residential—so you’re not waking up one day and looking at the back of a building.” —Lori Klein Quinn, Tomball mayor
Jeffrey Klein, CEO of the Tomball Regional Health Foundation, which broke ground on a new building within Tomball Medical Center along Medical Complex Drive in November, said foundation officials acted as if an ordinance was already in place.
The foundation conducted a tree survey, which took three weeks to complete, on the 5.5 wooded acres where the 9,500-square-foot administrative and learning center will sit. Klein said the survey took a few weeks to complete and did not delay any processes, but it did add expenses to the development.
“We felt like it’s the right thing to do to preserve green space in Tomball and not clear-cut beautiful trees when we had the opportunity to save them,” Klein said.
Quinn said she believes the foundation is a perfect example of how developers coming into Tomball should proceed with development.
The impact
Since the ordinance will affect every resident within Tomball’s city limits, Meyers said it will not be enforced until proper outreach—such as social media posts, creating an FAQ page and utility bill notifications—has been done.
Once enforcement begins, code officers will patrol the area while on duty, Meyers said. The ordinance states violators may be fined up to $2,000, and each day of violation would classify as a separate offense. Meyers said developers will present the tree survey along with other required documents during meetings with city staff, which will allow for a seamless building process and ensure the ordinance is followed.
“There have been over 2,000 new families [in the last three to five years] that have moved in to raise their families here,” Quinn said. “I don’t see it as a deterrent to development. Someone who wants to be in Tomball will adapt to the tree ordinance.”
