Some of the Triangle’s prime real estate was previously inhabited by trees.  Thousands of acres have been clear-cut to make room for new developments, but many people are starting to wonder if the environmental price is worth it. NBC17’s Ken Luallen delved into all sides of an issue growing more visible every day.

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Area Ordinances

 

Standing on their front steps, Les and Colleen Knippel imagine their old view of a dense pine forest across the street.

 

Housing developers recently bulldozed almost every tree.

 

"The kids used to go back there and ride their motorbikes," Les Knippel said.

 

Should we grow the Triangle's population or save the Triangle's trees? Grow population Save trees Both, in moderation Not sure

You've been there -- driving along a thick forest and then bam, no more trees.  From the air, before and after pictures of a shopping center in Apex show acres of forest that are now gone.

 

Conservation groups say that clear-cutting leads to more flooding and erosion, less clean air and lowers our quality of life.

"For the past 50 years we've been developing the same way, status quo," Tim Reed of the Capital Group Sierra Club said. "Now, I think we're in a transition and things are starting to change."

 

Most cities and towns now have tree protection ordinances in place that require developers to put up big orange fences around trees they're required to save, sometimes up to 40 percent of the growth.

 

Home builders support that because trees make a home more valuable, but they've fought some laws they say go too far.

 

"You have to change how you're going to build the home because of what in some cases may be one tree," Tim Minton of the Homebuilders Association of Wake County said.

 

Alan and Brenda Eaton wanted to build a dream home on an acre and a half of land they bought more than 20 years ago. Thanks to Raleigh's tree protection ordinances, they had to move the house closer to the road, pay $3,000 for the orange tree protection fences, $2,000 in extra surveyor's fees, and the paperwork delays mean they'll be making mortgage payments four months before their house is even finished.

"All the city knows is trees are trees," Alan Eaton said. "That's like loving babies, everyone loves babies.  But this is the kind of stuff that comes down when an ice storm comes.  I want them away from my house because if they come down on a new house they basically take out the house."

"My dream was to have an in-ground pool," Brenda Eaton said. "That's totally out because of the tree protection area."

Tree protection rules are different in every town.  Raleigh foresters say their laws are effective but have some grey areas.

 

"It's a complex ordinance in that it offers a lot of options to developers and homeowners," Andy Gilliam of Raleigh City tree protection said. "Is it hard to use?  It's hard the first time, kind of like riding a bicycle. You need help."

 

Raleigh is still working out tough questions, such as are little scrub trees as important as old oaks? Does the picture frame requirement -- saving trees on the edges of a lot while clear-cutting the middle -- really follow the spirit of tree preservation?

 

Apex plans to force developers to cut down only what they need to build a house and a front lawn.

Builders say that means extra planning, so you'll pay more.

 

"We think it's a price worth paying," Apex Town Manager Bruce Radford said. "We've never shied away from extremely stringent development requirements, and we won't make excuses for that."

 

Les Knippel is glad the idea of saving trees is coming around, but for his neighborhood forest, it's too late.

 

"I used to come down the street in my car and say how beautiful it was," Knippel said. "I said that consciously many times."

 

A beautiful picture that some say is slipping away. 

Raleigh’s tree conservation task force, which drafted the city’s first ordinance, is now reviewing the rules. They are expected to report back to city council with an update version in early spring.

 

Links to area ordinances

 

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