The city of Mission is working on a new tree preservation ordinance, the latest city in northeast Johnson County to look at ways to maintain its mature tree canopy. The Mission City Council during a committee meeting on Wednesday voiced support for a possible ordinance that would outline how to protect, remove and replace trees throughout the city but stop short of stricter regulations like requiring permitting for removal of trees on private property. Other neighboring cities, including Fairway and Prairie Village, already have tree preservation ordinances on their books, either modifying or approving those regulations in the past five years. In Roeland Park, a tree preservation ordinance was a key issue during the 2023 municipal election. That led to a series of recently wrapped-up ward meetings on the topic, which the city council will likely discuss at a workshop next month, City Administrator Keith Moody told the Post. Deputy City Administrator Brian Scott told the Mission City Council on Wednesday that following recent storms this summer, “dead or dying trees have been kind of a hot-button issue for code enforcement.” Scott said some concerns are still lingering from last summer’s major storm that left residents in Mission and other parts of Johnson County cleaning up limbs and debris for weeks. “When anybody sees a tree that is dead or looks like it’s dying, they get very anxious about that, and they’ll call the city,” Scott said.
Source: Johnson County Post
