The Chamber submitted detailed communications to the City Council which outlined many of the concerns we had with the proposed moratorium on tree cutting and the unintended consequences associated with passage.  Despite our objections, the Council passed a tree moratorium ordinance with only Councillors Toomey and Simmons objecting.  The ordinance imposes a yearlong moratorium on removing trees from private property.  There are exceptions, including in case of emergency or when a tree is dead or dangerous.  The tree protection ordinance doesn’t apply to utilities, public land, developments for affordable housing or for projects of more than 25,000 square feet, which are addressed under a separate large project review process. The ordinance goes into effect on March 11^th.