Virginia real estate developers restricted from removing trees
Last week Virginia Governor Tim Kaine signed a new bill into law that will require Northern Virginia real estate developers to preserve a specified percentage of original trees on the land they intend to develop. The bill is intended to help with air quality improvement with additional benefits being preservation of wildlife habitat and storm water runoff filtering.
The law may not have much bite though in a much-needed area of Virginia. According to this story in the Washington Post, “The bill takes effect July 1, but local jurisdictions can choose whether to follow it.”
Treeless neighborhoods having a lasting impact according to Virginia McGuire who lives in Northern Virginia-
“I keep getting upset with my kids when they try to climb a tree,” said McGuire, who is also chair of Leesburg’s Environmental Advisory Commission. She’s worried about the trees being hurt. “You can’t spare any.”
“This was a farm, and there weren’t a lot of trees here, but there were trees here,” she said. “And there’s just nothing left.”
Another sign with a leaf motif announced the development’s name: Oaklawn.
