Commissioner Miguel Angel Gabela’s proposed amendments to a city of Miami ordinance surrounding tree canopy requirements have sparked heated discussions among residents, particularly regarding changes to how the Tree Trust Fund is managed and a simplification of the tree removal permitting process.
Miami-Dade County has long acknowledged research that shows how disinvested and minority neighborhoods often lack shade at higher rates than wealthy communities. A 2016 urban tree canopy assessment found that “tree canopy is positively correlated with median income, but negatively correlated with percentage of African American and Hispanic residents.”
As such, Miami-Dade County has embarked on efforts to increase tree shade to 30%, especially in neighborhoods like Opa-locka, Brownsville, West Perrine, Goulds and Carol City, which currently have a canopy of less than 20%. According to 2020 data, Opa-locka was among the Miami-Dade municipalities with the smallest percentages of existing urban tree canopy, with just 8% coverage.
Miami-Dade County’s Street Tree Master Plan set a goal to reach 30% tree canopy by 2020.
Now, some are worried that Gabela’s proposed changes could hinder some of the county’s progress. A town hall meeting hosted by the District 1 commissioner at Miami’s City Hall on Friday attracted several residents and environmental advocates alarmed by the city’s plan to weaken protections for trees.
City of Miami Commissioner Miguel Angel Gabela.
If approved, Gabela’s amendment would divert a significant portion of the 20-year-old Tree Trust Fund, which has traditionally been used for tree replacement and canopy restoration, toward other secondary purposes, including education and maintenance. Residents worry the shift in funding would limit resources for direct action, like replanting trees lost to development or violations.
Moreover, the proposal was drafted without input from Quatisha Oguntoyinbo-Rashad, who oversees the Environmental Resources Division.
Yvonne Bayona, president of the Miami Historic East Shenandoah Homeowners Association, criticized the proposal, pointing out that developers often remove mature trees with little to no enforcement from the city.
“The developers come in, get a permit approved by the city, and then knock down entire sections of mature trees. There’s no enforcement,” Bayona said. “What they're offering today doesn't make sense. It’s not progress; it’s a massacre of our community’s trees.”
The impact of these changes goes well beyond aesthetics. Trees play an essential role in mitigating Miami’s urban heat island effect, providing shade and cooling the environment, which is crucial for climate adaptation. They also help reduce air pollution, manage stormwater runoff, and absorb carbon dioxide, all of which contribute to combating climate change.
The proposal also has led some to worry about a potential lack of accountability on how the Tree Trust Fund is managed. If implemented, it would grant the city manager and department directors broad discretion over how the fund’s dollars are allocated, without clearly stated oversight or transparency. Residents fear that without clear metrics for accountability, money meant for tree replacement might go unused or diverted to unrelated purposes.
Tree planting has become a prime focus for community activists and environmentalists alike as extreme heat exacerbated by concrete has resulted in risks to public health.
According to reporting by the Coconut Grove Spotlight, between 2015 and 2019 only 21% of the city’s tree fund’s revenues were spent on tree plantings and maintenance, far below the required 80 percent.
“Throughout the meeting, we realized the problem is not with the existing tree ordinance or Tree Trust Fund,” said Sandy Moise, Director of Policy for the Urban Paradise Guild. “The problem lies in the inefficiency of the permitting process, lack of training for city staff, code enforcement, lack of adequate funding and a lack of education…”
Gabela says that the proposed changes would streamline the tree removal permitting process, providing relief to homeowners burdened by the costs of routine tree trimming and removal. Building Department Assistant Director Jose Regalado also said the revised tree ordinance would make way for more affordable housing in the city.
Still, concerns remain that an oversimplified permitting process are a gift to developers, allowing them and property owners to remove healthy trees, further depleting the city’s already declining canopy.
According to Global Forest Watch, Miami-Dade lost about 15% of tree coverage from 2001 to 2023.
Tree canopy is inequitably distributed, with higher canopy areas generally within census block groups with higher median incomes and areas with lower median income generally having much lower canopy.
Jackie Bonilla, executive director of the Urban Paradise Guild, emphasized the critical importance of tree canopies for the city's climate resilience.
“Miami is one of the most climate-vulnerable urban cities in the world. We need to think about green infrastructure, and weakening tree protections is detrimental to our health, well-being, and future,” Bonilla said.
So far, City Commissioner Damian Pardo has expressed opposition to the proposed changes. Chairwoman Christine King, who represents many of the historically Black neighborhoods in the city of Miami, told The Miami Times that she did not want to comment on the proposals until the item is back on an agenda.
A vote was originally planned for Thursday’s commission meeting, but Gabela has since announced that he would defer the measure to a meeting in January. He has already deferred it once before in October.
“It's going to be heard in January because we want the constituents, the residents, to voice their concerns so we can balance out how to do this properly,” Gabela said on Friday.
