The St. Tammany Parish Board of Adjustments approved an after‑the‑fact mitigation plan for a landscape buffer that was cleared during site work, allowing the developer to contribute replacement tree caliper to the St. Tammany Parish tree bank rather than plant on constrained frontage.

Planning staff said the originally approved land‑clearing plan intended to preserve qualified street‑buffer trees but that protected trees were nonetheless removed; mitigation is required under the unified development code. The applicant proposed contributing 55 inches of replacement tree caliper to the parish tree bank as a feasible alternative to overplanting on a constrained site.

Blake Brinson of Stoa Group, the developer, told the board a contractor failed to respect buffer staking during clearing and that staff had been notified immediately. “We sent pictures of all that to staff,” Brinson said, and asked the board to approve the replanting and contribution approach to avoid overplanting that could risk tree survival.

Board members questioned whether required plantings could be accommodated given existing sidewalks and other site constraints; staff and the applicant said the proposed mitigation was consistent with the code’s credit system and the parish arborist’s guidance. A motion to approve the after‑the‑fact replanting plan, with the contribution to the tree bank per the submitted plan, carried unanimously in the recorded exchange.

The applicant was directed to follow up with formal mitigation documentation and to proceed with any necessary permits.