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Edmonds residents urge pause to "minor" tree-code revisions, cite canopy and fee concerns
Summary
At a Sept. 23 public hearing, planning staff described narrowly scoped legal edits to the city's tree code. Multiple residents urged the City Council to delay changes (except notice-on-title) and to coordinate revisions with the city's urban forest planning work, citing a $2-per-square-foot cap and proposed fee changes.
Edmonds planning staff opened a public hearing Sept. 23 on proposed "minor" tree-code revisions arising from legal issues identified during the Rimmer case, and several residents urged the City Council to pause most changes pending fuller review and coordination with the city's urban forest work.
The proposed draft, staff said, is narrowly focused on legal conformity and includes a newly added definition of "net ecological gain" with a 20-year time period. Brad Shipley of the Planning and Development Department said staff surveyed about a dozen neighboring cities and did not find other municipalities that used a per-square-foot cap like Edmonds' proposed cap of $2 per square foot.
Why it matters: Residents said the changes could weaken protections for large,…
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