Bothell planning commission studies urban-forest update after analysis shows modest canopy decline

BOTHELL, Wash. — At a Sept. 3 study session, the Bothell Planning Commission heard consultants and city staff review findings from a citywide tree-canopy assessment and discussed possible policy directions to retain and grow the urban forest.

Senior planner Cameron Colvin and Matt Picone, senior landscape architect and project manager with Greenworks (working with consultant Planet Geo), presented analysis showing a modest net canopy loss over the past eight years and stressed that most canopy is on private property. “Bothell street canopy is estimated to be about $12,000,000 a year,” Picone said, citing a preliminary i-Tree analysis used to illustrate the value of tree-related ecosystem services.

Why it matters: the consultants and staff said large, mature trees produce most of the measurable benefits — from stormwater reduction to local cooling — and that those benefits work locally, so distribution matters as much as total coverage. The commission spent the session weighing incentives and regulatory options (heritage-tree protections, revised retention metrics, planting requirements for parking lots and street sections) and asked staff to refine recommendations and return with public engagement materials and a draft plan in October.

Key findings and options - Canopy change and ownership: Planet Geo’s analysis framed to the city boundary and urban growth boundary estimated current…