Belgrade council adopts revised trees-and-shrubs ordinance, gives city forester discretion on tree spacing

Belgrade City Council on a second reading adopted Ordinance 2025-1, revising the city's trees-and-shrubs code to create a city forester position, clarify maintenance responsibilities for street trees and give the forester discretion over spacing and a tree manual.

The ordinance, which the city attorney presented at the hearing, replaces the city's inactive tree board with a forester who will prepare a publicly available tree plan and help the city enforce tree rules. "[The city forester] will create a plan regarding trees that will be available to the public to review and should clarify a lot of the rules and allow the city to enforce any issues that we have with trees," the city attorney said during the public hearing.

The ordinance also clarifies who must maintain trees in the public right-of-way. In response to public questions, the city attorney said subsection 4(c) "just requires the abutting property owner and tenant to maintain all street trees and vegetative growth, adjoin property and keep them free from becoming a public nuisance or hazard. So it's not telling people to be out there... shaping trees to be any particular thing, just only if they become specifically a public nuisance or hazard." The council added language that "all street trees shall be planted in line with each other, and at a spacing determined by the city forester," replacing a blanket 40-foot minimum spacing.

Resident William McCartney, who lives in Ryan Lehi subdivision, told the council he found "logical inconsistencies" in the draft ordinance and questioned the 40-foot minimum. "Forty feet may not be appropriate," he said, describing streets in his neighborhood where trees sit 15 to 20 feet apart.

Council members asked how the forester role and potential maintenance costs would be staffed and funded. Staff said the forester position likely would not be a full-time FTE in the FY26 budget and that maintenance has been paid from a mix of funds; the ordinance would permit the council later to enact a small assessment to offset boulevard-tree maintenance if it chooses. The city attorney said the draft forester plan would include an approved tree list for public areas and that spacing could be tied to the City Tree Manual.

After public comment and questions, the council voted to adopt the ordinance on second reading. The motion passed unanimously.

Council members said the change is intended to resolve recurring disputes over trees in the public right of way, particularly where private yards abut city-owned boulevards and sidewalks. The council and staff indicated the ordinance is an initial step: the forester and a public tree plan would follow and could be used to amend detailed planting and spacing requirements.

The ordinance will be published as adopted and staff will proceed with drafting the tree plan and the list of approved trees that the forester will use.