The Planning & Zoning Commission voted Oct. 23 to direct staff to research raising the fee‑in‑lieu under the city’s tree preservation ordinance, to initiate a nexus study tied to a defensible calculation, and to consult the city attorney on permissible uses of collected funds.

Commission discussion noted that the fee in place for developers to remove protected trees has not acted as a deterrent in some recent projects, citing an example where a property owner paid the fee and removed trees. Commissioners and council representatives said the existing fee may be too low and called for a methodology that ties the fee to actual mitigation costs and local conditions.

Staff and legal comments: Development Services staff noted there are several fees associated with tree removal (permit fees, mitigation fees) and that state law constrains certain uses of public funds. The commission asked staff and the city attorney to review legal boundaries for allowable uses of tree mitigation funds and to propose a defensible fee formula that could be indexed to market conditions.

Motion and vote: A commissioner moved that staff research raising the fee‑in‑lieu, start a nexus study to support any increase, and consult the city attorney on allowable uses; the motion passed unanimously among commissioners present.

Next steps: Staff will return with the fee analysis, legal guidance on permissible fund uses, and recommendations for ordinance changes or implementation steps.