Commission recommends code change to limit required street trees to lots of 1 acre or smaller and ease permit rules

Planning staff presented a staff-initiated zoning text amendment to clarify where and how street trees must be installed and maintained; after discussion about rural conditions and water availability, the commission recommended changes that would limit mandatory street trees to lots of 1 acre or smaller, make the species list less restrictive in the valley, and adopt a no-fee permit for tree removal.

Director Grover explained staff’s goal was to create predictability for developers by giving clearer parameters for where street trees are required and how irrigation and maintenance will be handled. He said the draft ordinance language would reference an adoptable species list (kept by resolution for ease of amendment) and added that staff revised irrigation language to require developers to propose irrigation systems…