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Everett councilor says proposed tree ordinance needs revision; committee invites city solicitor and arborist
Summary
Councilor Rogers told the Legislative Affairs committee the proposed tree ordinance—meant to protect the city’s tree canopy and clarify permitting and mitigation—needs edits after stakeholders’ arborist recommendations were not incorporated; the committee left the item in committee and asked the city solicitor and arborist to attend the next meeting.
Councilor Rogers told the Everett Legislative Affairs committee on Dec. 9 that the city’s proposed tree ordinance needs further revision after he discovered recommended edits from the city arborist were not applied to the draft.
Rogers said the ordinance is intended "to protect and secure the benefits of the current tree canopy and to protect city-owned trees from purposeful and unintentional damage that results in additional liability and costs" and that the measure would fill a gap because the city currently lacks a detailed tree ordinance. He said the modifications before the committee include definitions of tree types, steps for identifying tree status, permit language and mitigation provisions.
Council VanCampen and others noted the ordinance has been in committee since at least September and asked what remains outstanding, pointing to earlier direction for the City Solicitor to review draft language. Rogers said a stakeholder meeting was held with several named participants and that a communication gap left some arborist suggestions out of the draft text.
Committee members agreed further technical and legal review is needed. A motion carried to leave the ordinance in Legislative Affairs and invite the City Solicitor and the city arborist to the next meeting so the amendments can be applied and the ordinance returned in January in a finalized format.
The committee adjourned afterward.
