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Public commenter urges stronger tree protections, design review access and scrutiny of MHA fees
Summary
During public comment at the Feb. 10 Land Use and Sustainability Committee meeting, Steve Rubstello told the committee that developer removals are shrinking Seattles tree canopy, urged restoring citizen access to design review, and questioned whether MHA fee splits remained at the promised 50/50.
At the Feb. 10 Land Use and Sustainability Committee meeting, one in-person public commenter, Steve Rubstello, urged committee members to protect Seattles urban tree canopy and to restore community participation in design review.
Rubstello said the city appears to be losing older trees quickly, which he contrasted with planting new, smaller trees and shrubs. "The loss of our canopy is startling," he said, adding that design review had previously allowed citizen input that the commenter feels has been diminished. He also urged the committee to "take a look at MHA fees," saying they were promised to be split 50/50 between people using them and people not using them and asserting "Guess what? It ain't that way." The committee did not directly respond to those assertions during the briefing.
Context: The public comment preceded a technical briefing on proposed permanent floodplain regulations. Rubstello's remarks raised distinct land-use concerns—tree canopy, design review and the distribution of housing-fee proceeds—that the committee or staff may address in later meetings or in separate agenda items.
Next step: The committee proceeded to the scheduled briefing and did not take action on the public comment items during this meeting.
