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2025 Snohomish County tree canopy report: county exceeded 20-year benchmark for new residential developments
Summary
Planner Diana Janoon told the committee the 2025 tree canopy monitoring report found 60 permit applications required 2,493,144 sq ft of canopy but produced 3,164,107 sq ft (about 80% over the minimum); 4,612 new trees were planted and staff recommended stricter worksheet completion and possible code changes to track pruning/removal.
At the Feb. 17 Planning and Community Development Committee meeting, Diana Janoon, a planner with Long Range Planning, presented the county's 2025 annual tree canopy monitoring report, required by Snohomish County Code (SCC 30.25.16). Janoon said the 2025 reporting period covered 60 permit applications for new residential development in unincorporated Snohomish County and that the code-required 20-year benchmark minimum for those applications was 2,493,144 square feet of canopy.
"The 2025 reporting period exceeded that threshold for new and retained canopy by almost 80% with a total of 3,164,107 square feet of total 20-year tree canopy area," Janoon said. She reported 4,612 new trees were planted in the 2025 reporting period and that 43% of permits proposed to use canopy retention on-site while 57% accounted for newly planted canopy. Janoon also said 26 of the 60 permits retained canopy using either tree surveys or aerial estimation methods and that retained canopy comprised roughly 35% of the required coverage for 2025.
Janoon explained methodology and baselines: historical updates used remote-sensing analysis by GIS specialists in Surface Water Management and a 2020 baseline recorded approximately 38% canopy coverage in unincorporated urban growth areas. She described that newly planted canopy is calculated as a 20-year mature-tree equivalent while existing canopy is measured via aerial survey or on-site tree survey, and that most applicants prefer aerial estimation.
Staff observations included incomplete tree canopy calculation worksheets submitted by many applicants; Janoon recommended continuing to require fully completed worksheets and suggested adding pruning and hazardous-tree removal information to future reports could strengthen monitoring. She noted Planning and Development Services currently does not issue permits for pruning or hazardous-tree removal, which limits tracking and may require a code change to capture that data.
In Q&A, a council member asked whether the 2024-to-2025 retained-canopy comparison used the same residential-area metrics; Janoon confirmed both years concentrate on residential areas and attributed the sizable jump in retained canopy to a greater number of permit applications in 2025 and to simplifying past data for presentation purposes.
Next steps: staff will continue annual updates to the tree canopy dashboard, require complete worksheets from applicants and explore options for tracking pruning and hazardous-tree removal data, potentially via a future code project.
