Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Stormwater topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City staff brief council on tree-canopy goals tied to stormwater permit; downtown census tract identified
Summary
Staff told council the city's NPDES permit requires adopting tree-canopy goals and policies by December 2028. Using county data, staff proposed mapping the downtown/Blackjack Creek census tract as the city's overburdened community for prioritized canopy increases and recommended a citywide approach tied to landscaping-code updates.
City staff advised the council that the city's NPDES stormwater permit requires adopting tree-canopy goals and supporting policies by December 2028 and recommended a citywide approach that prioritizes overburdened communities.
Nick, who led the briefing, summarized the permit obligations: adopt canopy goals and implement policies that use existing and future canopy to reduce runoff and improve receiving-water quality. He told council the work dovetails with the landscaping-code update and is a practical time to set long-term (5–10 year) canopy targets for city-owned parcels and new development.
Staff recommended using the county's data-driven overburdened-community assessment to identify areas for prioritized action. The presentation identified the downtown census tract—bounded by Highway 16 and Blackjack Creek—as the local overburdened area for focused canopy improvements, noting the method considers socioeconomic and environmental indicators.
Council members asked about the raw data and comparability to nearby census tracts; staff said the county framework is the practical, locally used approach unless the city commissions its own study. Staff also explained tree replacement approaches (replacement ratios by caliper) and suggested an implementation strategy that could include planting targets for city properties and landscape standards for new development.
Next steps: staff will provide additional information about canopy benefits, refine mapping and the proposed canopy goal, and return with an implementation schedule and proposed code changes to align with the NPDES permit timeline.
