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Staff launches multi-year environmental-review program; stormwater RFP released to ease infill constraints
Summary
City staff released an RFP to update stormwater-management regulations, kicked off urban‑forest engagement, and tied these projects to the city's climate-adaptation work (Resilient Together); commissioners pressed for earlier actions on known developer constraints and emphasized aligning stormwater, transportation and housing goals.
Long-range planner Tori Kennelopoulos delivered a wide-ranging briefing on the city’s environmental regulations and policy-review project and how it maps to the Climate Action Plan and Resilient Together adaptation work. The presentation covered several workstreams staff plans to transition into standalone projects: stormwater-management regulations, urban-forest management, flood-management program updates, water-protection/stream-buffer evaluation, and private-sector resources for high-performance buildings and electric-vehicle charging.
Kennetelopoulos said staff released an RFP for the stormwater-management regulations update and expects to select a consultant this summer; the project aims to increase the feasibility of smaller infill developments by reconsidering thresholds (notably the land‑disturbance thresholds) and promoting on-site green infrastructure. The process will include technical reports, toolkits for developers, and a public-engagement program; staff advised the code changes will also require state approval and estimated a roughly two-year process from consultant selection to completed recommendations.
On tree canopy, staff said the urban-forest-management plan is in community-engagement phase with a public survey and an activity to nominate "your favorite tree" open through May 24. Parks and NDS are collaborating on improved tree-preservation review, enforcement and best-practice guidance for development. Climate program manager Emily Irvin framed the adaptation plan as “the sister plan to the Climate Action Plan” and said the resilience plan is pointing implementation projects toward the environmental-review workstreams.
Commissioners pressed staff on the stormwater timeline and whether known problems (for example the city’s 6,000‑ft2 land‑disturbance threshold) can be addressed sooner than the multi‑year regulatory process; staff said they will look for early opportunities while noting changes to the formal regulations require careful justification and state approvals. Commissioners also urged better integration with transportation, housing-density goals, drought resilience, and utility partners (RWSA). Office of Sustainability director Crystal Rittervald confirmed fall‑back operations like leaf-collection are composted through Panorama Farm and highlighted coordination on urban-forest efforts.
Next steps listed by staff included consultant selection for the stormwater and flood‑management projects, completing urban-forest engagement, producing technical resources and toolkits for the development community, and identifying project leads and funding for the remaining topic areas.
