Public commenter urges Anacortes to adopt a codified tree preservation plan

During public comment at the June 9 meeting, Mark Nihart, speaking on behalf of Smart Growth Anacortes, urged the Planning Commission to seek creation of a detailed, codified tree preservation plan.

Nihart said that while Anacortes has ordinances and policy language, there is no single definitive preservation plan or checklist staff and the public can consult when reviewing development proposals. He argued that the absence of a standardized document leaves implementation open to administrative interpretation and could allow future planning staff to interpret rules inconsistently.

"Anacortes doesn't seem to have a full up tree preservation plan. It has ordinances, it has policy, but it doesn't have a solid plan... there is no tree preservation plan to even have a checklist against it," Nihart said. He urged the commission to request the council form a team to develop best-practice, science-based standards and to codify them in city code.

Nihart emphasized preserving groups or stands of trees rather than only individual specimen trees, saying groups of Douglas firs are more resilient and that saving single trees without adjacent stands is not equivalent to preserving forested areas. The commission acknowledged his concerns during discussion but did not take formal action on a separate tree-preservation ordinance at this meeting.

Nihart also returned during the public hearing portion to ask that staff'prepared comment responses allow the public to challenge staff findings and to request that local nonprofit organizations (for example, Evergreen Islands) be specifically included among stakeholders to be actively engaged in the PPP for the critical areas update.