Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Environment Trees topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commission directs staff to pursue tree‑protection code changes and inventory; board lowers protected threshold from 60" to 45" with conditions
Summary
Staff recommended clearer tree‑protection hierarchy, a defined tree‑protection zone, and tiered dripline impact allowances; the board asked staff to seek grants for an urban tree inventory and voted to lower the protected specimen threshold from 60 inches to 45 inches, requiring board review for removals between 45 and 60 inches.
Jeff Hayes and Jessica Klutz of Growth Management presented recommended changes to the county’s tree‑protection rules after the board’s August direction. Staff described two parallel protections: a canopy‑percentage requirement (5/10/20% depending on development type) and an individual high‑quality specimen rule (currently 60 inches diameter at breast height).
Staff proposed codifying a clearer hierarchy for preserved trees that prioritizes conservation management areas and high‑quality specimen trees, and recommended defining a "tree protection zone" as the greater of the drip line or a 1‑foot radius per inch of trunk diameter. To reduce the perverse incentive for developers to remove trees rather than pay mitigation, staff proposed a tiered system that would allow limited dripline impacts (for example, up to 25% of the protection zone with no mitigation, up to 50% with management techniques such as irrigation and mulching) and stronger monitoring requirements.
Commissioners and consultants debated whether the existing 60‑inch threshold for mandatory protection should be lowered. Several commissioners asked for an urban canopy inventory to inform any size‑based threshold. Consultants and developers urged caution, noting impacts to permitting timelines and feasibility if the threshold were lowered without clear, predictable exceptions.
After public comment and discussion, the board adopted staff recommendations with an added provision: lower the protected‑tree size threshold to 45 inches for high‑quality heritage/specimen trees, but require that any removal of trees between 45 and 60 inches be justified to the board under a public‑purpose exemption and approved by the board. The board also directed staff to pursue grant funding for an urban cluster tree inventory and to include the inventory as a budget enhancement if grants are not secured.
Staff said they will return with codified language on the hierarchy, tree protection zone definitions, monitoring protocols, and a plan to pursue grants and, if needed, budgeted funding.
