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Task force presses staff to strengthen tree-canopy preservation and tie stormwater language to county policy
Summary
Members urged stronger protections for mature tree canopy and clearer references to county stormwater policy; staff said stormwater will be governed at the policy-plan level and added language to link the area plan back to county stormwater and green-building policies.
Andrea and other task-force members pressed staff to emphasize preserving mature canopy and to clarify stormwater and buffer language in the draft. Andrea asked whether the draft included stormwater and buffers; Ryan responded that "we're not needing to write individual site specific, plan text for stormwater issues" and that the draft links back to the county policy plan while bolstering guidance on preserving desirable tree canopy where feasible.
Members recommended highlighting double rows of street trees on major parkways and stronger wording on gathering places and civic spaces. Ryan said staff incorporated updated landscaping guidance and referenced the April 2026 OEEC tree-resilience guidance as the background for the draft's more evergreen language; he also committed to tweak wording to make mature-tree preservation stronger if the task force prefers.
"I do have that language in the latest draft, but I can, we can tweak it some more to to make it, maybe a little bit stronger," Ryan said when asked about mature-canopy language.
