2024-03-07 Tree Board MinutesF EyM
CITY OF EDMONDS
TREE BOARD
Summary Minutes of Regular Meeting g9°
March 7, 2024
CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
Chair Cass called the Tree Board meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
Board Members Present
Janelle Cass, Chair (outgoing)
Bill Phipps, Vice Chair
Ian Higgins
Wendy Kliment (incoming)
Ben Mark
Crane Stavig (online)
Ross Dimmick (alternate)
Board Members Absent
None
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Commissioner Mark read the Land Acknowledgement.
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Angie Feser, Parks, Recreation & Human Services
Director
Others Present
Jenna Nand, City Council Liaison
1. Approval of February 1, 2024 Tree Board Minutes
The February 1 Tree Board minutes were approved as presented.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Vice Chair Phipps asked to add a discussion about being involved in the May 18 Watershed event and an interim
amendment to the Tree Code banning removal of landmark trees. The items were added to the end of New
Business. Chair Cass asked to move the election officers up in the agenda to Unfinished Business.
The agenda was approved as amended.
AUDIENCE COMMENTS
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Punam Verma, Edmonds resident, introduced herself and noted she had applied to fill the open Tree Board
position.
Phyllis Becker, Edmonds resident, said she has some tree issues and wondered what the Tree Board does. She
expressed how important the view is to Edmonds residents. She is concerned about trees being planted
everywhere and ruining the views. She thinks huge trees in downtown Edmonds would make a lot of people
happy and a lot of people unhappy. She noted that she is taxed because they have a view and she doesn't want
to lose it.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
1. Officer Elections
Wendy Kliment was nominated and unanimously elected Chair for 2024.
Bill Phipps was nominated and unanimously elected Vice Chair for 2024.
Board members expressed appreciation to Board Member Cass for her service as Chair over the past couple
years.
2. Tree Board's Tree Code Recommendation Letter to Council (Ben Mark)
• Board Member Mark referred to a document he had sent out for board members to review and comment
on related to the Tree Code recommendations. Director Feser recommended that Board Member Mark
work with the Planning Department to determine the next steps for this. There was discussion about the
Tree Board's role in the Tree Code and legal concerns. Board members went through each item on the
spreadsheet, discussed scenarios, and shared their opinions. It was emphasized for all of these items that
the Tree Board was only recommending and any formal action and further consideration of the details
would be done by the Planning Board and City Council.
1. There should be a prohibition on removal of viable trees larger than 30" DSH. — A couple board
members raised concerns about having a blanket prohibition and forcing people to keep trees if
they don't want them or can't take care of them. Most board members expressed support for
this as long as it was clear that invasive, nuisance, or hazardous trees should be exempt. (5 yes,
2 no)
2. Any tree permit fees should be covered by property taxes and not an additional application fee.
— Most board members supported this. One board member thought it could raise concerns by
people about why they have to pay other permit fees but not these. (6 yes, 1 abstention)
3. There should be a minimum of one 6" DBH tree per 3,000 square feet of property following
any tree removal. — There was a question about what would happen if a nuisance/hazard tree
was removed but it was the last 6" DBH tree on the property. There was some discussion about
how Kirkland handles this type of situation with tree credits or replacement trees. Concerns
were raised about situations where people already have less than one tree per 3,000 square feet.
Would they be required to correct that? Board members generally felt that further clarification
is needed. One board member spoke in support of a tree credit system. There was a comment
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March 7, 2024
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that the City should try in general to prevent tree owners from removing all of their trees over
time. One board member noted that this would help to further the City's tree canopy goal and
maybe the City should help fund tree replacements. (5 yes, 1 no, 1 abstention)
4. There should be required tree replacement for removal of 18"-30" trees. If so, how many
replacements? — There was a comment that not all trees are equal, and native conifers should be
worth more credits than non-native trees. One board member expressed concern about requiring
too many trees on a property and interfering with homeowners' ability to use their property as
they would like. There was a question about the percentage of replacement trees that actually
survive and if/how this would be enforced. Two board members recommended having the
option of a tree bank/fee-in-lieu. One board member discussed experience with having
performance bonds for trees replanted in restoration projects in critical areas on private property.
(7 yes with a range of 1-2 replacement trees)
5. There should be required tree replacement for removal of >30" DSH. — A concern was raised
about the number of replacement trees being too high to make sense in certain situations. Asking
someone to plant four trees for one removed is a lot to ask. It was noted that fees in lieu can be
useful in some situations. Several board members were interested in looking at allowing other
native plants such as shrubs for replacements. One board member suggested replacement
exemptions if you already have a certain percentage of your lot covered. It was noted that
removing trees does not necessarily reduce tree canopy if it allows adjacent trees to thrive and
fill in that space. This can be where a tree bank/fee-in-lieu could help. (7 yes)
6. There should be an option for a fee paid to the tree fund in lieu of on -site planting. (7 emphatic
yes)
7. DBH (diameter at breast height) should be changed to DSH (diameter at standard height). —
There was consensus to leave it at DBH but improve the multi -trunk calculation. (7 no)
8. There should be a limit of regulated tree removal to 3 trees per 3 years (or other quantity of
tree/years). — One board member explained this would allow people to remove more trees at
once in order to do projects on their property. There was a question about what would happen
if a house was sold right after trees were removed, and someone new moved in. There seemed
to be agreement that this would be pretty rare, but agreement that the cycle should start over. A
concern was raised about dominant trees being removed leaving just unstable suppressed trees.
(7 yes)
9. There should be a higher level of protection for trees in groves than individual trees. — One board
member thought something like this should be in the code so hazardous trees aren't created by
removing large trees. There was a comment that this needs to be defined. It was noted that a
grove could cross property lines and a recommendation to not remove dominant trees from a
grove. One board member did not think this was necessary because most trees are pretty uniform
in a grove. Councilmember Nand discussed experience she has had with groves. There was
consensus to wait on this one.
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10. There should be a `tree credit' model to assign value to different size or types of trees. —
Kirkland's tree credit system was reviewed. There was a concern that this could get too
complicated. (5 yes in support of the concept, 2 abstentions)
NEW BUSINESS
Tree Board Annual Presentation to Council — March 26, 2024 (Wendy Kliment)
The group reviewed the draft presentation for the City Council shared by Chair Kliment, and board
members made suggestions. Director Feser will need the final version by Friday, March 15.
2. Code of Ethics from Council President Vivian Olson (Chair Cass) — Chair Kliment read the Code of
Ethics.
Work Plan Update (discussion and work session)
Motion made by Board Member Cass, seconded by Vice Chair Phipps, to adopt the 2024 Work
Plan for the Tree Board. Motion passed unanimously.
Tia from Edmonds in Bloom has asked who would be able to commit time to identify trees on private
property for the tree identification signs. Board Member Mark volunteered.
4. Web -based Tree Mapping Project (Ben Mark) — not discussed
Watershed event discussion
The board discussed the May 18 watershed event and the planned "plug" planting activity that would
be available for kids. Director Feser noted that $200 would be earmarked out of the Tree Fund (not the
Tree Board budget) to supply the plugs and soil.
6. Discussion about Proposed Amendment to Tree Code banning removal of Landmark Trees
Vice Chair Phipps referred to comments by Dennis at the last meeting about Big Red and discussed a
movement to ban removal of landmark trees until a Tree Code is finished. There was discussion about
a lack of a definition of landmark tree.
Motion made by Vice Chair Phipps, seconded by Board Member Mark, that the Tree Board
advise the City Council to add an interim amendment to the Tree Code to temporarily halt the
removal of landmark trees, viable trees over 30" in diameter, until the Tree Code is finalized.
There are certain exemptions including nuisance/hazard trees and certain species.
The group debated this matter and discussed whether or not Big Red is a nuisance tree, related condo
actions, whether or not a permit is currently required for multifamily, how this action would not apply
to Big Red, which zones this would apply to, and how some people might be pre-emptively cutting
down trees because they know tightened restrictions are eminent.
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Motion passed 4-2.
Director Feser will discuss how to proceed with the Council President.
STAFF COMMENTS/UPDATES
FTP site, Donations "in the field" program
Director Feser gave an update on looking for an alternative to the FTP site. Because of security issues,
it appears that this won't work. She committed to being responsive to the group with getting information
to them to compensate for that. She also discussed whether or not the Tree Board would be able to take
donations in the field. Staff is still working on it.
TREE BOARD CHAIR, MEMBER COMMENTS
None
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 p.m.
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