2023-07-06 Tree Board Minutes°` "., CITY OF EDMONDS
TREE BOARD
Summary Minutes of Regular Meeting
July 6, 2023
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Board Member Fagerstrom read the Land Acknowledgement
CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
Chair Cass called the Tree Board meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. It was noted that Chris Eck had resigned.
Board Members Present
Janelle Cass, Chair
Bill Phipps, Vice Chair
Kevin Fagerstrom
Wendy Kliment
Crane Stavig
Ross Dimmick (alternate)
Board Members Absent
None
MINUTES:
Approval of June 1, 2023 Tree Board Minutes
Staff Present
Deb Powers, Urban Forest Planner
Others Present
Jenna Nand, City Council Liaison
The June 1 Tree Board minutes were approved as presented.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Chair Cass moved to move the Tree Code Project Updates to item C after the Work Plan Updates and
the Upcoming Events/Projects Discussion. The motion was seconded by Board Member Fagerstrom and
approved with Vice Chair Phipps abstaining.
Vice Chair Phipps moved to add a short discussion on Natalie Seitz' letter to the Board under New
Business, item A. The motion was seconded by Chair Cass and approved unanimously.
Vice Chair Phipps moved to add a discussion on clarifying Edmonds' tree canopy percentages to New
Business, item B. The motion was seconded by Chair Cass and passed unanimously.
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The agenda was approved as amended.
AUDIENCE COMMENTS
There were no audience comments.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
A. 2023 Work Plan Review & Updates
B. Upcoming Events/Projects Discussion
• Edmonds in Bloom — Board Member Kliment said she received the printed signs from Ms. Powers
and just needs to laminate them, attach the stakes, and drop them off to the garden tour contact person.
Arbor Day:
o Board Member Fagerstrom reported the booth and tent have been reserved and will be in front
of the Rusty Pelican restaurant. Vice Chair Phipps will be bringing seedlings; Board Member
Stavig is working on getting some small-scale residential garden trees. Chair Cass will be
getting a hotspot from the Chamber of Commerce for the critical areas mapping activity using
a computer. Chair Cass will make a poster/sign inviting people to check their address for critical
areas. There was discussion about providing a press release to My Edmonds News and getting
on their events calendar. Councilmember Nand recommended forwarding something to the PIO
and using the opportunity to explain the Tree Board's work to the community. Chair Cass said
she would write a draft press release for board approval. There was some discussion about
purchasing additional trees for giveaways with the allotted budget.
o Vice Chair Phipps commented that there are other ways to protect critical areas and
recommended the Board inform people what else they can do besides protect trees. Other board
members agreed that is an important message and noted that other organizations address those
issues with public awareness. Ms. Powers noted the Watershed Fun Fair event as an example.
There was discussion about whether the Tree Board should expand their focus at the Arbor Day
event beyond the tree giveaway and critical area activity. Ms. Powers suggested the Tree Board
host a table at next year's Watershed Fun Fair and note that on the Work Plan under potential
projects. There seemed to be consensus to do that. Chair Cass noted they could provide links to
other groups and information on the webpage since their conversation time with people who
visit the booth will be limited. Board Member Kliment suggested that their focus at the Arbor
Day booth should simply be to help people find out if they are in a critical area and what that
means. Chair Cass concurred. Councilmember Nand recommended that Vice Chair Phipps
could reach out to other boards, such as the Mayor's Climate Protection Committee, to see if
they would want to push out any other messages. There was consensus to allow other groups'
brochures on the table but not have them be an emphasis.
o Councilmember Nand suggested setting up a joint meeting with the Mayor's Climate Protection
Committee. Ms. Powers said she could check with the staff liaison on that committee.
o There was discussion about providing information to people about the right way to plant a tree.
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Tree Walk — Board Member Stavig reported that Bess Bronstein is available October 7t' to lead the tour
immediately following the Arbor Day market event. She will come over prior to that day to refamiliarize
herself with the trees and select the ones for the tour. Councilmember Nand suggested memorializing
which trees she picks in case they want to make this an ongoing event. She recommended in the future
they could consider expanding the tour to other parts of town such as Lake Ballinger area. She also
recommended that the Board come to a City Council meeting to inform them about the Arbor Day
events. Ms. Powers noted that staff will be making a City Council proclamation on Arbor Day events.
• Sierra Park Signs — Vice Chair Phipps reported a message he received from the Lions Club and noted
it does not appear that the sign project will happen this year. They were informed that Parks funds
won't be available for three to four years. There was some discussion about using the $500 allocated
for the Sierra Park signs for another project. Some ideas include more trees for the October giveaway
event or living Christmas tree giveaways at the winter market.
Homeowners' Tree List — Chair Cass offered to put the existing list into Excel and upload it to the
FTP site so they can work on it collaboratively. Councilmember Nand suggested that the list feature
two or three best examples in each tree category and add photos and a hot link to the webpage. Ms.
Powers expressed concern about the staff time it would take to make design changes versus just
updating the list. She showed Seattle's online street tree list as an example of a printable list with
information that homeowners seek about trees. Board Member Kliment suggested just putting a link
to the Seattle list on the website. Ms. Powers thought that would be a good idea until the Board has the
resources to create their own list. Vice Chair Phipps distributed the Tree Board's Right Tree Right
Place brochure as an example of a limited list of recommended trees with photos. There was
discussion about trees and view issues in Edmonds and why the brochure was created. Ms. Powers
discussed the background of the Right Tree Right Place slogan.
• Exceptional Street Trees — tabled
Winter Market — There was interest in adding this to the Work Plan if there are sufficient funds following
the Arbor Day event. Vice Chair Phipps will reach out to the Chamber of Commerce for more
information about the market.
C. Tree Code Amendments - Project Update and Debrief
Ms. Powers recapped the joint Planning Board/Tree Board meeting held the previous week regarding
property owner tree removals. There was enough guidance at the joint meeting to create a draft code
(with some gaps) which will be brought back to the Planning Board at a meeting that has not been
scheduled yet. After that meeting, the Planning Board will discuss changes to the existing code prior to
holding a public hearing, after which they make their City Council recommendation.
Councilmember Nand said she really hopes that the Tree Board's code recommendations are clearly
preserved and communicated to the Council through the Planning Board recommendations and then
Tree Board recommendations to the Council itself. Ms. Powers noted that the Planning Board Chair
clarified roles in drafting code language at the joint meeting. Councilmember Nand said she wanted the
Tree Board to make a recommendation directly to Council so one or two idiosyncratic voices don't get
ahead of the recommendations of the boards who have spent months working on this.
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Vice Chair Phipps said he didn't know if they were even going to be able to come to a consensus for a
recommendation. He expressed frustration that they were just getting around to discussing the topic
tonight at 8:00. He thought they were going to set aside the entire meeting just on this topic. Chair Cass
agreed that was the intention, but she thought they would have been able to get through the other topics
more quickly.
Vice Chair Phipps asked to go around the table and have everyone to give their general
recommendations for property owner tree removal allowances:
• Vice Chair Phipps was in favor of allowing removal of two trees per 12 months (with the
exception of hazard or nuisance trees).
• Board Member Fagerstrom said he was in favor of allowing one removal every five years,
depending on the size of the trees.
• Chair Cass said she was in favor of honoring the resounding public input from 2015 expressing
objection to any mandates that say people must keep their trees. She recommended that their
action should be on education and positive incentives such as using fees -in -lieu to create a grant
program for low income and seniors to get tree maintenance so it isn't such a burden on them.
She also suggested sending educational postcards to people who are in critical areas. If trees are
a community resource, then they need to support the people who are providing this resource to
everyone else. She also agreed with Natalie Seitz that residents should be able to get a deduction
on their stormwater bill if they have certain trees on their property. She said that they are not
following the goals in the Urban Forest Management Plan. She stated that people in Edmonds
love their trees and that there is some evidence that the tree canopy is growing.
• Councilmember Nand said her preference is to preserve 50% of existing trees on lots when
development occurs, and that the next property owner would have to preserve the same trees.
• Board Member Kliment was in favor of limiting tree removals to one or two trees but was unsure
about frequency. Larger tree removals should be limited more, and critical areas should have
the most stringent removal regulations. She noted how the Planning Board considers these
decisions for the future, which isn't necessarily how the Tree Board has been looking at it.
• Board Member Dimmick said his background was in scientific analysis and federal and state
environmental permits. He stated that the data needs to show there is a documented reduction
in tree canopy before considering any limits to private property tree removals. He is sure that
people must be planting lots of trees on their property. If they see negative impacts from the
new housing density rules, they might need to revisit the issue in the future. Board Member
Kliment noted that information might relate more to changes to the development code than
property owner tree removals.
• Ms. Powers emphasized other cities that have been very progressive with their housing codes
to allow what the state is now requiring, also had at the same time property owner tree removal
limits and retention and replanting requirements with development.
• Board Member Stavig said he was in favor of some type of limits to property owner tree
removals. He acknowledged the increase in tree canopy and noted they don't know how that
will be changing before the next canopy analysis. He was supportive of allowing X number of
trees to be removed per year and protecting Landmark Trees.
• Councilmember Nand said she would like to see a work product of bullet points showing what
the Board agrees on, not just individual positions. She was very clear she wanted to hear the
Tree Board's opinion as a body. She stated she was tired of all the consultants who are from
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outside the community coming up with policy recommendations and bringing them forward to
Council when City boards and commissions are not making policy recommendations. Ms.
Powers noted that a public engagement consultant summarized Tree Board input in a report
attached to the recent joint Tree Board/Planning Board meeting agenda. There was some
discussion about the Board's role in making code amendments and how to proceed. Chair Cass,
Vice Chair Phipps, and Board Member Kliment volunteered to form a subcommittee to draft
something for the next Tree Board meeting.
NEW BUSINESS
A. Discussion regarding Natalie Seitz' Letter
• Vice Chair Phipps noted that Natalie Seitz wrote in her letter that the Tree Board's email address
could not be found on the City webpage. The Board asked if the group email address could be
added to the website as only staff contact information is shown. Ms. Powers said she had a
recent discussion about the topic with her supervisor and is interested in the Tree Board's input.
• Chair Cass asked if there have been public comment emails related to the tree code updates
submitted that the Tree Board has not seen. Ms. Powers replied yes; all comments are compiled
and will be attached as public testimony to each decision -making body's public hearing agenda.
Tree Board members indicated they were interested in seeing those comments as they come in.
Ms. Powers replied that it was not the understanding of the person submitting public testimony
that it would be shared with other parties prior to a public hearing. Chair Cass commented that
there are other things that people might want to contact the Tree Board about that are not code
related. She felt that the public has the right to be able to email them if they want to. Board
Member Stavig wondered what the expectations would be for responding to emails. Ms. Powers
noted that a designated Tree Board member will need to respond to each email, screen it for
content and forward them as the Planning Board Chair does now. There was some discussion
about the pros and cons of this. Board Member Kliment expressed concern that they would be
overwhelmed with emails and things they could not respond to. Board Member Fagerstrom
thought that there are already plenty of opportunities for people to comment at public meetings.
• This item was tabled.
B. Clarification about Tree Canopy Percentages on Non-residential Properties in Edmonds
• Vice Chair Phipps requested clarification about what open space and public are. Ms. Powers
explained the land use areas are not clearly defined in the last canopy study and that open space
generally refers to land without buildings or roads. The report is unclear if it was public or
private open space. There was discussion about how this impacts the interpretation of the study.
TREE BOARD MEMBER IDEAS AND COMMENTS
None
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 8:59 p.m.
Next meeting: August 3
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July 6, 2023
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