SHORELINE — A final public hearing regarding permanent hazardous-tree regulations was held at the Monday, July 10, meeting of the Shoreline City Council. An ordinance that would adopt permanent regulations is scheduled for a Council vote on July 17.
The topic comes after a tree moratorium was first enacted and later extended several times after extensive cutting and clearing in the Blue Heron Reserve in Innis Arden, which city staff says contains both a wetland and stream. Innis Arden Club members say the trees were cut using a hazardous-tree provision in the city’s critical-areas code.
The tree moratorium is city-wide, not just limited to Innis Arden, and includes an exemption that allows for hazardous trees to be cut with city staff authorization.
Matthew Torpey, city planner, said there have been many meetings on the proposed regulations and much public comment. The new ordinance includes language that expands the review process, he said, and allows the planning director the authority to review any proposal for tree cutting, with input from a city arborist.
Innis Arden resident Nancy Rust said she supports retaining trees and the amendment will help ensure that trees are “truly hazardous” before they are taken down. She hoped the Council would adopt the ordinance.
Resident Wendy DiPeso said the new language states goals and procedure more concisely. New regulations require assessment of the health of a tree, she said.
“The old rules were too vague and broad,” DiPeso said.
Resident Elaine Phelps complimented the city staff and planning commission for the ordinance, saying she is impressed with the final result. The previous regulations were too vague, she said. Her one “small quibble” was regarding the wording for recreational trails.
“This could be anything,” she said. “It is very vague about what a recreational trail is.”
According to Council documents, the code already allows property owners to remove up to six healthy trees every 36 months. In most instances there would be no need for a property owner to invoke the exemption language for hazardous-tree removal in non-critical areas. The text would come into play on non-critical area properties only if a property owner had reached the limit for cutting trees and was then faced with a hazardous-tree situation.
The proposed code amendments, as recommended by the Planning Commission, would institute several changes from the existing, pre-moratorium, hazardous-tree exemption. The existing exemption states that an applicant is to provide a hazardous- tree evaluation form and contact the city prior to tree removal, if practical. As written, there is no indication of what constitutes a hazardous tree, nor is there a process that allows the city to review the proposed exemption.
The proposed code amendments establish criteria that a tree would have to meet in order to determine whether it is hazardous. Also, the ordinance proposes provisions that allow for the planning director to review the hazardous-tree evaluation form, conduct a site inspection, issue approval or denial of the exemption and establish a list of city-approved arborists, according to Council documents.
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