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Home My WebLink AboutPlanning 2013-06-27 Item 4 H - Public Hearing: Advisory Committee Meeting Memos and MinutesCity of Tukwila Jim Haggerton, Mayor Department of Community Development Jack Pace, Director MEMORANDUM DATE: August 24, 2012 TO: Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee FM: Carol Lumb, Senior Planner Sandra Whiting, Urban Environmentalist RE: September 26, 2012 Advisory Committee Meeting Hello everyone, and welcome to the Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee. I am enclosing a copy of the agenda for our first meeting and some materials for your review. Please note that the meeting will start at 6:00 p.m. in Conference Room 2 of the Department of Community Development, 6300 Southcenter Blvd (the white building next to City Hall) and one of the items we will discuss is revising the start and end time of future meetings. We are trying to accommodate everyone's schedule and the desire on the part of many of you to start the meetings earlier, however, one Tree and Environment Advisory Committee member is participating on the City's Strategic Plan Steering Committee, with meeting times that overlap somewhat with ours (4 -6 p.m.) for the first couple months. We have included a variety of readings for your review. One of the tasks of the Advisory Committee will be to advise the City on revisions /additions to two of the chapters of the City's Comprehensive Plan on goals and policies related to trees and the natural environment. I have included the two chapters of the current Comprehensive Plan that address these two issues and identified the relevant goals and policies with either an arrow or checkmark next to the number. • Community Image Chapter: Goals 1.3, 1.4, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.10 • Natural Environment Chapter: there is minimal mention of trees and vegetation protection in this chapter — see goals 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 and policies 4.1.7, 4.2.2 and 4.3.3 and the references under Implementation Strategies for policies 4.1.1 and goal 4.2. We would like the Committee to help us expand the goals, objectives, policies and implementation strategies to incorporate trees and urban forest management into this chapter. I have also included the regulations from the City's Zoning Code that implement the existing goals and policies. • TMC 18.45, Environmentally Sensitive Areas, (TMC 18.45.070 B. 9.) • TMC 18.50, Landscape, Recreation, Recycling/Solid Waste Space Requirements • TMC 18.52, Tree Regulations The Committee will recommend revisions to the Comprehensive Plan chapters that will go to the Planning Commission and City Council. The policy recommendations from the Committee will be used CPL Page 1 of 2 W: \\Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials\Memo 1 06/10/2013 6300 Southcenter Boulevard, Suite #100 • Tukwila, Washington 98188 • Phone 206 -431 -3670 • Fax: 206 - 431 -3653 August 24, 2012 Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee September 26, 2012 Meeting by staff to then revise the implementing regulations, create new regulations and/or develop new programs. We don't expect you to be conversant on these materials — instead, we hope that it will help familiarize you with the policy and regulatory context that we currently have in the City. We will be providing you with a detailed table that summarizes all the existing regulations the City now has related to trees and vegetation for a later meeting that should help to guide the Committee's discussions. The final group of reading materials provides some background information on the biology of trees, and the benefits trees provide to communities. • The Benefits of Trees • Trees are Good, But... • The Case for More Urban Trees • Primer on Tree Biology (from Trees and Development, by Nelda Matheny and James R. Clark) At our first meeting, we will give you a three ring notebook and dividers in which to keep the materials we provide you for each meeting. We look forward to seeing you on September 26, 2012 — please call or e-mail if you have any questions in the meantime. Enclosures cc: Nora Gierloff, Deputy Director, Department of Community Development Kimberly Matej, Council Analyst CPL Page 2 of 2 W: \\Long Range Projects\Urban Forestry \Advisory Committee Materials\Memo 1 94 06/10/2013 1:35 PM Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee — Meeting Notes Meeting 1, September 26' 2012 Committee Members in Attendance: Nancy Eklund, Christian Faltenberger, De'Sean Quinn, Stephen Reilly, Don Scanlon, David Shumate, Heidi Watters, Kathleen Wilson Members of the Public in Attendance: Kelli Turner, Barry Crosby Staff in Attendance: Nora Gierloff, Carol Lumb, Sandra Whiting The meeting began at 6 pm. Topics of Discussion: 1. Introductions of committee members and staff 2. Public comment: (Time will be set aside at the beginning of each meeting for brief public comments; the Committee is meeting in work session format, therefore, questions or comments from the public that come up during the course of the meeting should be directed to staff via e-mail or telephone calls after the meeting.) There was no public comment 3. Housekeeping issues and operating procedures: a. The December meeting will be on December 19tH b. Meetings will begin at 6 pm until further notice c. The committee roster with contact information will be distributed to all members d. Materials for the committee will be mailed out as hard copy and by email with links to the documents on the City's website. Staff will try to have materials sent out 2 weeks before each meeting. e. Meeting notes will be posted on the City's website after distribution to committee members. The meetings will also be taped — the audio file will be made available upon request. f. Committee will operate by consensus, but Robert's Rules of Order will be used, if needed to move issues along. Strong minority opinions on recommendations will be forwarded on to the Planning Commission and Council. 4. Powerpoint presentation on planning authority in Washington, Committee context and role, starting point of this project, why trees and tree policies are important, next steps. 5. General discussions a. Tree City USA criteria b. Existing ordinances related to vegetation and sensitive areas and related to landscaping requirements and issues with their implementation. c. Source of push for changes to ordinances and improvement of tree /landscaping regulations and likelihood for Council support of Committee's recommendations. d. Current practices and programs in the City related to trees (plans, inventories, etc.) and relationships between City departments. SW Page 1 of 2 06/10/2013 1:38 PM W:\ \Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee \Meeting Materials \Meeting 1 Notes 95 Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee — Meeting Notes e. Development patterns and expectations for growth in Tukwila (housing permits, Tukwila Urban Center /Southcenter Plan, Tukwila South Master Plan) f. General City budget levels g. Next steps and future meeting topics Action Items 1. City will provide links to the following maps for the Committee's review and use and will try to have the maps printed and mounted for the next meeting: a. Comprehensive Plan b. Zoning c. Parks d. Sensitive Areas 2. The City will provide a list of the top 5 to 10 issues that staff considers important for the Committee to consider by November 1. 3. Committee members will each develop a list of 5 -10 key questions or topics they would like to explore and will send them to Carol by November 1. 4. City will provide results of previous analysis of possible locations for stream daylighting projects (as mentioned in existing Comp Plan policies. 5. City will revise /correct the meeting table (schedule and topics) that was handed out at the meeting. The meeting closed at 8:15 pm. SW Page 2 of 2 06/10/2013 1:38 PM W:\ \Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee \Meeting Materials \Meeting 1 Notes 96 City of Tukwila Jim Haggerton, Mayor Department of Community Development Jack Pace, Director MEMORANDUM DATE: October 19, 2012 TO: Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee FM: Carol Lumb, Senior Planner Sandra Whiting, Urban Environmentalist RE: November 1, 2012 Advisory Committee Meeting Enclosed please find materials for our next Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee meeting for your review: • Agenda • Revised Meeting Schedule • Draft 9 -26 -12 Meeting Notes • Ten Key Issues Identified by Staff • TMC 11.20 Right -of -Way Vegetation Regulations We will have two speakers at our next meeting. The first is Linden Mead, who is an Urban and Community Forestry Specialist with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, speaking to us on the benefits of trees. She will be followed by Ian Scott, Project Developer with the Davey Resource Group, who will present the initial results of the Draft Urban Tree Canopy Assessment. The City was fortunate to receive a grant from the Department of Natural Resources to pay for the preparation of the assessment. The information from the assessment will help guide establishing tree canopy goals for different areas of the City. Receipt of the revised Draft Tukwila Urban Tree Canopy Assessment from our consultant has been delayed until Wednesday, October 24th, so I will e-mail you a copy as soon as it is received and then mail you a hard copy. That way, you can hopefully start reviewing the electronic copy prior to receiving the paper copy in the mail. At the September 26th meeting, the Committee discussed providing staff with a list of 5 -10 key issues. These are due to staff by November 1st — it would be helpful to have these electronically if that is possible. Staff has provided the Committee with its list in this Agenda packet. We look forward to seeing you on November 1, 2012 — please call or e-mail if you have any questions in the meantime. Enclosures cc: Nora Gierloff, Deputy Director, Department of Community Development Kimberly Matej, Council Analyst CPL Page 1 of 1 W: \\Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials\Memo 2 06/10/2013 6300 Southcenter Boulevard, Suite #100 • Tukwila, Washington 98188 • Phone 206 - 431 -3670 • Fax: 206 -431 -3 98 Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee Meeting Notes Meeting 2, November 1, 2012 Committee Members in Attendance: Sean Albert, Nancy Eklund, De'Sean Quinn (arrived 6:40 p.m.), Stephen Reilly, Don Scanlon, David Shumate, Heidi Watters, Kathleen Wilson Committee Members Absent: Christian Faltenberger Members of the Public in Attendance: Daryl Tapio, Sharon Mann Staff in Attendance: Carol Lumb, Sandra Whiting The meeting began at 6:05 p.m. Topics of Discussion: 1. Brief introductions of committee members and staff, members of the public in attendance. 2. Public comment: (Time will be set aside at the beginning of each meeting for brief public comments; the Committee is meeting in work session format, therefore, questions or comments from the public that come up during the course of the meeting should be directed to staff via e-mail or telephone calls after the meeting.) There was no public comment 3. Powerpoint presentation by Linden Lampman, Urban and Community Forestry Specialist for Washington State Department of Natural Resources. A copy of her powerpoint will be posted on the City's Urban Forestry web page and provided to the Committee members. Ms. Lampman provided background information on urban forestry and the importance of having an urban forestry program and she discussed the benefits of trees, including the social, environmental, and economic benefits. Ms. Lampman provided some resource materials to the Committee including: an article called "The Case for Large Trees vs. Small Trees; a brochure on Trees and Parking Lots, and a brochure on "How to Prevent Tree /Sign Conflicts ". The Committee exchanged questions and comments with Ms. Lampman, including: • Getting away from a linear planting approach, and considering grouping of trees, especially where there are space limitations — as well as not using only one or two types of trees for street plantings — when a tree disease strikes, you can lose a substantial amount of your tree canopy; • Making sure underground utility lines are identified on landscape plans to avoid tree root /pipe conflicts; • Being mindful of where trees are planted - right tree (try developing approved tree lists for various site conditions), right place — to avoid conflicts between structures and trees, particularly during storm events; • Trees and parking lots — the type and amount of trees required can depend on whether the parking lot is serving commercial or industrial uses and conflicts between trees and lighting can be minimized by carefully locating lights away from tree islands or installing lower lights that won't be shaded by large trees; • Urban areas are not a native setting — use of native trees falls in the "right tree -right place" category — native trees are often too big for urban areas or the environmental conditions do not support what native trees require; • Using incentives to preserve trees is good policy • Using structural soils for trees in parking lots or for street trees can allow for larger trees in smaller planting spaces. CL Page 1 of 2 11/13/2012 4:58 PM W:\ \Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials \Meeting Notes 11 -1 -12 99 Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee Meeting Notes 4. Powerpoint presentation by Ian Scott, Davey Resource Group, on the preliminary results of the Urban Tree Canopy Assessment prepared by Davey Resource Group for the City of Tukwila. Mr. Scott explained how the data was gathered, analyzed, and evaluated for accuracy for the City's Canopy Assessment. He also discussed the results of the study for Tukwila overall and for different land use areas of the City and presented a preliminary assessment of potential canopy cover (taking into account non - impervious surfaces potentially available for planting trees). For comparison purposes Mr. Scott provided information on the amount of tree canopy in other local jurisdictions, recognizing that other cities have very different characteristics than Tukwila. Mr. Scott noted that, based on the results of running a software program called I -Tree VUE, the City's current tree canopy of 25% provides $423,000 in value to the City in terms of carbon dioxide sequestration, ozone removal, etc. Staff pointed out that a revised report will include additional information for tasks that were added to the contract later and are not in the current draft version of the report. The Committee had comments and questions as follows: • Whether the economic benefits assessment analyzed the negatives of trees (such as leaf drop) — the I -tree Vue software only looks at the benefits provided by trees; • How to translate the benefits trees provide in a language that makes sense to private property owners; • Incentives versus regulations to encourage more trees; • Determining what canopy goals would have the greatest effect on overall canopy cover in the City (for example evaluating the actual acreage of different land uses and focusing increasing tree canopy on areas that will have the largest impact). 5. Housekeeping items: a. The meeting notes for 9/26/12 were approved by the Committee. b. Staff clarified that the Parks Commission does not serve as the Tree Board for the City — rather an ad hoc group of City staff from Parks and Public Works deals with tree issues throughout the City. c. A roster with contact information of Committee members was handed out to the Committee. d. Staff pointed out the Comprehensive Plan and Zoning map and the Sensitive Areas Map that were provided in the meeting room, as well as informing the committee that links to these maps had been provided on the City's website. e. Next meeting will begin review of current natural environment goals and policies in the Natural Environment Chapter of the Comprehensive Plan — the Committee will be asked to provide guidance on revisions to these goals and policies. Action Items 1. Staff will provide the Committee with proposed revisions to Natural Environment goals and policies for their review prior to next meeting. 2. Committee members will provide to staff a list of issues they wish to discuss and /or questions or information they feel they need to carry out their work. The meeting closed at 8:15 pm. CL Page 2 of 2 11/13/2012 4:58 PM W:\ \Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials \Meeting Notes 11 -1 -12 100 City of Tukwila Jim Haggerton, Mayor Department of Community Development Jack Pace, Director MEMORANDUM DATE: November 20, 2012 TO: Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee FM: Carol Lumb, Senior Planner Sandra Whiting, Urban Environmentalist RE: November 28, 2012 Advisory Committee Meeting At our next meeting, the work of the Advisory Committee will begin in earnest, as we start looking at Comprehensive Plan goals (and then policies) that will guide City actions on the natural environment for years to come. The Committee, acting to represent the larger Tukwila community, will make recommendations for changes that will ultimately be reviewed by the Planning Commission and City Council. I thought it might help to provide several definitions to help your preparation for the meeting and the discussion on comprehensive plan goals and ultimately policies: Goal: a broad statement of what should exist in a community or what the community wants to achieve in the future. Ideally, the goals are shaped by the citizens in the community to guide future actions by government. Policy: a more specific statement than a goal; a policy describes a particular course of action to accomplish the comprehensive plan goals. As we begin our review of the Comprehensive Plan, we think this is an opportunity to step back and think what should be accomplished by this chapter. To that end, staff developed a list of key topic areas that, to us, comprise the natural environment. If the Committee agrees with this approach, we will discuss whether there are other topic areas that should be added before moving on to review the existing goals and staff - proposed goals. To help set the context of the current Natural Environment goals and policies, Sandra will make a presentation at the beginning of the meeting on the regulatory environment (Federal, State and local laws) for wetlands, streams, rivers, stormwater, and steep slopes. Then she will talk about the City's Sensitive Areas Ordinance (TMC 18.45) because it is the key ordinance that is used to implement our current Comprehensive Plan goals and policies for the natural environment. We look forward to seeing you on November 28th — please call or e-mail if you have any questions in the meantime. CPL Page 1 of 2 W:' \Long Range Projects\Urban Forestry \Advisory Committee Materials\Memo 3 06/10/2013 6300 Southcenter Boulevard, Suite #100 • Tukwila, Washington 98188 • Phone 206 - 431 -3670 • Fax: 206 - 431 -i51 November 20, 2012 Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee November 28, 2012 Meeting Enclosures: • Agenda • Draft 11 -1 -12 Meeting Notes ■ 11 -1 -12 Linden Lampman Powerpoint • 11 -1 -12 Ian Scott Powerpoint • Existing Natural Environment Goals • Key Natural Environment Topic Areas • Staff Proposed Topics and Goal Statements ■ Linden Lampman Handouts from 11/1 Meeting (for those who did not receive them): "How to Prevent Tree /Sign Conflicts," and "Trees and Parking Lots" cc: Nora Gierloff, Deputy Director, Department of Community Development Kimberly Matej, Council Analyst CPL Page 2 of 2 W: \\Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry \Advisory Committee Materials\Memo 3 102 06/10/2013 1:40 PM Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee Meeting Notes Meeting 3, November 28, 2012 Committee Members in Attendance: Sean Albert, Nancy Eklund, Christian Faltenberger, De'Sean Quinn , Stephen Reilly, Don Scanlon, David Shumate, Kathleen Wilson Committee Members Absent: Heidi Watters Members of the Public in Attendance: Daryl Tapio Staff in Attendance: Carol Lumb, Sandra Whiting, Nora Gierloff The meeting began at 6:05 p.m. Topics of Discussion: 1. Welcome to Committee members and visitors. 2. Public comment: (Time will be set aside at the beginning of each meeting for brief public comments; the Committee is meeting in work session format, therefore, questions or comments from the public that come up during the course of the meeting should be directed to staff via e-mail or telephone calls after the meeting.) There was no public comment. 3. Check -in with Committee members: The Chair asked if Committee members have any questions or comments from the previous meeting that they wanted to discuss • The Committee asked whether staff agreed with Linden Mead's comments about use of native trees (that due to their size at maturity they often are not a good fit for urban settings) - staff agrees with Ms. Mead's comments and the general rule of thumb "right tree, right place" — being sure you think about what the appropriate tree is for the space that you have. • There was general discussion that studies have shown that much wetland mitigation is not successful, how the Federal and State governments have revised wetland mitigation requirements and actions to improve success and the extent to which there is follow up after mitigation is in place. 4. Housekeeping: • The Committee discussed possibly meeting on either Tuesday, December 18th or Thursday, December 20th instead of Wednesday, December 19th because two Committee members have a conflict with the 12/19 meeting. Staff will check with Committee member Heidi Watters on her availability for the alternate dates. • The Committee approved the meeting notes from the 11- 1- 12meeting with no corrections /revisions. 5. Powerpoint presentation by Sandra Whiting, Urban Environmentalist, on the City's Sensitive Area Ordinance (SAO), found in TMC 18.45, to provide background information to the Committee since the current goals and policies in the Natural Environment Chapter of the Comprehensive Plan largely address sensitive areas issues. Sandra discussed the federal and CL Page 1 of 3 11/13/2012 4:58 PM W:\ \Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials \Meeting Notes 11 -28 -12 103 Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee Meeting Notes state context for the local regulations (Federal Clean Water Act, Washington State Growth Management Act, Tukwila Comprehensive Plan goals and policies, SAO) purpose of the SAO, general standards and requirements, how the ordinance is working, and issues on which the committee might want to provide policy guidance. The powerpoint included photos of several mitigation project sites in the City and Sandra discussed the City's experiences with carrying out volunteer restoration projects in sensitive area buffers on public properties. 6. Key Natural Environment Topic Areas for the Natural Environment Chapter of the Comprehensive Plan: Committee consensus was that the list provided by staff captured the key natural environment concepts except that for wildlife habitat "and corridors" should be added to broaden this key topic area. 7. Natural Environment Chapter Goals: The Committee began to review the existing Natural Environment goals and discuss possible revisions to the goals. The committee provided the following direction: • The Committee recommended that the archaeological /paleontological goals and policies be moved to the Community Image chapter, to be grouped with the historic resource goals and policies, but include a cross reference in the Natural Environment chapter to recognize that many natural areas have archaeological and paleontological resources. A question was raised about whether there are policies on culturally significant resources (for example places important in Native American traditions, such as North Winds Weir), and if not, it was suggested that this topic be added to the Comprehensive Plan. Nora Gierloff clarified that the recently adopted regulations for historic resources apply to the built environment and not to other types of cultural resources. The Committee discussed whether a stewardship goal (referring to trained volunteers that work on restoration projects) was needed. It was decided that the proposed staff policies related to this topic would be evaluated and then a decision would be made about whether an additional goal was needed. • The Committee discussed whether there should be public access to public mitigation sites, where appropriate, (for example direct public access might not be appropriate if the goal of the mitigation was to enhance wildlife habitat, but some access feature like a viewing platform might be useful for educational purposes). Staff will come back with proposed language for a goal on this topic. • The Committee recommended revising the language of the goals to change the action verbs to "end statements" — i.e. statements of what outcomes we want to achieve . For example, the first goal initially read: "Restore and protect the quality of the City's air, land and water resources for future generations." The revised goal, based on Committee direction, would read "The City's air, land and water resources are restored and protected for future generations." The Committee continued review of the remaining goals and provided guidance on end statement wording. Staff will revise all the goal language for the Committee's review for the 12/19 meeting. CL Page 2 of 3 11/13/2012 4:58 PM W:\ \Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials \Meeting Notes 11 -28 -12 104 Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee Meeting Notes 8. Check in — the Chair asked if there were any questions that the Committee has that need to be addressed before the close of the meeting. 9. The meeting closed at 8:00 pm. 10. Action Items for staff follow -up: a. Staff will provide the Committee with proposed revisions to Natural Environment goals based on the direction provided on wording (end statements rather than action verbs). b. Staff will provide a cross reference in the Natural Environment chapter regarding the archaeological /paleontological goals /policies in the Community Image chapter. c. Staff will research whether there are policies or regulations on culturally significant resources and will prepare a draft goal to that effect for inclusion in the Community Image chapter. d. Staff will come back with proposed language for a goal or policy on public access to public mitigation sites. CL Page 3 of 3 11/13/2012 4:58 PM W:\ \Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials \Meeting Notes 11 -28 -12 105 106 City of Tukwila Jim Haggerton, Mayor Department of Community Development Jack Pace, Director MEMORANDUM DATE: December 12, 2012 TO: Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee FM: Carol Lumb, Senior Planner Sandra Whiting, Urban Environmentalist RE: December 19, 2012 Advisory Committee Meeting We will continue review of the Natural Environment goals at our next meeting. Staff has revised the format of the goals to be "end statements" rather than use action verbs in the wording based on direction of the Committee. Staff has also included for your review proposed policies that support the goals. A reminder that we are meeting on our original date of Wednesday, December 19th — but the meeting time will stay at 6:00 p.m. for this meeting in the hopes that the Committee members with another commitment that evening will be able to join us for some of the evening's discussion. Our meeting start time will switch to 5:30 p.m. in 2013. We look forward to seeing you on December 19th — please call or e-mail if you have any questions in the meantime. Enclosures: • Agenda • Draft 11 -28 -12 Meeting Notes • Revised Natural Environment Goals and Policies cc: Nora Gierloff, Deputy Director, Department of Community Development Kimberly Matej, Council Analyst CPL Page 1 of 1 W: \\Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials\Meeting 4\Memo 4 06/10/2013 6300 Southcenter Boulevard, Suite #100 • Tukwila, Washington 98188 • Phone 206 - 431 -3670 • Fax: 206 - 431.31 108 Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee Meeting Notes Meeting 4, December 19, 2012 Committee Members in Attendance: Sean Albert, Nancy Eklund, Sharon Mann, De'Sean Quinn , Don Scanlon, David Shumate, Heidi Watters Committee Members Absent: Christian Faltenberger, Stephen Reilly, Kathleen Wilson Members of the Public in Attendance: Brooke Alford Staff in Attendance: Carol Lumb, Sandra Whiting, Nora Gierloff The meeting began at 6:05 p.m. Topics of Discussion: 1. Welcome to Committee members and visitors. 2. Public comment: (Time will be set aside at the beginning of each meeting for brief public comments; the Committee is meeting in work session format, therefore, questions or comments from the public that come up during the course of the meeting should be directed to staff via e-mail or telephone calls after the meeting.) There was no public comment. 3. Check -in with Committee members: The Chair asked if Committee members have any questions or comments from the previous meeting that they wanted to discuss • The Committee had continued comments about Comprehensive Plan goals and policies — this discussion is reflected below. • The Committee welcomed new member Sharon Mann, who is the new Planning Commission representative to the Committee, replacing David Shumate who is moving out of state. 4. Housekeeping: • The Committee approved the meeting notes from the 11- 28- 12meeting with no corrections /revisions. 5. Goals and Policies: The Committee continued its discussion of the goals and policies for the natural environment, reviewing the 12/11/12 draft provided in the materials for the 12/19/12 meeting. The following guidance on additions /revisions to goals and policies was provided by the Committee: • More detailed goals and policies for hillside development and flood control need to be included — the City of Puyallup Comprehensive Plan goals, policies and objectives were provided as an example of more detailed Comprehensive Plan language. • Make sure that there is a goal /policy of no net loss for wetlands (note: there is already a policy — second bullet down in Wetland, Watercourses and Fish Habitat section that addresses NNL). CL Page 1 of 2 11/13/2012 4:58 PM W:\ \Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials \Meeting Notes 11 -28 -12 109 Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee Meeting Notes • More emphasis should be placed on educating Tukwila residents on tree canopy, yard care, pesticide use etc. • The policies should be written to include statements on how they will be implemented, or a separate implementation section should be considered. Staff indicated they think having a section that addresses implementation on a chapter -wide basis would be more useful than the current approach in the Natural Environment Chapter. • Is there an opportunity to use Channel 21 to inform the public about environmental regulations? • A reference should be added to shoreline goals and policies, which are located in another chapter of the Comprehensive Plan. • Include (at least for now) footnotes or some way to indicate what regulations implement the policies. • Provide on -going training opportunities for City staff on environmental stewardship. The Committee discussion concluded after the first bullet on the third page of the nine page goals and policies document. It was agreed that staff should indicate in black the changes already discussed and approved by the Committee and show other changes in strike - out /underline. 6. Check in — the Chair asked if there were any questions that the Committee has that need to be addressed before the close of the meeting. Staff was asked about the schedule for the Committee's work to review the Natural Environment goals and policies — the Committee is behind schedule according to the time line provided at the second meeting. There may need to be adjustments to the review schedule to complete the tasks identified in the Resolution establishing the Advisory Committee. 7. The meeting closed at 8:00 pm. 8. Action Items for staff follow -up: a. Staff will provide the Committee with proposed revisions to Natural Environment goals based on the direction provided 12- 19 -12. b. Staff will provide a cross reference in the Natural Environment chapter regarding the shoreline master program. c. Staff will indicate which regulations implement the policies. CL Page 2 of 2 11/13/2012 4:58 PM W:\ \Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials \Meeting Notes 11 -28 -12 110 HCAI City of Tukwila Jim Haggerton, Mayor Department of Community Development Jack Pace, Director DATE: January 115, 2013 MEMORANDUM TO: Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee FM: Carol Lumb, Senior Planner Sandra Whiting, Urban Environmentalist RE: January 23, 2013 Advisory Committee Meeting We will continue review of the Natural Environment goals at our next meeting. Staff has revised the goals and policies to reflect the direction from the Committee at the 12/19/12 meeting. Please review the revisions to the first section of the document to make sure it reflects the direction of the Committee. Staff is proposing that we not revisit the first three and a half pages of the Goals and Policies document unless we have seriously missed the mark on Committee directed revisions to the first section. We would instead pick up where we left off on December 19th - this place is marked on page four of the Goals and Policies document with a series of X's two- thirds of the way down the page. When the Advisory Committee has worked its way through the entire document, including working on urban forestry goals and policies, the Committee will have an opportunity to go back and review all the goals and policies in the context of the entire Chapter prior to finalizing the document to forward to the Planning Commission for its review. Some other explanatory notes on the revisions you will see in the goals and policies: • The color has been used for totally new text that the Committee has not seen before - staff has added this new goal /policy either at the direction of the Committee, or after reviewing the City of Puyallup's objectives and policies or reviewing the City's flood plain and clearing and grading regulations and adding goals /policies to address gaps in the current text. • The Committee indicated at the last meeting that seeing how the goals and policies are implemented would be helpful. After many goals or policies you will see text inw and enclosed in parentheses — these are references to the regulations that would or currently do implement the referenced item. • The Committee had directed that once it reaches consensus on text, that the text color be changed to black — staff will make this change with the next iteration of the document after the Committee confirms that the revisions to the first three and a half pages reflect the Committee's direction. Since we are running a bit behind schedule, staff would like to take up each section of goals /policies — water resources, beginning on page 4, water quality /quantity, flood control, earth resources — rather CPL Page 1 of 2 W:c,\Long Range ProjectsAlrban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials\Meeting 5\Memo 5 06/10/2013 6300 Southcenter Boulevard, Suite #100 • Tukwila, Washington 98188 • Phone 206 - 431 -3670 • Fax: 206 - 431 -3W January 11, 2013 Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee January 23, 2013 Meeting than review each individual goal or policy. We would appreciate it if the Committee would review each goal/policy carefully and come prepared to identify revisions that are needed. A reminder that we will start meeting at the new time of 5:30 p.m. We look forward to seeing you on January 23'd — please call or e-mail if you have any questions in the meantime. Enclosures: • Agenda • Draft 12 -19 -12 Meeting Notes • Revised Natural Environment Goals and Policies cc: Nora Gierloff, Deputy Director, Department of Community Development Kimberly Matej, Government Relations CPL Page 2 of 2 W:.\Long Range ProjectstUrban Forestry \Advisory Committee Materials\Meeting 5\Memo 5 112 06/10/2013 1:44 PM Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee Meeting Notes Meeting 5, January 23, 2013 Committee Members in Attendance: Sean Albert, Nancy Eklund, Christian Faltenberger, Sharon Mann, Don Scanlon, Heidi Watters Kathleen Wilson Committee Members Absent: Stephen Reilly, De'Sean Quinn Members of the Public in Attendance: Eli Brocker Staff in Attendance: Carol Lumb, Sandra Whiting, Nora Gierloff The meeting began at 5:40 p.m. Topics of Discussion: 1. Welcome to Committee members and visitors. Nora Gierloff filled in for Chairperson De'Sean Quinn. 2. Public comment: (Time is set aside at the beginning of each meeting for brief public comments; the Committee is meeting in work session format, therefore, questions or comments from the public that come up during the course of the meeting should be directed to staff via e-mail or telephone calls after the meeting. These communications will be passed along to the Committee) Eli Brocker introduced himself— he is a City employee who works at the golf course, however he is finishing up a degree in environmental studies at Green River Community College and has an interest in environmental and tree issues. He had no comments or questions for the Committee. 3. Check -in with Committee members: The Chair asked if Committee members have any questions or comments from the previous meeting that they wanted to discuss There was no follow up questions /comments from the last meeting. 4. Housekeeping: • Staff confirmed that the Committee's meeting day will move to the second Wednesday of the month beginning with the March meeting. The February meeting will be Wednesday, February 27th and the March meeting will be Wednesday, March 13tH • The Committee approved the meeting notes from the 12- 19- 12meeting with no corrections /revisions. 5. Natural Environment Chapter Goals: The Committee continued its review the revised Natural Environment goals and revisions to the goals. The committee provided the following direction: • Organization /Structure: each goal should have the applicable policies follow it, rather than grouping them all together after the goals; • There don't seem to be policies to implement the second goal on page 1; • Start numbering the goals and policies to make it easier to reference; • Review the two new policies on page 2 for appropriate location; CL Page 1 of 2 06/10/2013 1:46 PM W:\ \Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials \Meeting 5 \Mtg Notes Draft 113 Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee Meeting Notes • Develop a goal that addresses climate change /global warming — an aspirational statement • Have an overall goal regarding stewardship and education, then in each subsection, include a policy that references back to the Stewardship section • Pros /cons of allowing mitigation to be located outside Tukwila and fee -in -lieu programs — the committee recommended including as policies, exploring the topics of fee -in -lieu mitigation • Include a policy to assist property owners interested in using their property for off -site wetland mitigation • Include policies or a policy to establish incentive programs to encourage property owners to steward their sensitive areas, use low impact development techniques, etc. Make sure one of the goals or policies addresses water quality of storm water that flows in ditches to City's streams or directly to Green /Duwamish River. • There was a great deal of discussion on whether to allow pesticides to be used in buffers — no consensus from Committee on whether to change the language or take both viewpoints forward. • The Committee will not deal with open space issues, given that the Department of Parks and Recreation is beginning a planning effort to update the current Parks and Open Space Plan. In the interest of moving the process forward, staff asked that the Committee review the revisions to be sent out as a result of this meeting and also look at the sections of the Natural Environment Chapter that have not yet been discussed, and submit comments in writing to staff, rather than discussing them at the next meeting. 8. The meeting closed at 7:50 pm. 9. Action Items for staff follow -up: a. Staff will re- organize the Chapter to place policies after the goals they implement; b. Staff will draft a goal that uses aspirational language to address climate change /global warming c. Language revisions will be made to goals /policies as directed by the Committee d. The Powerpoint presentation on the City's Sensitive Areas Ordinance that was presented to the Committee at Meeting 3 will be provided to those members that missed the meeting. e. The report prepared to support the City's designation of properties that could be used for off -site mitigation will be provided to the committee. f. Provide reminder to committee members to submit written comments to staff on the new revisions and the topic areas not yet discussed in committee meetings. The February 27th meeting will begin the discussion on urban forestry — there will be a presentation on the City's tree ordinance and a presentation on other jurisdictions' tree regulations and tree programs. CL Page 2 of 2 06/10/2013 1:46 PM W:\ \Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials \Meeting 5 \Mtg Notes Draft 114 City of Tukwila Jim Haggerton, Mayor Department of Community Development Jack Pace, Director MEMORANDUM DATE: February 11, 2013 TO: Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee FM: Carol Lumb, Senior Planner Sandra Whiting, Urban Environmentalist RE: February 27, 2013 Advisory Committee Meeting At our next meeting, we will begin the discussion of urban forestry by viewing two presentations, the first on the City's current tree regulations and then second, a review of six other jurisdictions' approach to trees and urban forestry. We are sending this memo out to you a little early in order to give you more time to review the revisions to the Natural Environment goals and policies based on the direction the Committee provided at our last meeting. We will be taking these up only if there is time at the end of our next meeting. In the meantime, staff would appreciate your reviewing the revisions and sending us any comments you may have, particularly for the sections that we have not gone through as yet. If we don't have time to discuss the revisions at the next meeting, we will take them up at the end of the Committee's work when we review the entire package of goals and policies that will go to the Planning Commission for its review. A few comments on the revisions that were made: • A policy has been added to address climate change — 4.1.1 • The Committee had recommended revising policy 4.9.2 to prohibit development in the flood plain. We talked with staff in Public Works on possible language but ended up retaining the current language after that discussion. The current FEMA regulations that the City follows allow filling in the flood plain if there is no net loss — i.e. compensatory storage is required elsewhere to offset the fill. New FEMA regulations are under discussion — whatever those are the City will be obligated to enforce. As a result, it seemed appropriate to just implement whatever the current FEMA regulations are. As a point of information, there is very little area of the City that falls within the flood plain — most is protected by levees currently. • Some of the Committee had asked for copies of the report staff prepared on off -site wetland mitigation as well as the powerpoint on the city's Sensitive Areas Ordinance. Rather than print these out for everyone, these will be posted on the City's web site with the other materials included in your packet for the February 27th meeting. The web site is: http:// www. tukwilawa .gov /dcd/treepolicy.html. CPL Page 1 of 2 W't\Long Range Projects' Urban Forestry \Advisory Committee Materials\Agendas- Memos - Materials \Meeting 6\Memo 6 06/10/2013 6300 Southcenter Boulevard, Suite #100 • Tukwila, Washington 98188 • Phone 206 - 431 -3670 • Fax: 206 - 431 -315 &5 Tukwila Tree and Advisory Committee February 27, 2013 Meeting We hope to have materials for the March 13th meeting ready to distribute at the February meeting so that you have some extra time to review them as we transition to our meeting date of the second Wednesday of the month. Two reminders: we will start the meeting again at the new time of 5:30 p.m; and in March, we move to a new meeting day, the second Wednesday of the month, March 13t . We look forward receiving any edits /revisions to the enclosed goals /policies from you and seeing you on February 27th - please call or e-mail if you have any questions in the meantime. Enclosures: • Agenda • Draft 1 -23 -13 Meeting Notes • Revised Natural Environment Goals and Policies cc: Nora Gierloff, Deputy Director, Department of Community Development Kimberly Matej, Government Relations CPL Page 2 of 2 06/10/2013 1:45 PM 116 W :V%Long Range Projects\Urban Forestry \Advisory Committee materials\Memos, Agendas\Meeting 6 \Memo 6 Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee Meeting Notes Meeting 6, February 27, 2013 Committee Members in Attendance: Sean Albert, Nancy Eklund, Christian Faltenberger, Stephen Reilly, De'Sean Quinn, Don Scanlon, Heidi Watters, Kathleen Wilson Committee Members Absent: Sharon Mann Members of the Public in Attendance: Brooke Alford Staff in Attendance: Carol Lumb, Sandra Whiting, Nora Gierloff The meeting began at 5:35 p.m. Topics of Discussion: 1. Welcome to Committee members and visitors. 2. Public comment: (Time is set aside at the beginning of each meeting for brief public comments; the Committee is meeting in work session format, therefore, questions or comments from the public that come up during the course of the meeting should be directed to staff via e-mail or telephone calls after the meeting. These communications will be passed along to the Committee) No public comments were presented. 3. Check -in with Committee members: The Chair asked if Committee members have any questions or comments from the previous meeting that they wanted to discuss Open Space: Since this committee will not directly deal with open space issues in the Environment Chapter update due to the update of the Parks, Recreation and Open Space Plan (PROS Plan) there is still an opportunity for the Committee members have input. Please send and comments, questions etc. to Carol, who will ensure that the Parks Department (and /or their consultant) will receive it, since either Carol or Nora will be on an internal staff committee for the plan update. Staff will provide a copy of the policies in Word so that the Committee can make suggested edits /comments directly in the document. 4. Housekeeping: • The Committee approved the meeting notes from the 1 -23 -13 meeting with no corrections /revisions. • Reminder that the next meeting will be on Wednesday, March 13, 2013. 5. PowerPoint presentation "Current Tukwila Tree Policies and Regulations ". Sandra Whiting presented information on what the existing Comprehensive Plan goals and policies say related to trees and other vegetation, which are all found in Chapter 1— the Community Image chapter. She also presented a summary of Tukwila's tree regulations and clarified that the presentation focusses on trees in general, and not landscape (meaning trees planted as part of approved landscaping plans in conjunction with site development) or street tree regulations. Those regulations will be discussed at a later meeting. The key points that were discussed follow: CL Page 1 of 4 06/10/2013 1:47 PM W:\ \Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials \Meeting 5 \Mtg Notes Draft 117 Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee Meeting Notes a) Are property owners made aware of the presence of sensitive areas on their property and the limitations that the sensitive areas regulations and tree regulations place on activities on the property? • Informing such property owners might improve compliance with the regulations. Staff informed the committee that no formal, comprehensive steps have been taken to inform property owners, but that this could be a new policy in the Environment Chapter update, if the committee so desires. b) Does the City have policies for requiring tree removal companies to be qualified and have insurance? • Right now the City does not require any evidence of qualifications for private tree removals, but that recently the City has started to require that businesses doing work in Tukwila (but without an actual office in Tukwila) obtain a business license. Possibly through this mechanism, the City can require proof of insurance, and some sort of qualifications. • Staff will research how other jurisdictions manage and regulate tree removal companies. c) How is the removal of hazard trees handled? What is meant by a certified arborist and how anyone can be sure that an arborist is qualified to determine if a tree is hazardous? • Someone from DCD goes out to see the tree in question and when the hazards are obvious, the property owner is allowed to remove the tree without a permit. • When hazards are not obvious, the City may require an evaluation by a certified arborist. • The City prefers that arborists certified by the International Society of Arborists (ISA) be used and that they also have a risk assessment certification process for evaluating trees that should be used. • There is a list of ISA certified arborists that property owners can access through the ISA website • The committee suggested that the City's website could contain a link to that website. d) There was a great deal of discussion about tree removal on steep slopes and how steep slopes are defined in the tree regulations. • Steep slopes are defined in the Sensitive Areas regulations as any slope over 15 %. Per the Tree Regulations, a permit is needed for removal of trees on slopes, except that on single - family zoned lots, up to 4 trees in a 36 month period may be removed without a permit. • The committee pointed out the lack of clarity in the regulation regarding trees on steep slopes and the fact that not all steep slopes may be unstable, or that short slopes may not be a problem. • The Committee recommended better defining "steep slopes" — staff indicated this would be reviewed at the next update of the SAO regulations and that the policy for removal of trees from steep slopes could be clarified through future modifications to the tree regulations. e) How accurate is the steep slope mapping? CL Page 2 of 4 W:\ \Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials \Meeting 5 \Mtg Notes Draft 118 06/10/2013 1:47 PM Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee Meeting Notes • The mapping was prepared using aerial photography and that site topography is confirmed by an applicant's surveyor when individual development is proposed. • Does the City have the resources to carry out topographical surveys to confirm slopes? Staff replied that such an effort would require a great of City resources and permission from private property owners to enter their property for the survey work. • Staff noted that under a proposed new policy the City would incorporate topographic data from private development proposals into its GIS system. f) There was discussion about tree protection best management practices and how they are verified in the field. Also, the committee discussed Seattle's approach to instituting fines for tree damage or tree removal without a permit that are based on the monetary value of the tree, and that trees meant to be retained on construction sites have placards on them indicating the value of each tree (which is an effective measure to promote good practices to protect the tree during construction and also to make citizens aware of the value of the tree). 6. PowerPoint presentation on Tree Programs and Regulations in Other Jurisdictions: Brooke Alford, a Master of Landscape Architecture candidate at the UW presented a PowerPoint on a comparison of the urban forestry policies, canopy goals and tree regulations of five jurisdictions' in the Pacific Northwest: Kirkland, Lacey, Renton, Vancouver (WA) and Portland, Oregon (note: a copy of this presentation will be emailed to Committee members and will be posted on the City's website.) The committee asked what the basis was for setting canopy goals in Vancouver WA — was it based on planned planting projects, the City's knowledge of future projects, other? The criteria or information used for goal establishment was not immediately available, but such criteria may be relevant for Tukwila's proposed canopy goals. The committee commented on the various approaches that other cities use for funding tree programs and found it particularly interesting that some cities use funds from stormwater utilities, because of the link between the benefits of trees and stormwater management. It was pointed out that something like that might be possible in Tukwila, but that the utility tax structure would need to be evaluated. The committee was interested in one city's establishment of a "trust fund" where fines and other funds related to tree management are placed and are dedicated to tree programs. Seattle has a similar program, but the funds go into the City's general fund and are not directed specifically to tree programs. Brooke has information on exemplary incentive programs that she will provide to the Committee and staff. The committee requested that the PowerPoint presentation be made into a PDF for posting or emailing out to committee members. 7. The meeting closed at 7:45 pm. 8. Action Items for staff follow -up: CL Page 3 of 4 06/10/2013 1:47 PM W:\ \Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials \Meeting 5 \Mtg Notes Draft 119 Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee Meeting Notes • Provide Brook Alford's PowerPoint presentation to the Committee in PDF format (it will also be posted on the City's web site). • Add policy to Chapter 4 on periodic notification of property owners on sensitive areas on their property — or incorporate into policy /goal on educating Tukwila residents and businesses • Research how other jurisdictions manage and regulate tree removal companies — consider how to incorporate into goals /policies • Provide a link to the ISA website from the City's website for a list of ISA certified arborists CL Page 4 of 4 06/10/2013 1:47 PM W:\ \Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials \Meeting 5 \Mtg Notes Draft 120 City of Tukwila Jim Ilaggerton, Mayor Department of Community Develop'inent Jack Pace, Director MEMORANDUM DATE: March 1, 2013 TO: Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee FM: Carol Lumb, Senior Planner Sandra Whiting, Urban Environmentalist RE: March 13, 2013 Advisory Committee Meeting At our next meeting, we will begin the discussion of proposed urban forestry goals and policies. A preliminary draft of goals and policies focused on general tree issues is enclosed. These policies do not address landscaping or street tree policies (although sometimes it is difficult to separate them). We plan to discuss the landscaping and street tree policies at the April Advisory Committee meeting. Staff will e-mail you a Word copy of the proposed goals and policies so that, after reviewing the material, if you have specific edits you would like to see, these can be provided to staff prior to the meeting. We hope that by providing staff with specific edits prior to the meeting this will allow the discussion to focus more on giving broader policy direction to staff. We are also enclosing a copy of the final Urban Tree Canopy Assessment, completed by Davey Resource Group. Recommendations from this Assessment form the basis for the proposed canopy goals included in the Draft Goals and Policies document. This packet includes two other background reading pieces: • City of Seattle "Private Property Tree Regulations Update" Director's Report, dated July 16, 2012. • City of Tacoma Urban Forest Policy Element — Tacoma has had an urban forestry program for a number of years — their Policy Element is more extensive, reflecting a larger City than Tukwila and greater resources to devote to urban forestry efforts. We are including it as a good example of an urban forestry comprehensive plan chapter. Over time, as Tukwila gains experience with an urban forestry program and, as staffing and resources permit, the City may build to a more extensive urban forestry program like this one. We will post Brooke Alford's PowerPoint presentation from the February 27a' meeting on the City's website ( http:// www. tukwilawa .gov /dcd/treepolicy.html) by early in the week of March 4th. As has been mentioned, we are running behind schedule as we spent more time on the natural environment goals and policies than expected. DCD is scheduled to present the Natural Environment Comprehensive Plan chapter at the Planning Commission's June 27th meeting, which means the Committee work needs to be wrapped up by late May. Would you please look at your calendars and see CPL Page 1 of 2 W: \\Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry \Advisory Committee Materials\Agendas- Memos - Materials \Meeting 6\Memo 6 06/10/2013 6300 Southcenter Boulevard, Suite #100 • Tukwila, Washington 98188 • Phone 206 - 431 -3670 • Fax: 206-431-3U51 Tukwila Tree and Advisory Committee March 13, 2013 Meeting if it is possible to meet a little longer on our scheduled meeting nights, or, as an alternative, if it is possible to schedule additional work sessions. We would like to discuss these options at the March meeting, so please bring your calendars. We look forward to seeing you on March 13th - please call or e-mail if you have any questions in the meantime or if you will not be able to attend the meeting. Enclosures: • Agenda • Draft 2 -27 -13 Meeting Notes • Draft Urban Forestry Goals and Policies • Final Tukwila Urban Tree Canopy Assessment • City of Seattle "Private Property Tree Regulations Update ", Director's Report (July 16, 2012) • City of Tacoma Urban Forest Policy Element cc: Nora Gierloff, Deputy Director, Department of Community Development Kimberly Matej, Government Relations CPL Page 2 of 2 06/10/2013 1:47 PM 122 W: "tid.Long Range Projects' +,Urban Forestry \Advisory Committee materials\Memos, Agendas\Meeting 6 \Memo 6 Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee Meeting Notes Meeting 7, March 13, 2013 Committee Members in Attendance: Sean Albert, Nancy Eklund, Stephen Reilly, De'Sean Quinn, Sharon Mann, Kathleen Wilson Committee Members Absent: Christian Faltenberger, Don Scanlon, Heidi Watters Members of the Public in Attendance: Daryl Tapio, Rick Forschler, Vicki Lockwood, George Fornald, Richard Jordan Staff in Attendance: Carol Lumb, Sandra Whiting, Nora Gierloff The meeting began at 5:35 p.m. Topics of Discussion: 1. Welcome to Committee members and visitors. 2. Public comment: (Time is set aside at the beginning of each meeting for brief public comments; the Committee is meeting in work session format, therefore, questions or comments from the public that come up during the course of the meeting should be directed to staff via e-mail or telephone calls after the meeting. These communications will be passed along to the Committee) Public comments were presented by 5 residents of Sea -Tac: Richard Jordan, Geroge Fornald, Vicki Lockwood, Daryl Tapio and Rick Forschler, a member of the SeaTac City Council. One of the attendees, Mr. Tapio, owns rental property in Tukwila, and is a developer who has done projects in Tukwila. He sent a letter via email on 3/13/2013 directed to the Committee with a request that copies be distributed by staff to the Planning Commission, City Council, Mayor and City Administrator. In general all the comments from the public were aimed at recommending that Tukwila not expand tree regulations to private property, particularly residential property - that property owners and developers value trees and only remove trees for specific reasons. All the commenters expressed the view that tree retention can be achieved through education and incentive programs and that regulatory requirements are not needed to maintain existing canopy coverage in residential areas. Mr. Tapio presented a hand -out to Committee members on tree policy issues providing reasons trees are removed, benefits of trees, the negative aspects of regulations and benefits of property owner control of trees. Mr. Tapio also believes that there is no representation on the committee for small developers. 3. Check -in with Committee members: The Chair asked if Committee members have any questions or comments from the previous meeting that they wanted to discuss. • The Committee discussed the remaining meeting schedule in relation to deadlines for completing work by the end of May, in time for preparing for staff presentation of the Committee's recommendations on natural environment and urban forestry goals and policies to the Planning Commission in June. • Members in attendance agreed to meet until 8:30 pm at the April and May meetings and to hold the date of May 29th open for a final meeting, if it is necessary. CL Page 1 of 4 06/10/2013 1:51 PM W:\ \Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials \Meeting 5 \Mtg Notes Draft 123 Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee Meeting Notes 4. Housekeeping: • Following up the discussion about the remaining time left for work on the goals and policies there was a discussion on whether too much time has been spent "word - smithing" the goals and policies and whether this would slow down the remaining review process. It was stated that the committee's role is to provide broad policy guidance and that staff should be writing the actual language. Others felt that there had not been a lot of time spent at Committee meetings reworking goal and policy language, but rather that time had been split between receiving information at meetings often via PowerPoint presentations and then discussing goal and policy language. Some members of the Committee felt that some level of "word - smithing" was needed to ensure that goals and policies reflected what the Committee intended to say. • The Committee approved the meeting notes from the 2 -27 -13 meeting with no corrections /revisions. • Reminder that the next meeting will be on Wednesday, April 10, 2013. 5. Review of draft staff proposed urban forestry policies: The Committee discussed the staff - proposed policies, using the edits submitted by Committee member Nancy Eklund as a starting point for some of the language. Issues discussed were: a. General: The Committee discussed the use of incentives and education versus regulation (in general) as varying approaches to goals and policies for urban forestry. Tacoma's urban forestry element of their Comprehensive Plan was cited as a good example of a "softer" tone than some of the staff - proposed policies and uses words like "encourage" and "collaborate ". b. Goal 1 and Policies. There were no suggested changes to the staff - proposed goal or policies. Note: later in the meeting, the policy of establishing a heritage tree program was briefly discussed — the committee supports this as a way to bring people together and to educate the public. c. Goal 2 and Policies. • Committee members asked about the source of the proposed canopy goals. Staff indicated that they were developed through discussions with the tree canopy study consultant (Davey Resource Group) based on their experience in what cities have been able to achieve for certain kinds of land use categories. In general, the Committee recommended considering more aggressive goals, at least for office, commercial, the urban center and the Tukwila South areas of the City. Since achieving goals in these areas will be mostly based on landscaping and street tree installation as the areas develop /redevelop, staff suggested that this issue be revisited after the discussion at the next meeting, which will deal with landscaping and street tree policies. The Committee agreed. • There was some discussion regarding the time frame for achieving the canopy goals (currently shown as 15 years — which is the timing for updates to the Comprehensive Plan), and staff was concerned about achieving higher goals in such a short time. The Committee also questioned whether canopy studies will be done periodically to monitor progress - staff replied in the affirmative, although the frequency has not been discussed. CL Page 2 of 4 06/10/2013 1:51 PM W:\ \Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials \Meeting 5 \Mtg Notes Draft 124 Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee Meeting Notes • Staff proposed deleting policy 1.b as it will be duplicated by the proposed rewording for policy 1.d. The Committee agreed. • There was considerable discussion regarding proposed policy 1.d. - prohibiting the removal of tree stands or groves on undeveloped property without an approved development permit. o Some Committee members thought that prohibiting tree removal until a site development was approved was a good policy. o Other Committee members thought that rather than tree retention through regulation that tree retention should be achieved through education, incentives and flexible development policies. There was concern that regulating trees on undeveloped property would result in not allowing a property owner to realize the full development potential and would be prohibitively restrictive for future development. o There was also concern that if the current tree replacement table was required, that there would not be enough room to plant all required replacement trees on a property in question. Concern was raised on the density requirement of 70 trees per acre and of how does this translate to a 7200 sq. foot lot. Staff clarified that the current tree replacement requirements only apply in sensitive areas and the shoreline, and that these would not necessarily apply to development outside of these areas — unless that is the direction provide by the Committee o Staff also pointed out that the proposed policy would not mean that no tree removal would be allowed to accommodate development —that it was merely a proposal to prevent tree removal for no reason, without an actual plan for development. o Staff pointed out that since most of the undeveloped properties appear to be in areas zoned for residential uses, there are really not that many incentives that could be offered (such as additional building height or smaller setbacks) that would not interfere with neighborhood character or be opposed by existing residential property owners. o It was suggested that not regulating trees on undeveloped property may result in some "tragedies" regarding tree removal, but that the City should work with property owners to discourage tree removal before there is an actual plan to develop the site. o It was suggested that staff hold some focus group meetings with developers and property owners whose property is large enough to develop, to obtain input on how such a policy would affect them before finalizing the Committee's recommendations. o Also, since it is not known at this time how much property with tree canopy might be undeveloped, it was suggested that staff should obtain this information to inform the discussion. o The Committee was unable to reach consensus on this proposed policy and asked staff to develop a new policy that would set forth a "middle ground" approach. • The Committee agreed that the City should not regulate tree removal on already developed private property (unless it is in a sensitive area, the shoreline or required as part of a landscaping permit). CL Page 3 of 4 06/10/2013 1:51 PM W:\ \Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials \Meeting 5 \Mtg Notes Draft 125 Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee Meeting Notes • The Committee agreed that the City should not regulate tree removal on underdeveloped property — i.e. those that could be subdivided or short platted (with the same exceptions as the previous comment). • Policy 3 generated some concern about what is meant by "in- kind ". Staff proposed striking the beginning of this policy to clarify the intent. • Policy 4. The Committee expressed concern about limiting topping trees under overhead utility lines. Staff replied that the policy was intended as protection of tree roots and not to prevent utility companies from pruning trees beneath utility lines. The policy will be clarified and a reference provided to the Utility Chapter of the Comprehensive Plan where this issue is discussed in more detail. • Policy 5 should be changed to make it sound less regulatory. • Policy 6 was clarified by staff as applicable to trees required under landscaping plans or street trees. The language will be modified to reflect that. d. Goal 3 and policies. The Committee had no comments on this goal or policies. Staff proposed deleting the first policy, as it is duplicated in one of the policies under Goal 2. e. Other. One Committee member asked why the current tree code exempts only cottonwood trees and not alders. Staff replied that they believe cottonwoods were targeted because they are brittle and tend to drop branches — not a good characteristic for urbanized areas. Alders are not necessarily compatible for highly urban uses — like street trees. However, both cottonwoods and alders are important native trees for sensitive areas and the shoreline. Since the current tree regulations only apply in those areas, exempting cottonwoods from permit requirements is contradictory to the goals for sensitive area and shoreline protection. 6. The meeting closed at 7:45 pm. 7. Action Items for staff follow -up: a. Staff will incorporate agreed changes discussed to policy language, using strike- out /underline. b. Staff will consider options for a "middle ground" for the policy regarding prohibiting tree removal on undeveloped property and bring these options back to the Committee for its consideration. CL Page 4 of 4 06/10/2013 1:51 PM W:\ \Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials \Meeting 5 \Mtg Notes Draft 126 City of Tukwila Jim Haggerton, Mayor Department of Community Development Jack Pace, Director MEMORANDUM DATE: April 2, 2013 TO: Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee FM: Carol Lumb, Senior Planner Sandra Whiting, Urban Environmentalist RE: April 10, 2013 Advisory Committee Meeting At our next meeting, we will begin the discussion of proposed landscaping and street tree goals and policies. We are providing a table that summarizes the existing City regulations related to landscaping for new development and for street trees (vegetation in the public right -of -way). Some new proposed goals related to these topics (shown in light blue) have been added to the draft urban forestry goals and policies section that is included in your packet. The urban forestry goals and policies have been revised to reflect the Committee's input from our meeting on March 13th. The revisions also reflect meetings held internally with the technical staff advisory team that includes a representative from the Parks Department, Police, Fire and Public Works (storm water engineers). Staff will be meeting with the street operations maintenance supervisor prior to the meeting on April 10th to obtain his input, and, therefore, may recommend some additional changes during the next Committee meeting. We are providing both a marked up version of the goals and policies, as well as a clean version of the document, since the marked up version is difficult to read. After we discuss the landscaping and street tree goals and policies, we will take up the discussion of the "happy medium" alternative related to tree retention on undeveloped properties that the Committee asked staff to prepare. We are still working on a separate memo (titled "Undeveloped Parcels ") addressing this issue and will e-mail it to you by April 5, 2013. At the March meeting, we discussed extending the meetings on April 10th and May 8th until 8:30 p.m. Because of this, we will be ordering sandwiches for dinner — if you have any dietary needs that we need to take into account (gluten free, vegetarian. etc.), please e-mail these to me ASAP. At the March meeting, we also discussed reserving Wednesday, May 29th as a possible meeting date if needed to wrap up any remaining issues. If you weren't in attendance at the last meeting, please advise me about your availability for a May 29th meeting. We look forward to seeing you on April 1Ot'. Please call or e-mail if you have any questions in the meantime, or if you will not be able to attend the meeting. CPL Page 1 of 2 W:`+,\Long Range Projects\Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials\Agendas- Memos- Materials\Meeting 8\Memo 8 06/10/2013 6300 Southcenter Boulevard, Suite #100 • Tukwila, Washington 98188 • Phone 206- 431 -3670 • Fax: 206 -431 -3 Tukwila Tree and Advisory Committee April 10, 2013 Meeting Enclosures: • Agenda • Draft 3 -13 -13 Meeting Notes • Table of Landscaping and Street Tree Regulations • Revised Draft Urban Forestry Goals and Policies — two versions — 1) with track changes and 2) a clean copy with the revisions from the 3/13/13 meeting and the staff technical team input accepted. • Tree City USA Bulletin: "How to Prevent Tree /Sign Conflicts" • Short article entitled "Trees, Parking and Green Law, Legal Tools and Strategies for Sustainability" • For those Committee members absent on 3/13, a copy of the handout provided by Daryl Tapio is included along with a hard copy of the letter he sent via e-mail on March 13th that was e- mailed to the Committee. • A longer article entitled "Trees, Parking and Green Law: Strategies for Sustainability" will be posted on the Tree and Environment web site as it is quite lengthy. cc: Nora Gierloff, Deputy Director, Department of Community Development Kimberly Matej, Government Relations CPL Page 2 of 2 06/10/2013 1:48 PM 128 W: Long Range ProjectsWrban Forestry \Advisory Committee materials\Memos, Agendas\Meeting 8\Memo 8 Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee Meeting Notes Meeting 8, April 10, 2013 Committee Members in Attendance: Sean Albert, Nancy Eklund, Christian Faltenberger, Sharon Mann, De'Sean Quinn, Stephen Reilly, Don Scanlon, Heidi Wafters, Kathleen Wilson Committee Members Absent: None Members of the Public in Attendance: None Staff in Attendance: Carol Lumb, Sandra Whiting, Nora Gierloff The meeting began at 5:35 p.m. Topics of Discussion: 1. Welcome to Committee members and visitors. 2. Public comment: (Time is set aside at the beginning of each meeting for brief public comments; the Committee is meeting in work session format, therefore, questions or comments from the public that come up during the course of the meeting should be directed to staff via e-mail or telephone calls after the meeting. These communications will be passed along to the Committee) No members of the public were in attendance. Councilmember Quinn read two letters received from the public to the Committee members, the first from Brooke Alford, Tukwila resident who had made a presentation to the Committee about other jurisdictions' urban forestry regulations and the second from David Shumate, former Committee member who owns property in Tukwila. 3. Check -in with Committee members: The Chair asked if Committee members have any questions or comments from the previous meeting that they wanted to discuss. • The Chair reviewed Resolution 1767, which established the Advisory Committee, including the Committee make up, responsibilities of the Committee and staff, and schedule. • The Committee briefly discussed member's roles and the importance of maintaining impartiality. 4. Housekeeping: • The Committee approved the meeting notes from the 3 -13 -13 meeting with a revision on the second page, under #5, the introductory paragraph to the sections providing Committee revisions to the urban forestry goals and policies. 5. Staff presentation on current landscaping and street tree regulations: After the PowerPoint presentation, the Committee discussed the following: a. Goal 2, Policies 10 and 11: • The current landscape code requirement for 40% coverage in 10 years for multi-family — unclear what this means and if it is a reasonable standard. Staff believes it means that of the trees approved and planted in the landscape, they must have 40% canopy CL Page 1 of 4 06/12/2013 9:15 AM W:\ \Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials \Meeting 8 \Draft Mtg Notes 129 Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee Meeting Notes coverage in 10 years. It does not mean that 40% of the total site area must have 40 percent canopy coverage. It is uncertain if this standard has been monitored and met. • The need for ensuring that tree and landscape companies doing work in Tukwila meet minimum training requirements for pruning and other tree work. One possible way to do this, which the Committee has discussed previously is using the business license process as a way to require that tree /landscaping companies have some type of minimum training or certification for tree pruning work. • How to handle any newly adopted landscaping requirements for a recently landscaped property under an old code, on which redevelopment /new development takes place. If there are newly adopted regulations would (for example) a parking lot be required to conform? Staff responded that this could be examined and possibly a time period could be applied — for example if a property were landscaped under an old code within the previous 2 or 3 years, it might be able to be exempted from having to meet new landscape codes. • Because of commercial parking needs, the cost of providing parking, and potential conflicts with the goal of having more or larger trees in parking lots , the City may need to examine other opportunities to improve tree coverage by planting ROW and establishing medians that can be planted. • Can allowing projects to be built higher be used as an incentive to increase tree planting /open space? It was discussed that in many areas of the City, the maximum height permitted is not being built to, so that may not be much of an incentive to retain or plant additional trees. However, in some cases surface water utility payments could be an incentive (the less impervious surface, the lower the fee). It was pointed out that the current structure of the surface water utility fees would not be enough of a financial incentive to convert some parking area to trees. • Using a point system (like the one used in Federal Way or the one proposed for Seattle) to encourage the retention and planting of larger trees as part of a project where landscaping is required; Seattle's urban forester could explain how the point system was developed, especially since the development community was involved with crafting this system. • What about using green walls and /or roofs as a substitute for trees (where there might not be enough room for additional trees). • Flexibility is important to build into standards, but there should at least be minimum requirements. Don't forget to incorporate wildlife benefits as part of any tree point system. • Why are the landscape standards for commercial areas different from those for industrial areas? Is there a way to accommodate more landscaping on industrial sites that takes into account the differing site conditions and development needs in these areas? Allowing permanent landscaping in parking lot corners might be possible, and CL Page 2 of 4 06/12/2013 9:15 AM W:\ \Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials \Meeting 8 \Draft Mtg Notes 130 Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee Meeting Notes also in employee parking lots, that aren't expected to be used for future truck traffic or new structures. • Landscape requirements for the industrial area need to take into account that parking lots are considered an asset and that flexibility in their use /reuse for moving product, placing a building should preserved. • If the goal is to increase the tree canopy by 1% in the industrial area, how will that be achieved? Can more landscaping/trees be required along the front for screening rather than placing it in the parking lot? b. Goal 3 Policies 6 -8. Policy 6 — diversity of tree species • More diversity is good, although it's nice to have the same species of street trees to achieve a certain look — particularly at certain times of the year (like maples during the fall and cherry trees in the spring). • Why not have a street tree plan that everyone follows? • Break policy 6 into two policies — have a separate policy for ROW trees. Have a generic diversity statement and require diversity for landscape installations but allow some planting of the same species for street trees (maybe different species between blocks but same species allowed within a block). Policy 7 — minimum standards • The need for manuals and whether or not there is money for developing these manuals? Can we adopt a professional organization's standards? Also, make the manual(s) or other more simple manuals available to the public /homeowners for their use. • Concern about regulations that aren't enforced and the need for ongoing training for staff responsible for inspecting landscape installations and tree damage from construction or other activities. • Suggestion, when inspecting landscape installations, staff should pull out a couple trees to see that they've been planted correctly. • Develop handouts like Seattle's client assistance brochures • Train city staff to know how to correctly prune street trees and trees in parks — send them to training, or bring someone in to train. Also explore the possibility of using volunteers for some tree care in public areas, as some cities do. Policy 8 — approved /recommended tree list • Add wildlife to the list of items to take into account for tree selection. 6. The Committee returned to the discussion of proposed policy 1.d. of Goal 1, initially begun at the March 13, 2013 meeting, regarding whether and /or how much to regulate the removal of trees from undeveloped parcels. Staff had prepared a memo with several alternatives for the Committee's consideration. The Committee discussed the following issues: CL Page 3 of 4 06/12/2013 9:15 AM W:\ \Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials \Meeting 8 \Draft Mtg Notes 131 Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee Meeting Notes • Use a point system to encourage creative site design once a site is ready for development. • Safety of removal of trees over a certain height — this is why a permit should be required. • Permit should be required for hazardous tree removal but no fee would be charged; • Refine the policy to cover all significant trees, as defined by the Zoning Code — four inches or larger in diameter at four feet (breast height). • General consensus: prohibit removal of trees from undeveloped parcels until such time as a development or other permit has been approved, (with the exceptions noted). This provides the City and developer a chance to see where trees could be retained as part of proposed development 7. Next Meeting: finish re- review of urban forestry goals and policies; return to Natural Environment goals and policies to ensure consensus from the Committee on goals and policies to recommend to the Planning Commission. 8. The meeting closed at 8:30 pm. 9. Action Items for staff follow -up: a. Staff will incorporate agreed changes discussed to policy language, using strike- out /underline. CL Page 4 of 4 06/12/2013 9:15 AM W:\ \Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials \Meeting 8 \Draft Mtg Notes 132 s1 908 City of Tukwila Jim Haggerton, Mayor A,. Department of Community Development Jack Pace, Director MEMORANDUM DATE: April 30, 2013 TO: Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee FM: Carol Lumb, Senior Planner Sandra Whiting, Urban Environmentalist RE: May 8, 2013 Advisory Committee Meeting At our next meeting, we will conclude our review of the urban forestry goals and policies by reviewing all the edits /revisions provided by the Advisory Committee to -date. Proposed implementation measures have been added to each goal section, identified in green type. Please be thinking about the proposed canopy goals and what might be reasonable in light of our recent discussions about the possibilities and limitations for increasing tree canopy in parking lots and in the public rights -of -way in industrial areas, the Urban Center and Tukwila South. Keep in mind that tree planting will occur only as areas develop or redevelop, and that trees grow slowly and newly planted trees may not provide measurable canopy for many years after planting. During the second half of the meeting, we will return to the Natural Environment goals and policies to ensure that Committee consensus is accurately reflected. The enclosed set of goals and policies shows all edits as "accepted," as of the January 23, 2013 meeting. Revisions in strikeout/underline reflect comments received from the Committee after that date or further refinement by staff. Proposed implementation measures, identified in green type, have been added for the Committee's review. There are two "new" policies that the Committee has not seen before related to flood control that have been moved from the Utilities Chapter to the Natural Environment Chapter. After reviewing these policies, staff recommends integrating them into either the flood control goal or policies in that section. You will see staff's proposed revisions and comments on these two policies on pages 7 and 8 of the enclosed Natural Environment Chapter. At the March meeting, we also discussed reserving Wednesday, May 29th as a possible meeting date if needed to wrap up any remaining issues. If we do not finish up review of all the goals and policies on May 8th, then we will need to meet on May 29th to conclude the Committee's work. This will allow staff time to prepare materials for the June 27th Planning Commission meeting. Also, we are looking at Monday, June 24, 2013 as a possible date when the Advisory Committee would brief a joint City Council/Planning Commission meeting on the Advisory Committee's recommendations on goals and policies, so please take a look at your calendars to see if this date works for you. We look forward to seeing you on May 8th. As a reminder, this will be an extended meeting — going until 8:30 pm. Dinner will be provided. Please call or e-mail if you have any questions in the meantime, or if you will not be able to attend the meeting. CPL Page 1 of 2 06/12/2013 W: \\Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry \Advisory Committee Materials\Agendas. Memos- Materials\Meeting 9\Memo 9 6300 Southcenter Boulevard, Suite #100 • Tukwila, Washington 98188 • Phone 206- 431 -3670 • Fax: 206-431-31560 Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee May 8, 2013 Meeting Enclosures: • Agenda • Draft 4 -10 -13 Meeting Notes • Final 3 -13 -13 Meeting Notes • Revised Draft Urban Forestry Goals and Policies • Revised Draft Natural Environment Goals and Policies (excluding urban forestry goals and policies) cc: Nora Gierloff, Deputy Director, Department of Community Development Kimberly Matej, Government Relations CPL Page 2 of 2 134 W: \\Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee materials\Memos, Agendas \Meeting 9 \Memo 9 06/12/2013 9:13 AM Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee Meeting Notes Meeting 9, May 8, 2013 Committee Members in Attendance: Sean Albert, Nancy Eklund, Christian Faltenberger, Sharon Mann, De'Sean Quinn, Don Scanlon, Heidi Watters, Kathleen Wilson Committee Members Absent: Stephen Reilly Members of the Public in Attendance: None Staff in Attendance: Carol Lumb, Sandra Whiting, Nora Gierloff The meeting began at 5:35 p.m. Topics of Discussion: 1. Welcome to Committee members and visitors. 2. Public comment: (Time is set aside at the beginning of each meeting for brief public comments; the Committee is meeting in work session format, therefore, questions or comments from the public that come up during the course of the meeting should be directed to staff via e-mail or telephone calls after the meeting. These communications will be passed along to the Committee) No members of the public were in attendance. 3. Check -in with Committee members: The committee discussed the May 6, 2013 letter from Mr. Daryl Tapio, the March 12, 2013 letter from him that was attached (distributed via e-mail to the Committee on March 12th and hard copies at the March 13th Advisory Committee meeting) as follows • The Committee discussed issues raised in the letters and the approach that members have been using to consider a variety of viewpoints when providing input to staff regarding goals and policies. In addition, the Committee discussed its role: to provide "big picture" direction for the City and not to write regulations, while recognizing that there will be considerable opportunity for additional public input as the revisions to this element of the Comprehensive Plan move forward through the approval process. The Committee has tried to balance competing demands between increasing density and preserving trees. As an example, the proposed policy on tree removal on any undeveloped parcel is not saying that trees can't ever be removed from vacant parcels, rather that tree removal should be postponed until there is a plan for development so staff can work with the developer on site lay -out to see if healthy trees can be preserved, while still accommodating the proposed development. • The Committee discussed the role of code enforcement and due process procedures in enforcing any new regulations that result from adopted goals /policies and the need to recognize that the City has limited resources. Nonetheless, it was agreed that the goals and policies are important to give the City direction, to let decision makers know what the Committee thinks is important and to identify the need for additional resources for implementing the new policies. The Committee discussed the City's budget planning process with input from staff. CL Page 1 of 4 06/10/2013 1:57 PM W:\ \Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials \Meeting 8 \Draft Mtg Notes 135 Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee Meeting Notes • The Committee also discussed the timing and process for adoption of the goals and policies, and implementation through new programs and changes to regulations. Adoption of the goals and policies will go to the Planning Commission in June and from there to the City Council for adoption this year. Staff pointed out that not every new policy will be immediately implemented, but instead will be implemented over time, as staff time and budget are available. Staff informed the Committee that modifications to regulations would be scheduled for next year, and that the Committee would be invited to advise on the regulatory changes. After a lengthy discussion, the Committee agreed that their mission is to develop goals and policies and that these are aspirational in nature — and that they had balanced a variety of viewpoints in their review. The job of the elected officials, once goals and policies are adopted, is to steer the ship in the direction set by these policies with incremental "course corrections" taking place over time. 4. Housekeeping: • This was deferred to the end of the meeting. 5. Urban Forestry Goals and Policies — conclude discussion The Committee discussed and reached consensus the following: a. Goal 1: No changes b. Goal 2: The committee suggested the following modifications to the policies and implementation strategies: • Keep the proposed increases in canopy coverage discussed at previous meetings and create two tree canopy goal categories for industrial — light and heavy industrial to recognize the different character of heavy industrial uses from light industrial. • The Committee also directed that the public right of way be targeted for increases in tree canopy and that a percentage tree canopy goal for these areas be established in the future. • The Committee suggested that it would be helpful to distinguish between parking lot types in industrial areas for determining landscaping requirements such as differentiating between employee parking areas and those with the need for large truck movement — i.e. — a large manufacturing type parking lot vs. a light industrial warehouse parking lot. • Adjustments were made to the wording of polices 1b, 4, 5, 6, • Regarding Policy 5, Committee consensus was that it is too onerous to require an ISA certified arborist to be on site every time there is work in the root zone of a tree and that this requirement should be on a case -by -case basis. Also, contractors should be required to put up fencing to exclude work from an established root zone around a tree that is being retained and protected. Staff indicated that the need for a certified arborist most likely would be important when an underground utility is being installed CL Page 2 of 4 06/10/2013 1:57 PM W:\ \Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials \Meeting 8 \Draft Mtg Notes 136 Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee Meeting Notes that cannot avoid the critical root zone. A certified arborist could ensure that installation was done in such a way as to minimize damage to tree roots. The Committee pointed out that requiring certified arborists demonstrates that the City wants properly trained people working on trees, and turned to the proposed policy under Goal 3 regarding minimum qualifications for tree companies through the business license process. The Committee discussed what criteria or type of certification might be required and recommended development of specifications to enclose with the business license. The Committee also recommended looking at other cities' procedures, such as Seattle's. c. Goal 3 • Revisions were made to the wording of policies 2 and 6. d. Implementation Strategies • The Committee reviewed the proposed Implementation Strategies and made revisions. 6. The Committee returned to the Natural Environment goals and policies to conclude review and revisions. The Committee discussed and reached consensus the following: • Environmental Quality and Stewardship: Revise Policy 4.2.3 and two of the Implementation Strategies ( bullets #7 and 10); • Water Resources: Revise Policies 4.6.2 and 4.6.5 and Implementation Strategy bullet # 3 • Water Quality /Quantity: Revise Policy 4.7.4; and Policies 4.8.1, 4.8.2 and 4.8.3 and Implementation Strategies bullet # 1; • For the flood control Implementation Strategies, reference the City's flood plain ordinance and make sure they don't conflict with FEMA regulations. • Earth Resources: revise policy 4.10.2 and Implementation Strategies bullet # 2 7. Housekeeping: a. Staff has prepared a summary of the work the Committee has done, with highlights of key decisions for their use as speaking points or just for reference. It is draft — the Committee was asked to provide edits to staff. Two suggestions are: • clarify that the Committee worked on existing and new goals and policies for the Comprehensive Plan; and • reference the various informational presentations made to the Committee. b. The joint Planning Commission /City Council work session is scheduled for Monday, June 24th — where the Committee will be present its recommended goals, policies and implementation strategies. The Committee discussed the organization of the meeting and reached this consensus: CL Page 3 of 4 06/10/2013 1:57 PM W:\ \Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials \Meeting 8 \Draft Mtg Notes 137 Tukwila Tree and Environment Advisory Committee Meeting Notes • staff will present a summary of the goals and policies; • representatives of the Committee will speak to specific key issues to explain the nature of their discussions in arriving at consensus; • Committee members indicating a willingness to be "presenters" are Christian, Sean, Heidi and Kathleen at this point. • The Committee expressed the need to have a meeting prior to the joint meeting to prepare and it was suggested that this meeting take place on May 29th, which was being held open for a possible final meeting. 8. The meeting closed at 8:55 pm. 9. Action Items for staff follow -up: a. Staff will prepare a PowerPoint presentation for the June 24th work session and identify key issues and talking points for the Committee members to use in their comments at the meeting on June 24th b. The Committee members participating in the presentation will meet on May 29th to go over the presentation to the Planning Commission and City Council. CL Page 4 of 4 06/10/2013 1:57 PM W:\ \Long Range Projects \Urban Forestry\Advisory Committee Materials \Meeting 8 \Draft Mtg Notes 138