The City Council this week discussed an ordinance that, if passed, would waive tree-planting requirements for certain interior residential and building projects until 2029. <\/p>\n
The policy would ease the burden for homeowners and building owners who are looking to make mostly internal changes to their property. Currently, if internal home and building projects exceed a certain cost, it can trigger city fees and requirements associated with tree planting, seismic reports, and sidewalk and curb improvements. <\/p>\n
District 3 Councilor Angelita Morillo, who co-sponsored the ordinance with District 1 Councilor Jamie Dunphy, said at a Sept. 3 council meeting that the reform was a \u201ccommon sense\u201d one.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is exactly what government should be doing,\u201d Morillo said. \u201cThese are common sense changes that will help modify buildings in Portland that already exist.\u201d<\/p>\n
The council passed the ordinance onto a second and final vote, slated for Sept 24. <\/p>\n
At issue are rules in City Code that require a building owner or homeowner to plant street trees if a project exceeds a specific cost\u2014even if that project is purely internal to the building and in no way affects surrounding trees. A city memo accompanying the ordinance notes that based on surveys with Portlanders the threshold provision is \u201cone of the most significant pain points\u201d for customers like homeowners and and small business owners. They\u2019ve cited \u201cinconsistencies across Code provisions, complexity, and lack of transparency as primary challenges,\u201d the memo reads.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ordinance reduces tree planting requirements when the proposed project does not impact or have a link to street trees,\u201d the proposed ordinance reads, \u201csuch as a kitchen or bathroom remodel or a tenant-related improvement in a multi-dwelling site.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other requirements waived through the ordinance would include certain seismic reports and street frontage improvements like curbs and sidewalks.<\/p>\n
Dunphy said he\u2019d heard from constituents who were required to plant a tree because they added a bathroom to their home. \u201c[We\u2019re] looking at some of those things that are just sort of silly in our code sometimes,\u201d Dunphy said. \u201cIf you\u2019re adding a bathroom, why do you have to add trees? We love trees, but that certainly adds a level of complexity and cost when we\u2019re trying to get things moving in this city.\u201d <\/p>\n
A District 3 constituent emailed his district councilors last month about this exact issue after spotting a $644 Urban Forestry fee on his bill from the city after submitting plans for a basement kitchen buildout that in no way affected the home externally.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are finishing our unfinished basement and reorienting our kitchen\u2014all internal work, but work over $25,000,\u201d Will Howell wrote to District 3 councilors Tiffany Koyama Lane, Morillo and Steve Novick in an Aug. 20 email. \u201cThe permitting schedule dictates that, because the work exceeds $25,000, there\u2019s a $644 urban forestry fee.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Howell formerly worked in City Hall as the communications director for former city councilor Carmen Rubio). <\/p>\n
Howell\u2019s bill, shared with WW, reflects the $644 \u201cForestry Residential Permit\u201d charge.<\/p>\n
Elliott Kozuch, a spokesman for the city, says if passed, the ordinance would waive fees like Howell\u2019s. \u201cThe proposed ordinance will significantly reduce the number of situations in private development where the street tree review fee will be applied,\u201d Kozuch says. \u201cIn the past, the review fee ensured trees were protected during construction activity and that required street trees are planted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Willamette Week\u2019s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. <\/p>\n
Help us dig deeper.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The City Council this week discussed an ordinance that, if passed, would waive tree-planting requirements for certain interior…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":133572,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":{"0":"post-133571","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133571\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}