1996 Local Street Tree Plan - Laserfiche WebLink

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STTREDEV Page 1 Street Tree Requirements Street tree planting requirements can be implemented with two basic approaches. 1. Street trees are required for all development and the developer is responsible for the planting and establishment of the trees. A street tree plan would need to be submitted and approved by the Urban Forester.Establishment would include watering the trees for a period of three years after the time of planting. Who would inspect and assure this requirement is met, three years after the houses are built. This approach can be difficult since the developer isn't always the builder of the homes and often he sells his interest to multiple builders. In addition, there would need to be a mechanism to hold the developer responsible like a direct deposit. Bonds can be very difficult, administratively costly and in some instances impossible to collect due to bankruptcy and other legal complications. Holding the builder or new property owner responsible increases staff time for compliance and inspection. In addition, it is very difficult to hold the property owner responsible since a threat of lien is just about the only method of compliance. 2. Street trees are required for all development and the developer is required to deposit with the City the amount of money needed to plant and establish the street trees. The deposit would include the administrative cost as well as the actual cost of the planting and establishment of the trees. In addition, there would be a direct involvement of the City with the new property owner in the of management of their street trees. When the trees are planted a brochure can be provided to the new property owner welcoming them to the city and giving them knowledge about the care and maintenance of their street trees. Approach number 2 has a lot of positive aspects and is my preferred method. When the funds are collected at the time of final plat they will be deposited into an escrow account which will collect interest. By the time of the actual planting and maintenance, these funds will have increased to adequately cover the planting and perhaps a bit more. Street tree planting requirements should be extended to include all development. This would include SUBDIVISIONS, PUD, SR, CUP, COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL, MULTIFAMILY ETC. Both for new streets and existing streets. The above approaches mainly deal with residential development but could be extended to include other types of developments. Existing street tree that have to be destroyed for the development of a site, should be identified and the developer deposit an amount equal to the VALUE of the street tree. These funds would then be used to plant new street trees. If possible, when a street tree is damaged by construction and the damage kills the tree then a similar deposit for the VALUE of the tree can be required. If possible the value can be determined and a deposit made to the City prior to the damage and refunded to the developer if the tree survives. This approach may not work but it serves a starting point for discussion.