Tree preservation on the Shoreline council agenda

Shoreline’s council will hold a public hearing to discuss interim rules protecting the Firlands Giant Sequoia and discuss raising fees from $260 to up to $15,000 for big tree removal

Snow falling on trees in Shoreline - photo by Oliver Moffat

In a sneak peak of the tree code debates residents can expect over the next two years, the Shoreline council will hold a public hearing on Monday, February 10, to discuss an interim rule protecting the Firlands Giant Sequoia followed by discussion on raising fees from $260 to up to $15,000 for the removal of big trees.

In the 2025-2026 budget, the city allocated $200,000 to update its tree code but that process could take years, so in an effort to protect big trees, the council recently strengthened tree removal regulations.

The council recently passed an interim regulation banning the removal of “exceptional” trees - defined as trees with a trunk diameter at breast height (DBH) greater than sixty inches. But the regulation only applies to two, small zones on Aurora near city hall where there is probably only one tree that big - specifically the Giant Sequoia at 18525 Firlands Way which was 72.8” DBH in 2023.

That property is the location of the now vacant (and for sale) Bank of America building that was built in 1978 and the owner says is now being damaged by the Giant Sequoia required as a landscape feature when the building was constructed.

Last month, the council also expanded tree protections codes that had previously only applied to cottage housing to developments city wide - raising the tree removal free from $260 to up to $15,000 per big tree.

The city of Shoreline briefly allowed cottage housing in 2000 and 56 cottage homes were built before the council banned them in 2006. Facing a housing shortage, Shoreline’s 2021 Housing Action Plan recommended the city legalize “missing middle” housing types, and after extensive public engagement and focus groups the city allowed cottage housing in 2023.

But the city’s cottage housing rules were so restrictive that no developers ever applied for a permit. Amongst other restrictive rules, cottage housing developments were required to retain 35% of trees on the property while single family homes only needed to retain 25%. And a permit to remove a tree on a single family home lot cost $260 whereas a cottage housing tree removal fee was $9,000 for a 24” DBH tree and $15,000 for trees bigger than 30 inches DBH.

The Washington State legislature made those kinds of shenanigans illegal when it passed 2023’s Middle Housing bill (HB1110): cities are no longer allowed to favor single-family developers by penalizing middle housing developers. The planning commission and city staff had recommended striking the cottage housing rules along with the 35% tree retention rule and the fees for removing big trees.

But last month, the city council instead expanded the 35% tree retention rule and the $9,000 and $15,000 tree removal fees to residential neighborhoods citywide when they adopted new development codes.

City staff will present four options for the council to discuss.

Option one would retain the $9,000 and $15,000 tree removal fees the council passed last month. These are the same fees that discouraged developers from building cottage housing in the city.

In option two, the city would charge fees similar to other nearby cities. These fees would be the lowest of the four options and would be competitive with neighboring cities to attract more housing developers.

Under option three, the city would charge a fee based on the value of the tree’s environmental benefits to the community over 20 years. These fees would increase with the size of the tree and would be based on environmental benefit estimates from the Forest Service.

And the option four fees would cover the costs of replacing the removed trees on public property - pricing the removal fees based on replacement costs.