Dan Strauss for Seattle City Council District 6 – 2019 Questionnaire

Dan Strauss - District 6
  1. SUPPORT FOR COUNCIL ORDINANCE RESOLUTION 31870 As part of the MHA Ordinance passage in March 2019 the Seattle City Council passed Resolution 31870. Section 6 of that Resolution called for updating Seattle’s Tree Protection Ordinance. Do you support that provision?

 Yes __X___ No _____

Optional Comment:

  1. SUPPORT FOR COUNCIL RESOLUTION 31902 The Seattle City Council on Sept. 16, 2019 passed  Resolution  31902  declaring the City Council’s and the Mayor’s intent to consider strategies to protect trees and increase Seattle’s tree canopy cover.”  The resolution calls for the city to update Seattle’s Tree Protection Ordinance in 2020 . Do you support this resolution for updating Seattle’s Tree Protection Ordinance?

Yes __X___ No _____

Optional Comment: I was a central player in the drafting of this resolution and I added earlier and more frequent reporting on the progress of the ordinance drafting.

  1. PERMITS FOR TREE REMOVAL AND REPLACEMENT Seattle’s current Tree Protection Ordinance SMC 25.11 is a complaint-based system for developed property. It is not working according to the 2017  Tree Regulations Research Project Report done by DCI and OSE. The report states that Exceptional trees and groves were being lost.  Trees were being removed from Environmental Critical Areas. Large conifers were being replaced with deciduous and dwarf species.  Do you support updating the ordinance to require permits to remove and replace trees, like SDOT does for street trees and like Portland, Lake Forest Park and other cities do for all trees removed?

Yes __X___ No _____

Optional Comment:

  1. POSTING OF TREE REMOVAL AND REPLACEMENT PERMITS
    1. The Seattle Department of Transportation requires the posting on site of all tree removal and replacement permit applications for two weeks prior to trees removed. Do you support requiring Tree Removal and Replacement Permit Applications being  posted on site and on-line?

Yes ___X__ No_____

Optional Comments:

  1. Do you support a Tree Removal and Replacement Permit being posted on site for a week after the tree is removed so that neighbors know it was taken down legally?

Yes ___X__ No_____

Optional Comments

  1. REQUIRE TREE REPLACEMENT ON SITE or PAY FEE-IN-LIEU
    1. REPLACEMENT OF TREES CUT DOWN – Many other cities require that trees removed, whether on developed property or property being developed, must be replaced. All trees 6” DBH and larger are currently required to be on development site plans. In the single-family zone, trees 6 inches DBH and larger represent about 48 % of the trees.  Do you support requiring tree replacement when trees larger than 6 inches DBH are removed?

Yes ___X__ No_____

Optional Comments

  1. FEE-IN-LIEU OF REPLACEMENT – Portland, OR and other cities allow for a fee to be paid to replace trees elsewhere if they cannot be replaced on the property where they were cut down. Seattle is considering an option to allow a fee in lieu to be paid to plant a new tree elsewhere and maintain it for 5 years. Replacement of trees in other areas can be sited based on race and social justice considerations. Do you support this option?

Yes ___X__ No_____

Optional Comments: We need to ensure replacement trees are not removed within the first years of their life. The goal is protecting, preserving, and expanding our urban forest canopy, not just the number of trees we have.

  1. PROTECTION OF EXCEPTIONAL TREES
    1. EXCEPTIONAL TREES are defined as “a tree or group of trees that because of its unique historical, ecological, or aesthetic value constitutes an important community resource”, including large trees, heritage trees and tree groves. They are protected by the current ordinance. Do you support continuing the protection of exceptional trees?

Yes __X___ No_____

Optional Comments

  1. LOWER LARGE TREE EXCEPTIONAL THRESHOLD The Urban Forestry Commission has recommended that the upper limit to declare a large tree exceptional be lowered from 30 inches diameter at breast height (DBH) to 24 inches DBH to save more large trees. Do you support this protection of more large trees?

Yes ___X__ No_____

Optional Comments

  1. DATABASE TRACKING OF TREE REMOVALS The Seattle Urban Forestry Commission has repeatedly recommended that the city use its database system to track all tree loss and replacement, both on developed property and property being developed. Such data will help the city monitor the changes occurring in the urban forest over time. This data would be collected through Tree Removal and Replacement Permits being entered into one system for both trees removed during development and trees removed on developed property. This data will help guide the City’s Urban Forest Management Plans. Do you support the implementation of the database program as directed by Mayor Burgess’s  Executive Order 2017-11 Tree Protection?

Yes __X___ No _____

Optional Comment:

  1. ARBORIST REGISTRATION The Seattle Department of Transportation currently requires registration and certification for Tree Care Providers, like arborists, to help ensure they understand and comply with Seattle’s Tree Code and Regulations. Do you support requiring all Tree Care Providers working in Seattle to be registered and certified by the city as Portland already does?

Yes __X___ No _____

Optional Comment: We need to ensure equity is taken into consideration so that well-trained arborists who are starting their companies are able to compete with big inter-state companies operating in our city.

 

  1. INVASIVE PLANT CONTROL Removal of invasive vegetation in our city parks has been a long and expensive project for the city under the Green Seattle Partnership. To protect this investment, it is important that invasive species like English ivy and holly trees not get re-introduced from plants in other parts of the city. Would you support all building project landscape plans requiring the removal of all invasive plant species on the property?

Yes __X___ No _____

Optional Comment: I have spent years and years of work removing invasive species in our forests, in our neighborhoods, and shorelines. This is an important issue for me.

 

  1. CITY AUDITOR REVIEW OF COMPLIANCE SMC 25.11.090 currently says “Each exceptional tree and tree over two (2) feet in diameter that is removed in association with development in all zones shall be replaced by one or more new trees, the size and species of which shall be determined by the Director; the tree replacement required shall be designed to result, upon maturity, in a canopy cover that is at least equal to the canopy cover prior to tree removal. Preference shall be given to on-site replacement. When on-site replacement cannot be achieved, or is not appropriate as determined by the Director, preference for off-site replacement shall be on public property.”

This provision, in the Tree Protection Ordinance since 2001, has apparently not been enforced by DCI or its predecessors with any consistency. No funds appear to have been collected by the City to plant off site trees nor does there appear to have been any cumulative record kept of trees removed or total trees replaced either on site or off site to meet the requirements of this provision. Would you support a review by the Seattle City Auditor of the city’s compliance with SMC 25.11.090?

Yes ___X__ No _____

Optional Comment:

  1. URBAN FORESTRY COMMISSION INVOLVEMENT – The Seattle Urban Forestry Commission at the request Of Councilmembers Bagshaw and Herbold submitted to the Seattle City Council and Mayor Jenny Durkan a draft Tree and Urban Forest Protection Ordinance. The draft started with the last draft by the Seattle City Council staff requested by Councilmember Rob Johnson. It addresses all the issues in the recent City Council resolutions. It represents ten years of positions established by the Seattle Urban Forestry Commission regarding efforts to update the existing Tree Protection Ordinance. Many of the issues in that draft are topics in questions above.

The City Council passed  Ordinance 123052 in August 2009 establishing the Urban Forestry Commission (UFC) “to advise the Mayor and City Council concerning the establishment of policy and regulations governing the protection, management, and conservation of trees and vegetation in the City of Seattle.” One of the responsibilities of the Urban Forestry Commission in that legislation is “To provide recommendations on legislation concerning urban forestry management, sustainability and protection of associated trees and understory vegetation and related habitat on public or private property prior to its introduction and referral to any Council committee”  Will you agree to continue to work with the Seattle Urban Forestry Commission in producing the final update to the Tree Protection Ordinance?

Yes ___X__ No _____

Optional Comment:

 Yes, I have worked on this already, pushed the mayor’s office to move faster and I am ready to get this bill passed. I know where the opportunities and roadblocks are to get this bill passed and I want this to be one of the first ordinances I pass.

  1. Some people believe there is a conflict between preserving and planting trees in Seattle and building more housing, particularly affordable and low – income housing. What measures or proposals do you think we could put in place to have more affordable and low-income housing as well as achieve our urban forest and tree canopy goals to keep Seattle a healthy and vibrant city for all?

Comment:

We can and should protect our urban canopy and build more affordable housing. I will lead the way on this issue. Permitting duplexes and triplexes across the city is a good way to modestly increase density and create more affordable homes while preserving a neighborhood feel. Around denser development, I will ensure that preserving and expanding our tree canopy is a central design consideration of new projects. One specific policy I support is requiring that trees which are removed are replaced or that the developer pays an in-lieu fee commensurate with the size of the tree. I will also allow additional height or greater floor area for developers in order to save trees. Let’s make density and our urban canopy work together.

  1. Do you have a story or experience regarding trees that you could share with us?

Comment: I have had the opportunity to work as staff for Councilmember Bagshaw on updating the tree ordinance. Protecting our urban canopy has been one of the cornerstones of my environmental platform – our trees provide character, carbon sequestration, and shade, and we need to keep them safe. This is legislation I have already worked on, I understand the policy and politics, and I will keep the momentum going to pass the Tree Ordinance in 2020.

When I was coming home from college every summer, I would always stop at the old-growth forests in California on the way. Trees and forests have been a major part of my life, and I understand the need to create a developed tree canopy and under-canopy for our city. I have also felt the importance of a developed canopy while out canvassing; the heat difference on parcels with a good canopy and ones that don’t, even on the same block, is striking. This experience has only increased my desire to pass a strengthened tree ordinance as a councilmember.