As the need for housing continues to grow in Bend, the City of Bend is attempting to clarify regulations on how and when trees can be removed in new developments. In March, the Bend City Council set out to find ways to address this update, looking at how to balance the need to preserve trees with needed affordable housing. The result was the creation of a temporary Tree Regulation Update Advisory Committee, formed to help recommend amendments to the City’s tree code.
TRUAC made its final recommendation to the City on Dec. 5. The top recommendation for preservation is for developers to preserve 20% of “priority trees,” which are 20 inches or larger. If it’s not possible for developers to preserve these trees, which could happen if they prevent planned developments, the second option would provide flexibility and require the preservation of 25% of the total diameter at breast height of regulated trees.
The last two options, if the first two cannot be completed, would call for mitigation, requiring developers to replace trees they’ve cut down or pay a fee in lieu of tree preservation.
“You want it to be something that’s not an easy out for a developer, but also can go to something that might be helpful to provide trees in other places,” said City Councilor Megan Perkins, one of the committee’s non-voting liaisons.
The committee, formed in June, was made up of 14 community members with diverse viewpoints. “The committee’s goals and, therefore, its membership, is all about balance,” said Perkins.
According to Perkins, the committee’s role was to provide clear and objective standards that everyone could understand and follow. Residents were also noticing a loss of trees in new housing developments. “We were hearing a lot from Bend residents who were seeing trees cut down on entire lots by developers, and they wanted to understand how that could be remedied in the future.”
Sara Craig, a resident who’s concerned about the city’s approach to preserving trees, had similar thoughts. “I hope the city takes responsibility for the urban deforestation occurring throughout Bend. Bend is developing rapidly and now is the time to assess what kind of city we envision for the future,” said Craig.
The code recommendations will go to the planning commission next, then to City Council. Additional public input will be available during the planning commission hearing and the public hearing for council.
This article appears in Source Weekly December 7, 2023.
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I was a former committee member. Here’s a very long post with thoughts on each of the standards and my personal take on them that I shared on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bend/comments/187…
While I wish some of the pieces could be stronger, and I think more work is needed to help preserve trees, in terms of a first attempt at a balanced code, I’m very happy with our end product.
Mr. Chokshi, thanks for the linked write up and for serving on the committee. The proposals seem well though out, although it’s difficult to see how “Payment in Lieu of Preservation” would actually keep or add trees.
Amen! When I built my home, there were a lot of Pondo’s to work around, but we positioned the house just so and made it work. We must preserve.