First-Year Results of Updated Tree Code are In

The City of Bend’s Planning Division staff presented its inaugural review of the effectiveness of the updated Tree Preservation Code during a City Council work session on Oct. 22.

Since August 2024, the City processed 766 development applications, of which 711 were exempt from the Tree Preservation Code because they pertained to lots an acre or less in size, according to Renee Brooke, City of Bend’s planning manager.

That means only 55 development projects were subjected to the updated preservation standards. Of those lots, 14 did not have any regulated trees onsite. Priority trees were found on 20% of lots (of which there were three) and 25% featured regulated trees (six lots). One quarter of non-exempt lots featured both priority trees and regulated trees.

During the work session, planning division staff proposed some changes to the tree code, of which the Council was supportive, Brooke told the Source. Those changes, which will likely be implemented early next year, include giving more flexibility for work to occur in and around tree roots owing to unique circumstances on a particular site, Brooke said. That flexibility here will allow more trees to remain in place and save developers some cash.

As outlined in the tree code, whose update city councilors approved on June 20, 2024, a priority tree is one that measures 20 inches in diameter, measured at the trunk at 4.5 feet (or the diameter at breast height). A regulated tree has a 6-inch diameter at breast height. Non-regulated trees are any tree smaller than that.

The tree code affects projects on lots larger than 1 acre, on which land divisions, single-family homes, multi-unit housing and commercial and industrial developments are planned for development.

The planning division staff reported that 26 of 41 projects are preserving trees and don’t require mitigation. Fifteen of 41 projects are mitigating for tree loss, which means a total of 1,160 new trees will be planted on 13 projects sites. And $111,000 were assessed in fees in lieu of preservation, according to the report.

The in-lieu preservation funds will go toward street tree planting, emergency removals of larger trees in the right of way and some routine pruning throughout Bend public property, according to the report. This money may also offset costs of the citywide GIS tree inventory database, the implementation of the 10-year urban forest management plan and the urban tree canopy cover assessment.

The TRUAC, which was a temporary committee that is no longer active, originally drew up the tree code regulations to mitigate new development areas from becoming treeless heat islands, Brooke said during the presentation.

Feedback from developers is also included in the annual review. Their concerns include having to pay in-lieu fees before they’re issued a building permit or subdivision final plat approval; the added costs to preserve — and work around — larger priority trees compared to smaller regulated trees. Developers also said the updated tree code raises the final price tags on developments and complicates meeting defensible space requirements. Brooke said they have not yet received any hard data to that effect.

The annual review also listed developers’ suggested amendments, which include exemptions to industrial zones; exempting all juniper trees or limiting preservation to junipers wider than 20” at breast height; and trees in the proposed right of way. Additionally, developers proposed allowing street trees to count toward tree replacement mitigation and they asked to reconfigure requirements for extraordinarily big sites in expansion areas, such as the Stevens Road Tract and Caraway, a 150-acre housing development in northwest Bend.

[Correction: In a previous version of this story, Renee Brooke was incorrectly listed as a member of TRUAC. Also, the City of Bend’s Planning Division staff presented the annual report, not TRAUC. The Source regrets the errors.]