HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 2306-159941.Tree Protection Ordinance Year One Implementation Update
City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: STUDY SESSION
Lead Department: Public Works
Meeting Date: June 19, 2023
Report #:2306-1599
TITLE
Tree Protection Ordinance Year One Implementation Update
RECOMMENDATION
Staff is not recommending any action at this time. This report is being provided as an
informational update on Tree Protection Ordinance implementation.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Title 8 of Palo Alto Municipal Code (PAMC) contains regulations governing street trees, shrubs
and plants (Chapter 8.04), weed abatement (Chapter 8.08), and tree preservation and
management (Chapter 8.10).
The Tree Protection Ordinance updates made in 2022 focus on implementation of Council-
approved policies contained in the 2030 Comprehensive Plan (Natural Environment Chapter1),
and the Urban Forest Master Plan2. Additional code updates include changes prompted by
State law, specifically Executive Order B-29-153, also known as the Model Water Efficient
Landscape Ordinance. Changes made to the ordinance range from significant policy changes,
like expanding the types of protected trees and revising allowances for tree removal, to more
clerical updates, like updating authorized officers and accounting for recent changes in other
development-related codes.
Implementation of the new ordinance began in July 2022 and is still in progress.
1 Reference, 2030 Comprehensive Plan
2 Reference, Urban Forest Master Plan
3 Reference, State Model Water Efficiency Landscape Ordinance
BACKGROUND
On June 6, 2022, the City Council voted4 to update the Tree Protection Ordinance to
complement current policy documents and strengthen requirements and procedures for when
protected tree removals are proposed. The first Tree Protection Ordinance was added to the
Palo Alto Municipal Code in 1951 and its last substantive update prior to the 2022 update was
in 2001. Since then, the City implemented new policy documents such as the 2015 Urban Forest
Master Plan (UFMP), which contains goals and policies to sustain and enhance Palo Alto’s
Urban Forest. Many of these policies and goals are also tied to sustainability efforts contained
in the 2030 Comprehensive Plan and the Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (S/CAP).
During the adoption of the updated Tree Protection Ordinance in June of 2022, Staff was
directed by Council to review the ordinance with the Parks and Recreation Commission (PRC)
and Planning and Transportation Committee (PTC) near the one-year mark. Once those reviews
were completed, staff was to return to Council with any proposed changes or additional
updates to the Tree Protection Ordinance. Staff is providing this update due to Council and
public interest after the recent unprecedented winter season. Staff plans to meet with PRC and
PTC in the coming months to review the first year of the ordinance and discuss any proposed
updates or adjustments that would then come before Council in the fall.
The updated Tree Protection Ordinance went into effect on July 21, 2022. It includes changes
that protect more native California species, promote drought resistant and tolerant species,
and protect most other tree species over a certain size. Under the updated ordinance, the
definition of a Protected Tree has been expanded to include the following:
Specific native species protected at 11.5” diameter at breast height (DBH):
•Acer macrophyllum (Bigleaf Maple)
o Calocedrus decurrens (Incense Cedar)
o Quercus agrifolia (Coast Live Oak)*
o Quercus douglasii (Blue Oak)
o Quercus kelloggii (California Black Oak)
o Quercus lobata (Valley Oak)*
•Species protected at 18” DBH:
o Sequoia sempervirens (Coast Redwood)*
•Proposed protected species at 15” DBH:
o includes all species not listed above except:
▪Invasive species per Cal-IPC
▪High Water Users per WUCOLS (Excluding Redwood)
•Other protected tree categories:
o Any tree designated for protection during review and approval of a development
project
4 City Council, 6/6/2022, Agenda Item #13, SR# 14355
https://recordsportal.paloalto.gov/Weblink/DocView.aspx?id=81908
o Any tree designated for carbon sequestration and storage and/or for
environmental mitigation purposes
o Any replacement mitigation tree or other tree designated to be planted due to
the conditions listed in this ordinance
* species protected prior to July 21, 2022
Using a dataset of almost 10,500 private trees as a representative sample, staff used an average
of several calculation methods contained in the 2017 California Urban Forest Study by Greg
McPherson5, to estimate species and size distribution for our entire private tree urban forest.
Total Urban Forest Tree Estimates
Total Trees Estimate (excluding WUI area)600,000
All Private Proposed Protected trees based on total trees #
Species Count %
COAST LIVE OAK =/> 11.5 DBH 35,580 5.93%
VALLEY OAK =/> 11.5 DBH 5,640 0.94%
REDWOOD =/> 18" DBH 40,500 6.75%
BIG LEAF MAPLE =/> 11.5" DBH 60 0.01%
INCENSE CEDAR =/> 11.5" DBH 1,860 0.31%
BLUE OAK =/> 11.5" DBH 240 0.04%
CA BLACK OAK =/> 11.5" DBH 60 0.01%
ALL OTHERS =/> 15" (Minus CalIPC/WULCOS) 140,160 23.36%
New Protected Tree Total 224,100 37.35%
Old Protected Tree Total 81,720 13.62%
ANALYSIS
Implementation of the new Tree Protection Ordinance components by staff began after
passage by Council in June 2022 and is ongoing. The sections below describe the most
significant changes contained in the updated ordinance and provide summary data illustrating
some of the impacts.
Tree Protection Ordinance Component Updates:
The expanded definition of protected trees and updated acceptable reasons for removing
protected trees both during and outside of development are likely the most significant changes
included in the updated ordinance. Any projects requiring planning approval and any building
permits not requiring planning approval that were initially submitted after July 21, 2022 are
subject to the new requirements. Because of this, many of the applications reviewed for Tree
5 McPherson G.E., 2017. The structure, function, and value of urban forests in California communities. Urban
Forestry & Urban Greening 28 (2017) 43-53;
https://www.fs.usda.gov/psw/publications/mcpherson/psw_2017_mcpherson005.pdf
Protection Ordinance compliance during the last year by Urban Forestry staff were subject to
the previous ordinance.
•66 Tree Removal Permit applications (Projected 150 total for calendar year 2023)
o 54 approved
▪10 Emergency permits/storm damage
▪15 Dead/dying
▪8 damaging foundations or eaves of homes
o 11 no decision rendered
▪3 denied
▪1 canceled
▪7 pending additional information or inspection
•39 Trees proposed for removal were previously protected under old ordinance
•51 Trees proposed for removal are newly protected under new ordinance
•36 Tree Removal Permit applications (52 total for calendar year 2022)
o 32 approved
▪7 damaging foundations or eaves of homes
▪9 dead/dying
o 1 denied
o 3 no decision rendered/ pending additional information
•44 Tree Removal Permit applications (43 total for calendar year 2021)
o 33 approved
▪6 damaging foundations or eaves of homes
▪18 dead/dying
o 1 denied
o 10 no decision rendered/ pending additional information
The numbers below show a 14% increase in the number of applications routed to Urban
Forestry during the first 10 months of the new ordinance compared with the same time period
the year before.
•166 Planning applications
•608 Permit applications (Building, Encroachment, Street)
•118 Planning applications
•560 Permit applications (Building, Encroachment, Street)
•99 Planning applications
•349 Permit applications (Building, Encroachment, Street)
•This is not a permit, there is no fee required, and the City does not approve or deny.
•The form instructs tree owners about the maintenance requirements for protected
status trees, and they must agree to follow best arboricultural practices when
maintaining protected trees.
•A total of 55 maintenance notifications were submitted between Sept 1, 2022, to May 1,
2023.
•Residents often reach out city staff for more information after receiving postcards.
•No formal appeal of a Protected Tree Removal Permit has been filed yet.
•New tree removal notification webpage has been created to accommodate the dual
notice requirements of application received and decision rendered.
Posting for public tree removals by City staff and for private protected trees removed under the
City’s Right Tree, Right Place program (RTRP) are done as a courtesy to surrounding residents
and are not required. These two types of protected tree removals are not subject to appeal
under the ordinance.
Moving From Paper Forms to Electronic Submittal of Protected Tree Removal Permit
Applications
Until recently, all Tree Removal Permit applications have been submitted in hard copy or by
email utilizing a one-page PDF application. These application submittals must then be uploaded
into the City’s Accela permit system manually. Urban Forestry staff has been working with
Planning & Development staff to launch a new Tree Removal Permit workflow in Accela that
will eliminate these extra unnecessary steps.
•New Tree Removal Permit workflow in Accela Permit System to be launched in coming
months.
o Currently in system testing phase with Accela
o Will streamline the process reducing/eliminating paper forms
o Allows assignments of specific steps to different City staff. For example, noticing
tasks can be assigned to a specific staff member while inspection of the tree can
be assigned to a City staff arborist.
o New process will collect better data on trees included in Tree Removal
Permit applications.
o Will allow staff to track completion of any required replacement plantings.
•The “Tree Protection, It’s Part of the Plan” sheet (also known as the T-1 Sheet6) and the
required Tree Disclosure Statement have been updated to reflect new ordinance.
o Exemption included in Tree Disclosure Statement for completion by certified
arborist for Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) only projects to comply with State
Law.
o Standard Urban Forestry Conditions have been added to the T-1 sheet to simplify
the Planning Departments conditions of approval process.
•Tree and Landscape Technical Manual (TLTM)
o Update in process, ready for department review by end of FY.
o This manual is geared toward contractors, builders, and tree care companies
o Tree Protection Plan Sheet (T1) and Tree Disclosure Statement already updated
o Working on plan to translate into Spanish after final draft approved.
•Designated Arborist system
o Not yet implemented, will finalize after TLTM
6 Draft Updated T-1 Tree Protection Sheet (05/03/2023)
o Until implemented, any certified arborist may complete submittals for
development projects.
o Example criteria for inclusion to be created
o List members can be removed due to non-compliance on submittals
o Annual or Biannual updates to list
2023 Storm Response:
Portions of the Tree Protection Ordinance implementation were delayed this winter due to the
series of unprecedented storms that occurred between January and March of 2023.
The series of storms the Bay Area has seen this winter starting on December 31, 2022 was very
unusual. These storms included high rainfall totals in very short time spans and strong winds
from non-prevailing directions with little or no time for recovery in between events. While each
tree and its growing location are unique and there are many factors that can contribute to
whether a tree will survive an extreme weather event, the highly saturated soils from heavy
rains followed by high winds have been contributing factors to many of the whole tree failures
we have seen this winter.
For perspective, rainfall between December 31, 2022 and March 22, 2023 has resulted in four
of the top 20 highest recorded peak flows in San Francisquito creek. Response and clean up to
this series of storms began on January 1, 2023 and was mostly resolved by the end of April
2022. Staff that would have been working to complete some components of the updated Tree
Protection Ordinance were instead responding to storm related issues and recovery tasks.
Urban Forestry Winter 2023 Storm Statistics: 1/1/2023 to 4/30/23
•10 emergency tree removal permits issued
•243 Limb failures/pickups (206 City / 37 private)
•6 private trees removed (trees that failed and affected the public right-of-way)
•43 City trees removed
•50 tree related electric outages
•563 tons of green debris removal
For comparison, in the same time period in 2021, staff responded to 40 limb failures and 5 City
trees were removed.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
This update on Tree Protection Ordinance implementation does not focus on Resource Impacts.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Public outreach regarding the updated ordinance has been ongoing since the adoption of the
updated ordinance in June of 2022. The majority of public outreach has been conducted by City
staff and the City’s urban forestry non-profit partner Canopy. Below is a list of outreach efforts
that have been completed or are currently in progress.
•City Urban Forestry webpages have been updated to reflect new ordinance.
o New Tree Ordinance Information page created and expanded.
•New Tree FAQs7 created to address many questions about the tree ordinance and storm
related tree issues.
•Creation of a new general trees email address (trees@cityofpaloalto.org) to simplify
contacting the Urban Forestry Section.
•Canopy webpages updated to mirror new information info on City web pages.
•Canopy tree walk flyers updated to highlight Tree ordinance updates.
•Canopy Tree-news has released 3 Issues (June 2022, January 223, April 2023) that speak
about the updated tree ordinance.
o Tree news issues reach approximately 4500 subscribers.
•An email distribution list of arborists, tree care companies and Urban Forestry advocates
has been complied by city staff and informational updates are being sent periodically.
These updates have been added to the Tree Ordinance Information webpage as PDFs8.
Staff is in the process of translating these updates into Spanish language versions as
well. Anyone can be added to the list by email request sent to trees@cityofpaloalto.org
The following outreach components are still in development and will be put in place in the
coming months.
•A direct mailed Postcard is to all Palo Alto residents providing information about the
updated TPO.
•Utility bill insert and email highlighting new ordinance information.
•Informational ads in local printed and electronic press.
•Live webinar sessions targeted at local arborists and tree care companies to review new
ordinance requirements. These will be recorded and posted to the city website.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This update on the implementation of the Tree Protection Ordinance is not subject to the
California Environmental Quality Act.
APPROVED BY:
Brad Eggleston, Director Public Works/City Engineer
7 New Urban Forestry Trees Frequently Asked Questions,
8 Example of a Tree Ordinance Information Update,