Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon. I'd like to call the order of the infrastructure planning and sustainability committee meeting of 03/25/2026. Sir, will you please call the roll?

Council member Diaz? Absent. Council member Hines?

Here.

Vice chair Sadalgay?

Here.

And chair Walker? Here.

Alright. And I think council member Diaz will be joining us, so we'll keep an eye out for her. Moving on to public comment. Clerk, would you please read?

To request to speak during public comment for items on the agenda, please sign up in the front of the room if you have not done so already. If you're speaking virtually, please press the raise hand button near the bottom of Zoom window or star nine on your phone. Your name or the last four digits of your phone number will be called out when it is your turn to speak.

Thank you. Anna, has anyone signed up to speak virtually or in person? Alright. So when you are called, please state your name for the record. You'll have two minutes to make your remarks. Please be mindful of the time frame. And for those who are speaking in person, please come up to the table and sit here so the mic can pick you up. Anna, I'm gonna turn it over to you to call on those

You want to sign up to speak? Sure. I call and then hit. I will start the timer whenever you will start.

Which chair is

over to you?

Either one. Well, this one's going better because closer to the mic. That's the goal for people to hear you.

Potomacisty. Lemon Toccoa. Plant 235,000 trees. People naturally flock to the trees, avoiding spaces without canons. They fear treeless, empty common spaces.

Under trees, they seek time with new faces. Such strong community relationships build trust in each other's creationships. It's proven that people work together when trees embrace their lives forever. God intended trees to be forever, photosynthesis to be the lever to sustainable, robust public health as the real measure of public wealth. Increased density builds community with planned environmental unity.

Density without trees brings helplessness and festers a sheer lack of happiness. Lower mortality rates will so be lower incidence of crime, you will see. Higher trust of neighbors will develop. Higher well-being for children builds up. Defined as urgent biophilia, a scientifically researched idea, we have a conscious heightened desire.

We must have treaties we preach to the choir. But the choir sings without being heard as most of us hear no song of a bird. We run from confines with no alliance to find some comfort at point defiance. Pick a place for social interaction that encourages a healthy reaction. Not likely to be a treeless courtyard nor open space where the sun stands its guard.

Why we find it half of why can we find a half $1,000,000,000 to build drains and run pipe through our flowers while putting off year after year our plans to restore our canopy and lifespans. We can divert a bit of this culture of what we charge for great infrastructure, fund what we need to restore our canopy, plant 235,000

trees. Thank you.

Thank you, Tom.

Got a little copies here, but I'm gonna make sure you get one

for the record. Thank you so much.

I'll save those for my colleagues.

All good? Good. Yeah. Okay.

Let's get on here.

My name is Kit Burns, and I just wanted

to comment today. I know that one

of the issues or items on the agenda is the urban design board and getting enough people that form, which I think is important. So I just wanna say that I support that. One of the issues on this or items of discussion is the Tacoma Dome Link extension. Last week, the Sound Transit Board had a meeting at the Tacoma Market, and they're talking about ways of saving money and what could they do to do that. So I put together several proposals, which I'm sharing chair down, Constantine, the Ryan Melville, our executive and also the city council.

There's a way, I think, of eliminating Portland Avenue station, which needs to be discussed, and it could save as much as 250 to $500,000,000. It would shorten the time frame for construction, both design and construction, lower the cost considerably, and then also, I think, give better service to the Pyala tribe of Indians. So there's a number of factors that I can't go and discuss in detail in a minute, but I put a lot of time into it, thought about it,

and would be willing to meet

with the city council agencies as well. But I think it's important thing is looking for ways to save considerable amounts of money, which Soundtrack is really interested in. I've looked at their documents using their documents and their solution for a 26th Street Ave Avenue Station. So and, hopefully, it would save some save Freight House Square as well. So I've got a couple ideas on that. I'll keep working When you're retired, you

have lots of time to do that.

Anyway, thank you.

Thank you, Ted.

Anyone else brought up while we were online?

Alright. So we'll go ahead and close public comment. Thank you, everyone, for sharing your comments and for being here tonight. We've got three items tonight. One of them is a relatively quick one, but we've got quite a few things to get through. So we're gonna start with our climate and sustainability commission interviews, and Nicole Emery, our city clerk, is online. I'll turn it over to you.

Thank you, chair Walker, and good afternoon members of the IPS committee. My name is Nicole Emery, your city clerk. This evening, you'll be interviewing four applicants, reviewing applications of four individuals seeking reappointment, and reviewing application of commissioner Jadala, who is no longer eligible for the emerging leader position and is seeking appointment to a member position. Staff requests the committee consider the reappointments based on their prior experience on the commission and their newly submitted applications that are in your packet. In total, there are six positions available on this committee or excuse me, commission, and the emerging leader position will remain vacant at this time.

For the interviews this evening, each applicant will provide a three minute presentation, and it will include answers to the following three questions. Number one, what skills and experience do you bring to the commission? What is the understanding of the role of a commissioner and how would you contribute? And number three, what action in the city's climate action plan seems most important and or impactful to you? After the applicants have answered those questions, the committee will have approximately five minutes to ask additional questions.

And once the interviews have concluded, you may make motions to the full council for recommendation for appointment or reappointment to the climate and sustainability commission. And staff liaison, Christy Lanich, I think, is in the room with you and myself are available if you have any questions before we get started.

Great. Thank you. So I'm just gonna take a quick moment with my council colleagues. We do have because there are a number of reappointments that we're not interviewing, we do have the trustee cheat sheet with all of the motions. So just keep an eye on that. And then you also have the climate and sustainability commission as it sits right now, and that notes everybody who's up for reappointment. So, hopefully, those are helpful. Thank you, clerk's office, for putting all that together for us. And does anyone have any questions? Also, can you hear me?

You the room is a little low on the volume. And when people talk on Zoom, it is very loud, but there's definitely a a microphone issue happening.

K. We will speak loudly in the room, and our candidates will be on Zoom so you'll be able to hear them well. Alright. Any other questions? Alright. Nicole, we're ready for our first candidate.

Great. Your first candidate will be Sean. Hi, Sean. Welcome to the IPS Committee.

Hello. Thank you.

I'm gonna pass you to chair Walker to begin your interview.

Hi, Sean. Christina Walker in the room. You can see my tiny head. And then you've got my colleagues all online today, vice chair Sadalgay, council member Diaz, and council member Hines. I think you know the drill, but you have three minutes to answer the questions that have been provided to you. And then afterwards, we'll have up to five minutes to ask follow-up questions. Anna, who is behind those computers over there, is gonna start the timer as soon as you start talking. So go ahead whenever you're ready.

Okay. Thank you. My name is Sean Arence. I am a Tacoma resident and somebody who's very interested in the issue of climate and sustainability. When I was a student at Yelma High School, my my school had the first green energy program in the state, and I was the first one of first students to go through it.

And, you know, ever since then, I I thought a lot about sustainability and climate and, you know, building a society that really enshrines stewardship of the planet. I currently work for the Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, which is a health care based advocacy organization. I work on the issue of nuclear weapons and nuclear waste, but we have a program that works on issues of climate, and I'm very familiar with advocacy in the intersection of health and air pollution, health and extreme heat, all of those things. I also run a small watershed based organization called the Clover Creek Restoration Alliance, and I am a Metro Park steward at Swan Creek Park in Tacoma and Parks Champion. My understanding is the role of the Climate and Sustainability Commission is to carry out and improve the city's climate action plan, but also to interface with the community and help improve climate and sustainability policies for the city of Tacoma and, you know, by extension, other agencies that the city interacts with, like, utilities and, you know, even the state in some some cases.

And then the last question is actions in the climate action plan that stood out to me, and I I think I'm really interested in the building decarbonization aspect. I like to see that the city has worked with the state building codes system in order to advocate for greater standards for sustainable buildings, supporting building decarbonization. But I think there's a lot more that can be done in that in that avenue. I've I've seen that, you know, while we may be moving towards that goal in some ways, particularly for commercial buildings, we seem to be going the other direction in terms of making sustainable energy efficient buildings. I think the city should should up its standards acting as, you know, as a governing entity.

So and then that's all I got.

Great. Thank you, Sean. We'll now open it up to follow-up questions from the committee and council member Diaz. Can I start with you?

Yeah. Can you hear me?

Yep. Excellent.

Hi, Sean. I was wondering, our boards and commissions are essentially a very fun group project. I'm wondering if you can speak a little bit more to how you work, in in groups and in teams and how you particularly work with folks with opposing viewpoints.

Sure. You know, in my my day job, I I manage a coalition of grassroots activists and organizers and, you know, not everybody has the same opinions even though that we are aligned and thinking that we should eliminate nuclear weapons. So just takes a great deal of patience in trying to understand where people are coming from. Doesn't mean that I am not gonna try to persuade people, but it does mean that if you don't get there, let it rest and work on what you do agree on.

Thank you.

Great. Thank you. Council member Hines, do you have any questions?

Thank you, chair Walker. Thank you, Sean, for interviewing. The question I usually ask, and you've outlined a lot of the things you're interested in working on if you're appointed, but maybe what's the thing you're most eager to work on or think is the most important thing the commission is working on at this point in time?

And that's a tough one. Like, I'm I'm interested in, you know, us reducing our plastic waste as a city, you know, spending solar energy in Tacoma and and sustainability in buildings. I'd also like to see, you know, us be better stewards of our watershed, you know, to talk a little bit more about that. You know, Swan Swan Creek is the only salmon bearing stream left in Tacoma, but that wasn't always the case. Right?

1st Creek used to have salmon. You know, you occasionally hear the Puget Creek used to have salmon. And there are there are ways that we can construct policy and direct development forward that will allow for better water filtration, better prioritization of native species, better tree canopy. So,

you know,

that's kind of a list of things. I'd like to dive into what I can, and I think that will just kinda depend on who's willing to work on it with me.

Alright. Thank you, Sean. That's I appreciate it, and thank you for willing to serve. Thank you, chair Walker.

You, council member Hines. Thank you, Sean, for your willingness to serve. And we are interviewing a number of candidates tonight, but we will make our decision at this meeting. And the clerk's office will reach out to you shortly after. So at this point, can go ahead and disconnect. Thank you so much for taking the time to come in.

Absolutely. You all have a good rest of your interview.

Thank you.

Next, we'll have Alicia. Hi. Is it Alicia? Hi.

Yes. This is Alicia.

Welcome to the IPS committee. I'm gonna pass you to chair Walker to begin your interview.

Thank you.

Hi, Alicia. Christina Walker. I'm in the room in the back here. The rest of my colleagues are all mine, so you can probably see them quite well. But we are I think you know you've been instructed on the the format here, but we're going to give you three minutes to answer the questions that were sent to you ahead of time, and then we'll have up to five minutes after that to ask follow-up questions. Anna here on the behind the computer, it has the timer there. So whenever you're ready, just start talking, and she'll start the timer.

Awesome. Thank you. And thank you, council member, for being here today, chair Walker. But, yeah, nice to meet you. My name's Alicia Blake, and just really excited to interview for the climate and sustainability commission.

I have been a proud Tacoma resident for over five years now and excited to share a little bit more about the personal professional passion I have for climate action and really trying to honestly up my chops in being an engaged member of our Tacoma community. But I come to you bringing a mix of technical experience and community centered perspective a community centered perspective. So, professionally, I work at Cambium, which is a company where I focus on wood and material systems, so specifically how we can reduce waste, lower carbon impacts, and build more circular local supply chains. So a big part of that work is thinking about the built environment. So we focus in materials like wood, reclaim lumber, and mass timber.

But something that was really great is I also got to help support and actually write the urban wood reuse plan here for the city of Tacoma. So we did that analysis last year and looking at ways we can actually reduce wood waste here in the city and help support our climate goals. But second to that, I'm also a volunteer tree captain with the Tree Foundation, and so I lead community members in planting trees, but also thinking about how we can look at our urban can canopy growth as a public health strategy. So I think there's something really important to tag in there about it's not just from a friend a professional side, but a personal side. This is things that I do and community engage with every day.

So what's my understanding of the role? I think the biggest thing here is knowing that we as a commission play we're key in accountability, transparency, but really lifting up the voices of our respective community members and those around us as well. So what I understand, what I've seen in looking through minutes and and then understanding the roles is things like codes updates, program investments, prioritization. It could be nitty gritty things like, what are we doing with the tree code? But for the most part, I think it's really just trying to say what are our priorities and how can we voice and communicate that, advocate that.

Maybe it's writing a letter to certain, initiatives or officers that might need to see it. And then last question here. What is most important and impactful to me in the climate action plan? Holy smokes. What a crazy question.

If I'm being honest, I I think the data person in me wants to say transportation because that's our largest emission source. But, really, I think there's two things that need to be done at once. So, yes, focusing on transportation shifts and making sure that we can get the policy and the advocacy at a large level around, like, transit and electrification, land use change, and all of that. But I really learned particularly through community engagement and work with the Tree Foundation is we really need to get our community men members behind us. So I can see, like, second to that, those near term strategies, like, how are we thinking about walkability and infrastructure for bike lanes?

How are we thinking about urban forestry and waste reduction and other things too? So in summary, I I what's important, I think it's how are we pushing policy and advocacy for those long term macro impacts while balancing our short term really big needs to really show our community that we care and we're listening. Thank you.

Great. Thank you. Alright. We'll open it up to questions. Council member Diaz, do you wanna start again?

Yeah. Happy to. Thank you so much, Alicia. I was wondering if you can tell us a little bit more about your approach to teams and working on what I like to think of commissions as, a group project, your approach to that work, and and how you envision working with others.

Yeah. Spot on. So approach to teams. For me, I think especially because with the climate action plan, things can be very, very specialized or nuanced depending on subject matter. When I think about from a team perspective, what I hopefully would rely on most and somebody that is aware of or knows that has some type of expertise is really helping us to digest and understand what we're seeing.

And then when it comes to saying how are we suggesting or recommending what we need to do next, there needs to be open dialogue and understanding for where we might differ. But ultimately where, I would say, like, our majority in our team relies that we're pushing that forward and representing our community well. So, sure, I might think one thing, but if our community is saying something else, I wanna push that forward. So but when it comes to working with a team, admittedly, huge team player. I wanna do what's best for my team.

I don't think I work best solo. I always want a sounding board. But to that end, like, totally game to take something on and lead it and then bring it back for for reflection. So I always like to say, let's let me put something together and let folks react rather than just show up and say, okay. What are we doing? Yeah.

Thank you.

Alright. Councilmember Hines, do you have a question?

Thank you, chair Walker, and thank thank you, Alicia. My question is always the same as, you know, you you've always gonna get an overview of kind of what you think the work of the commission is or what you're working at the roof, which always a question. I always ask, like, if we were to appoint you, what's the thing that you think is the highest priority you'd like to work on or you think the commission should take on in the near future?

Yeah. Totally. And this is why I was going back and forth because although I feel like transportation is critically important, like, I think my work with the Tree Foundation and thinking about urban canopy and thinking about wood reuse and material reuse and circularity is really where I thrive. So I could see myself carving out a lane therein because I have this this background from a community perspective, but also a working perspective from my professional environment where I'm managing and thinking about circularity and reuse and building materials and how that interplays with the built environment even from, like, a code and development perspective perspective too. So it's kind of, like, a joke, but it's, the live trees and the dead trees all at once. So yeah.

We love trees in any form they find us. Thank you, Alicia. Thank you, chairwalker.

Yeah.

Great. Thank you, council member Hines. Alicia, thank you so much for coming in and spending time with us, being willing to serve. We are interviewing a number of candidates tonight, and we'll be making a decision by the end of the meeting. And then you'll hear from the clerk's office shortly after that. So at this point, you can go ahead and disconnect. Thank you so much for spending time with us. We really appreciate it.

Incredible. Thank you. Thanks so much, everyone.

Next

up, we will have Chelsea. Hi, Chelsea. Hi. Welcome to the IPS Committee. I'm gonna pass you to Chair Walker to begin your interview.

Okay. Thank you.

Hi, Chelsea. Welcome. I'm Christina Walker, the Chair of the IPS Committee down here in the room. The rest of my colleagues are all online, you can probably see them, council member Diaz, council member Hines, and vice chair Sadalgay. We I I think you know the the expectations here. The three you have three minutes to answer the questions that were sent to you ahead of time, and then we'll have five minutes or up to five minutes for follow-up questions from the committee. Anna here behind the the computer will start that timer as soon as you're ready so you can just go ahead and talk.

Perfect. Thank you. Well, thanks for having me. My name is Chelsea Brown. I'm coming in with some skills and experience in the education and the outreach world.

So what I bring from education, I was a high school science teacher for nine years. And besides all of the other day in, day out, wild that teachers go through. I like to think of myself. I'm very much like a programs and curriculum expert, if I can call it that. So really taking complex scientific knowledge and breaking it down into manageable, accessible, parts that kids are gonna relate to and, finding ways to bring in the real world as well.

So, I was at the Science and Math Institute for five years doing project based learning. So a lot of that is really thinking about what's in our backyard, what's in the community, and how does that relate to this complex science. So I think I do a really good job at creation, breaking things down. And my current role is public education outreach with a local city. And so some of those same things from education really bleed over, but on a higher level, like policy, we have the organics management law that I'm working closely with and being able to take you know, this is complex.

This is coming down. There are consequences if we don't follow it. But if you're, you know, just the average person on the street, do you know about this, or do you know how it impacts you? So, again, a lot of that program creation and really with equity and accessibility in mind of how do I make it so people understand what this is and it's they can do it. My understanding of this role, I kind of see, like, an external and an internal, role in here.

Internal, really communicating with city leadership here, communicating, the climate goals and kind of, you know, feedback on those. And then externally being a public figure and saying, here's what we wanna do in Tacoma. What do you think about this? Listening to the public, breaking down, again, this 200 page, climate action plan into something that the public can engage with and understand. What I feel like is most impactful to me in this, I really lean into consumption and materials management.

I'm kind of in the solid waste and environmental world in my role now, and I feel like this is an area where people, policy, and infrastructure really all connect. People can actually see themselves doing things. Money can actually be invested to make it better and easier. So I feel like it really is a good starting point that everyone can see, you know, I can do something here, and it makes a difference, and it matters. And, wow, that was really fast, and thank you. Perfect.

Thank you, Chelsea, and thanks for spending time with us today. I'm gonna open it up to questions from my colleagues and councilmember Diaz. Can I start with you again?

I sure can. Hi there. Thank you for interviewing today. I was wondering if you can tell us a little bit more about your approach to working on group projects or working in a team, and if you have anything you wanted to share specifically about working with folks with opposing viewpoints.

Yeah. I think that, you know, teaching, I was kinda really up for anything. I have every viewpoint. I was in public schools. And one of the things that I I loved teaching about is, you know, this is kind of apolitical. We're learning this. It's not about a belief system, but it's about, you know, finding supporting evidence for this thing. Right? So you can have a different viewpoint and still read a counterargument to it and be able to support, back up any claim with evidence. So that's kind of one side of that question.

I think the other side is, answering your question is, for me, like, collaboration is everything. Right? And so in my own work, it's always about talking to others, getting to others' viewpoints, and also sharing ideas. Right? There's so many things that I'm like, I'm not the first one to come up with this project. Someone's probably done it way better than me and is usually willing to share it, And then I can also make tweaks as to what is my community that I'm creating this project for, or who are my students? Who's my audience for this?

Great. Thank you. Council member Hines, do you have a question?

Yes. I do. Thank you, chair Walker. Chelsea, thank you so much for being here. I guess my question would be kinda based on what you know about the climate sustainability commission. You know, what's the thing you're most excited to work on or that you think is kind of the most important work that the climate sustainability commission's doing right now? I know you talked a lot about that in your answer your questions, but just give me an opportunity to talk maybe something that really interests you.

Yeah. Well, something that interests me both personally and professionally is, organic, so composting and the organics management law. I will I know some of the people in environmental services, and I would love to really see how are we growing that and making it so, businesses and Tacoma know about it, the schools, because I have kids in these public schools too. So how are we really growing this, in our community?

Great. Good to see you, Chelsea.

You too. Great. Thank you so much, Chelsea. And, again, thank you for being willing to serve and for coming in today. We are interviewing a number of other candidates, and we will make a decision at the end of this meeting, then you'll hear from the clerk's office shortly after that. So thanks so much for coming in. You can go ahead and disconnect.

Alright. Thank you so much.

Last up, we have Daniel.

Hello.

Welcome to the IPS Committee. I'm gonna pass you to chair Walker to begin your interview.

Awesome. Thank you so much.

Hi, Daniel. Welcome to the IPS Committee. I'm Christina Walker. I'm the chair. I'm in the room here. All my other colleagues are online. You can probably see them, councilmember Diaz, councilmember Hines, and vice chair Sadalge. I think you've been given instructions, but just so we review those, you have three minutes to answer the questions that were given to you ahead of time, and then we'll have up to five minutes to ask you follow-up questions. Anna is behind the computer there. She will start that timer, that three minute timer, as soon as you're ready, you can go ahead and start speaking.

Awesome. Thank you. My name is Daniel Pursell. I have a degree in geosciences from PLU, and I'm currently pursuing a master's in applied environmental and sustainability studies from the University of Kentucky. I'm currently employed as a project engineer and land use analyst at Graves Plus Associates.

It's a small Tacoma architectural firm. And previously, I've worked in environmental remediation throughout Puget Sound. So my experience working with local developers and architecture and the knowledge and understanding of sustainability and environmental practices I've gained through my education in earth and environmental sciences allows me to provide a unique perspective that's kind of a foot in both worlds to the climate and sustainability commission. My understanding of the role of a commissioner is to review, critique, and propose alternatives to guidelines, policies, and recommendations from other commissions and city of Tacoma departments. I also understand that the role would include sort of championing the city's sustainability efforts in my life as a citizen and to represent the citizenry of Tacoma in climate and sustainability affairs.

I would contribute to the commission by offering my unique perspective as both a representative for developers and as a representative of citizens eager for more sustainable development, and that includes more affordable housing and a greener built environment. I've got experience working with developers and agencies, especially some folks at the city of Tacoma that I know very well. They're planners and engineers. So I work across disciplines to come to reasonable and beneficial understandings and solutions. And in addition to communicating planning and and energy code regulations in effective language to clients and stakeholders to ensure proper compliance and overall more healthy developments.

As far as the climate action plan, I think it's hard for me to to pick what is the most important, particularly within the building section. But I think that the two most important action items are decarbonizing new and existing buildings and increasing affordable housing in the city. We spend the vast majority of our times in buildings, and they're a huge contributor to our climate output. Without my own effort searching for rebates, I likely would not have taken on decarbonizing and increasing the efficiency of my own home. The rebates that I did find were often at the state level or from utility companies.

And it's no secret that our country is in an affordability crisis, and the city of Tacoma and the state at large are in a housing shortage. So increasing the availability of affordable housing, particularly located close to transit or close to employment, is critical for helping our city grow and increase its health. These incentive programs are often sought by developers we work with in an effort to decrease their costs and ultimately solve the problems of affordability and housing availability. Thank you.

Great. Thank you. Perfect timing. We'll go ahead and and move to questions from the IPS committee. And council member Diaz, do you wanna start?

Okay. Thanks for interviewing today. I was wondering if you could tell us a little bit more about your approach to working in teams or groups and how, if there's anything specific to highlight about your approach to working with folks with different viewpoints at your own.

Yeah. Definitely. So working in architecture, I think I have to sort of serve as a bridge between interpreting, you know, codes and regulations and trying to sort of temper the expectations of of some of our clients who I think think that they can sort of get away with with things that are not quite the case. And not just the clients themselves, but working with civil engineers and mechanical, electrical, plumbing designers, surveyors, all these sorts of people who were trying to find a common ground. And I think that is the most important thing for me in especially when it comes to my work.

It's often as a result of cost or complexity that we're trying to find that common ground. But I personally think I'd rather spend a little bit more time collaborating and communicating across disciplines to get a reasonable solution rather than trying to just impose the will of one party or another onto the rest of the group.

Thank you.

Great. Thank you, council member Diaz. Council member Hines?

Yep. Thank you, so much for being here with us today and your willingness to serve. My question is, can I always ask everyone who when they're replying, which is, you know, kind of based on what you know of the Climate and Sustainability Commission, you know, what are you most passionate about working on if we were to appoint you, or, you know, what is that you think is the most important work they're undertaking right now?

Yeah. So, I mean, I didn't necessarily, when I was going through college, I didn't necessarily realize how much I valued the built environment. But working in remediation and then now in architecture, I've developed a a pretty serious fondness for that. And I've I've noticed that a lot of our developers don't really realize the benefits that come with pursuing sustainable development. And so as a result of that, they sort of view it as an immediate cost to them rather than as a long term benefit.

And so I think a lot of the work that the the commission does in regards to the built environment you know, I was reading something about retrofitting and, you know, implementing programs for decarbonization. I think that is the the thing that that sort of intrigues me the most about what the the commission is currently up to.

Alright, Daniel. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Great. Thank you, council member Hines. Daniel, thank you so much for coming in, for being willing to serve, and spending some time with us here today. We have interviewed a number of candidates, so we will be making a decision here at this meeting, and then you'll hear from the city clerk's office shortly after. And but thank you for coming in. You can go ahead and disconnect for now. Thanks. Thanks.

Awesome. I I appreciate all of your time as well, so thank you so much.

Thank you.

Take care. Alright.

So that is all of our interviews. I am going to, again, direct everybody to the handy sheet that the city clerk's office has put us put together for us. It says IPS committee at the top with the date, and then it is the motions to consider. We do have five members who are seeking reappointment, and those are listed on in multiple places. But Michael Chang, Justine, Jadala, Hope Springer, Laura Swinzarik, and Casey Twiggs are all seeking reappointment.

So that's five. And then we have one open position, the which is to fill an unexpired term, and then we can do up to two spots on the shortlist. We do not have to do that, but we do have the opportunity, and the climate and sustainability commission has used those in the past, and they they do appreciate that. So I'm gonna just pause this for a second so everybody can review their materials. Then we'll do all the reappointments, and then we can talk about the the candidates.

So I'll just take about, I don't know, thirty seconds to a minute just to find that piece of paper and get us set for making the motions. Okay. Councilmember Diaz, are you prepared to make those reappointment motions?

Yes. I was just looking for the right page and my mute button. So happen to start with the first motion. I will move to recommend the reappointment of Michael Chang to the Climate and Sustainability Commission to serve a three year term effective 05/01/2026 to expire 04/30/2029.

Second.

Second. Okay. It's been moved and seconded. All those in favor, signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Aye. Alright. Motion number one carries. Motion number two.

Great. I move to recommend the reappointment of Justine Jadala to the Climate and Sustainability Commission to serve a three year term effective 05/01/2026 to expire 04/30/2029.

Second.

Alright. It's been moved and seconded, and I forgot to call for comments or questions at the last one. And I would just say I wanna thank Justine for serving in our youth position, and I'm very excited that she's interested in serving continuing to serve in a, quote, unquote, regular role. Any other comments or questions?

No. Awesome.

Seeing none or seeing no other questions, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? The motion carries. On to motion number three.

Great. I move to recommend the reappointment of Hope Springer to the Climate and Sustainability Commission to serve a three year term effective 05/01/2026 to expire 04/30/2029.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Any comments or questions? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed? The motion carries. Motion number four.

I move to recommend the reappointment of Laura Swanzura to the Climate and Sustainability Commission to serve a three year term effective 05/01/2026 to expire 04/30/2029.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Any comments or questions? Seeing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed? The motion carries. Motion number five.

I move to recommend the reappointment of Casey Twiggs to the Climate and Sustainability Commission to serve a three year term effective 05/01/2026 to expire 04/30/2029.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Any final comments or questions? Seeing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

Aye. Alright.

Thank you to all our reappointments for your willingness to serve again. Alright. Now we are on to our sixth motion, which is a motion to fill an unexpired term. We have four candidates that are all eligible for the position, and then we have the option for the shortlist. I will open this up. Oh, it looks like Christy Lynette, our liaison, has comment. Go ahead.

Yeah. Hi. Thanks, chair Walker. I just wanted to clarify that there are actually, two vacant positions. Nicole, we had, a member have to resign a couple months ago, Gloria Mohammed.

And so I think there are there are two positions.

I'm looking at my list and seeing the vacancy, and then is not re upping, so we do have two vacancies. Clerk, are we correct?

If if Christie says it's vacant, we can definitely work to fill that. It looks like that one will be expiring 04/30/2027, so we could do a motion to fill an unexpired term.

I can do that. I have the option to add the extra language for the next term, don't I? Or do we wanna just, I guess, I would that's a question for my committee colleagues is are folks interested just filling the unexpired term in the motion?

If it's just to 2027, it makes sense to me to to fill the next term as well. The one that goes till 2028, I think it's probably smart to leave that one. But I now I'm confused about what we have open because I do see two openings on this on this sheet, Nicole.

Justine is taking one of those. I I don't know which one, you all called. So that, yeah, that's confusing there.

Yep. I see.

I'm sorry I didn't catch that earlier.

Okay. But But you're saying that Gloria is also resigning, so we do have that one open. Christie?

Yeah.

Okay. So we on the list, it says vacant in one. It says Gloria in the other, and the so those are the two open positions. One is the 2027 expiration. One is the 2028. Alright. Thank you for the clarification. So we have two spots to fill and then still the optional shortlist. So to my colleagues, does anyone wanna weigh in on who you wanna put in those spots, the the the appointments?

Would you like me to go first, or how am gonna do this?

So anybody can jump in. Go ahead. Alright. I'll

go I'll go, and just say, you know, I really like Chelsea Brown. I've worked with her. I think she does great work. She just has background education. I think she's really good at helping kind of communicate the workout that climate state does. So, I mean, if you ask me, like, who do I really wanna see appointed, that would be the one. After that, I mean, I think there's we had a plethora of just really good applicants that would be wonderful in this role. And so remind me. We're we're looking for two now, chair walker, or just one?

We're looking for two appointments right now, and then we can appoint up to two on the shortlist. So we're looking for two official.

Yeah. I mean, Alicia and Dana were both were all very good. I see that they're all from District 3. I also thought Sean was good too. So I I guess I would open it up to my colleagues to see what else what they would like, what could support any other candidates.

I will try to jump in with my voice as much as I can.

Go ahead.

I also really liked, Chelsea Brown. Alicia and Daniel, you're also really good. I do appreciate Daniel's resume and his mixture of having done fieldwork out there and doing land use. I think that's you know, he talked about how to get developers to see this as a win rather than a tourist. And I think that kind of view could be very useful because, ultimately, that's what we're trying to do is to have we need to have development.

We need to have it be smart and sustainable. And he really spoke to that for me. So between all of them, he was actually my top because of that. And then I would have had Chelsea Brown as a close second and then Alicia Blake for no other reason than we just had really, really good candidates. I I really liked some of the work she had. So those would be my three. That's it.

Great. Thank you. Councilmember Diaz.

I tend to agree with everyone else's comments here. I particularly Daniel did stick out to me because of his experience with the built environment and his interest in climate and sustainability with that lens. With that, I will ask Christy the question not to put her on the spot, but I know that this commission doesn't have different background requirements like other commissions do. But I'm wondering if you can tell us if that is position that is not as represented on this list. I I have a sense, but not a 100% from the the names of the list of current and newly reappointed folks.

Yeah. Or if there is a voice that you feel like is missing, we would love to. Yeah. No. Appreciate

that. Thank you. I would say we don't necessarily have someone from the development community side. We've got a couple folks that are, kinda help manage existing buildings, through their work and and trying to get them more efficiently decarbonized, but not necessarily from that land use or or development perspective.

Cool.

Thank you. That's all I had. Would love to hear. Chair Walker, you have any thoughts?

Yeah. Thank you. I agree. We have had great candidates, and I think that they all bring something a little bit different to the table. I would support it sounds like both Chelsea and Daniel are rising at the top of most people's list, so I would support them being the two that we appoint.

And I think I would probably now it feels weird to have to pick one that we're is gonna have a longer appointment. And so I I guess it doesn't really matter to me. I think they're both great candidates. I think they'll both do great work and clearly show up and and bring a lot to the table. So but I I think we can go ahead and because I heard heard clearly that those were the two that rose to the top top, and we could make those appointments, and then we could talk about a shortlist.

Great.

Councilmember Diaz, you motions again?

I am happy to. Let me pull my sheet back, and I keep scrolling up and down the PDF document here. Thank you. Takes longer than when I have the piece

of paper in front of me.

Let's see here. So I don't feel like I heard a strong sense of who should get the shorter term, so I'm just gonna make a motion and ride with it. Folks are welcome to not second it if you would like me to propose a different motion. I will move to recommend the appointment of Daniel Pursell to the Climate and Sustainability Commission to fill an unexpired term to expire 04/30/2028.

Do we have a second?

I had to unmute myself. There you go.

Alright.

All those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

Aye. Aye.

Alright. Any opposed? The motion carries. So we have Daniel Pursell in one position, and then council member Diaz.

I move to recommend the appointment of Chelsea Brown to the Climate and Sustainability Commission to fill an unexpired term to expire 04/30/2027, followed by a three year term to expire 04/30/2030.

Second.

Alright. It's been moved and seconded. Any comments or questions? Hearing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

Aye. Aye.

The opposed? Alright. The motion carries. So we have all our appointments. Do we have any comments or suggestions for a shortlist?

I would like to make one motion for a per first person on the shortlist if folks are amenable to that.

Sounds good.

Great. I move to recommend Alicia Blake as the first person on the shortlist for the Climate and Sustainability Commission, which will be effective until the next applicant recruitment period opens.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Any comments or questions? Alright. Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

Aye. Alright.

The motion carries. Alright. Any other motions for the shortlist? Doesn't sound like it based on discussion, but just putting making sure we make time for that. Okay. Thank you. That was great. And, Christy, thank you for being here. Thanks for weighing in, and thank you for all your work on the commission. Very excited about all of our commissioners and the new candidates and the good work that you all are gonna do going forward. So appreciate it. Thank you, Nicole, for keeping us organized. Alright. Moving on. Our next agenda item is going to be relatively quick.

This is the urban design board recommendation for appointment. Steven Antiput, our senior planner in Planning and Development Services is here to give us an overview.

Good afternoon Chair Walker and members of the committee. So the Urban Design Board is now operating after its first full year, and Chair Walker did the opportunity last week to see them doing their business. They had a public meeting and doing a project review. The Board is fulfilling its mandate. It's providing a streamlined public process and allowing flexibility for design solutions that the land use code doesn't necessarily provide.

So it's doing well. It's working partly, it's working well because it's a relatively small roster. And with that, there's a there's a risk of not being able to

do its work if there

have been vacancies because of either absences or recusals because we have design development professionals who often are potentially closely aligned with projects that come before the board. So we happen to have a vacancy right now because one of the members tendered their resignation in January. So we, in consultation with you, Chair Walker, we contacted finalists that were previously interviewed and were not seated for the initial terms and checked in with them to find their availability and interest continued interest in that. So we went through that process and we identified a candidate who qualified for the design and development professional position number two and have forwarded that individual's application to you for consideration and a recommendation to do so.

Great. Thank you. Appreciate it. And I so the the recommended candidate is Gayan Rosenswig, and I think every we were all here when we did those interviews, and so hopefully you remember her. I thought I saw her pop in.

She was. Yeah. And we talked a little bit about the lift you all were doing here. And so I'm pretty sure she went to sit comfortably and

Okay. And visit online, but

since we weren't expecting to do another interview today.

Okay. Sounds good. So I'll just open it up for comments from the committee. And if well, I'll just pause there. Any comments or questions?

Okay. And then, Steven, can you remind us the terms that we failed were two and three years? So when people next year, we will be doing a set of interviews regardless of if people leave or not.

That's correct.

Okay.

And they're they are staggered. It is it's a small group, but there are believe there are three that will come up next year, and four will provide continuity to go on Great. While new ones come on or or are reappointed if that's

the case.

Okay. Great. Well, I will now entertain a motion to recommend the appointment of Gayan Rosenswig to the design and development professional number two position on the urban design board to fill an unexpired term to expire 12/31/2027.

Second.

I need a motion first.

Oh, sorry. I thought I heard you say I move. I thought it was weird. But you took my line. I move to recommend the appointment of

You can just say so moved.

Oh, so moved.

Second.

Alright. So moved and seconded. Any question? Alright. Seeing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Aye. Aye.

Opposed? Alright. The motion carries. Thank you all, and thank you, Steven, for bringing this forward. Thank you very much. Alright. Now onto our presentation. We have a tree and landscaping code update. We have Adam Nolan from planning and development services, and Laura Labaco, I think, online with Madoon. Take it away.

Alright. Good evening, chair, council members. My name is Adam Nolan, and I am a senior planner with planning development services comprehensive planning team. And this evening, I will provide an informational presentation for the tree and landscape code update. And at the conclusion of the presentation, we will welcome any inputs you may have that will be used in moving this project forward.

The city has contracted with Methune for support on this project, and, you know, you'll remember that Methune was the consultant team for Home and Tacoma that included assisting with establishment of tree regulations during that process. And joining us online I can't see who's online, but like I said, Laura Labaco's online. She's a landscape architect with Timothoon. Claire Martian is the project manager, and not sure if she's there

or not. But

let's see.

So the purpose of this presentation is to share information on the status and scope of the project as well as to gather some early input as we move forward. And the presentation will include project background, scope of review, existing canopy, and benchmarking scope options. So to help facilitate opportunities for input we have teed up a few discussion questions that we'll revisit at the conclusion of the presentation. A couple of these these are all related to the scope of the project but treat credits you know looking at whether we're going to revisit recent decisions or just focus on gap areas, tree retention looking at extending the approach the city currently has to more zoning districts or looking at alternative approaches, consideration of non development scenarios and any important considerations for that priority areas for investment for low canopy management strategies, consideration of parking lots and any potential impacts positive or negative for us to consider moving forward. So the city has done significant work in the last few years regarding tree regulations in Tacoma including you know city departments like urban forestry and plant development services and it's also been a great deal of consideration and time for the planning commission and council and from this work council has taken actions over the last several years including the right of way code updates in 2023.

The home in Tacoma that was adopted in 2024, updates to tree and landscape standards for industrial districts in 2025, and now we are here with the urban force priority action plan adopted in 2025. Phase one, the community engagement that culminated with the community engagement report that was January 28 IPS agenda topic and has been forwarded to the planning commission. Phase two's right of way level of service considerations and what we're talking about tonight in this project specifically is working with the planning commission to develop new regulations for tree canopy management preservation. The phase four piece is forwarding the Planning Commission's recommendations to council for their consideration but again tonight and moving forward we're focusing on phase three. So there's four steps to this project with the planning commission and before we send it off to council in early twenty twenty seven.

So we're currently in step two, which is considering initial code options for the issues identified in the scope of work of the council resolution. This scope includes expanding the tree credit system for development sites in all zones, expanding tree retention and canopy loss fee system, including for nondevelopment scenarios, improving tree canopy requirements for parking lots, and also considering low canopy management strategies for the low canopy areas of the city. The scope does not include right of way tree code or general landscaping requirements. And, again, any input we received tonight from IPS council members will be useful for our April 15 meeting with planning commission. And our plan is also to come back here in June, back to the IPS committee to just provide some updates on the draft code and the project itself.

All right so looking at some existing tree canopy data the most recent lidar data that was collected in 2024 shows the city's overall tree canopy is 21% it's not news to anybody here that we have that's among the least amount of tree canopy for you know percentage of land cover in the Puget Sound region. And the map on the screen shows the tree canopy by census block with the lighter shade shaded areas having the lowest percentage of tree canopy. So it's pretty clear there are significant gaps in different geographies and neighborhoods of the city, but also want to call attention to some relevant goals and policies of the comprehensive plan regarding you know increasing and retaining tree canopy with the citywide goal and also the goal for all Tacoma neighborhoods to have 30% by 2050. So over the last few months, the consultant team has conducted review of peer jurisdictions for the different scope items. This is this has included King County jurisdictions as well as some other regional jurisdictions.

And all these places have undergone varying levels of updates in terms of tree code, critical areas code, urban forest action plans, so those those things. And I'll also just note since it's gonna be a very big topic of this update, the King County Tree Code study shows that many of these jurisdictions do have code regulations and incentives for tree retention as it pertains to nondevelopment on private property. So that's gonna be a big consideration for this project. And as well as providing some great examples for peer review and potential code options, it's also just really illustrative that many places this is really important work. Many places are doing it, and city council is on point in prioritizing this work.

So the next few slides, I'm gonna dive into the specific code issues that we're gonna address with the scope of work. Alright. So the first objective is to extend the tree credit system that was adopted in Home Tacoma for all development sites in all of the city's zoning districts. So the table on on the screen is a inventory of our current treaty credit standards. The two columns on the left show the city zoning districts and the existing canopy for those districts, and the two columns on the right show canopy requirements for these zones, you know, and by residential or nonresidential uses.

Just some quick background. With the adopted Tacoma in late twenty twenty four, the city codified tree canopy requirements for UR districts, your urban residential, and residential uses in other zoning districts excluding downtown and mixed use districts. In 2025, we expanded this into the industrial zoning districts through the South Tacoma groundwater protection district code update and the tie flat sub area plan. So looking at the table, the areas shaded in yellow indicate where we still have gaps, where we don't have tree canopy requirements and that's for commercial mixed use in downtown zoning districts. In looking at some of our peer jurisdictions and just to use one example commercial mixed use there's a range of 15 to 25% for some of these peer jurisdictions you know on the higher end Issaquah Kirkland has like 25% you know it's more suburban, different development characteristics and roles in larger cities.

Seattle and Portland are 15% for those used Estonia districts. So all in all, there's all that is to say that we have a range of options to consider, and we will keep all that in mind moving forward.

Can I clarify one thing before you move on? You said Yeah. When you say they're around 15%, that's currently or that's what their requirement is?

That's what their requirement is.

Okay. Yeah. Thank you.

So the current scope considerations that we're working with currently, should we focus on the gaps that we that I just discussed, these different zoning districts? Or do we need to revisit the the tree credit approach and the the requirements that have already been adopted in those different zoning districts you are industrial. And then the second piece would be, you know, if we're focusing on the gap areas, we'll have to consider what we think the tree canopy requirement should be. The second scope item, the objective is to extend tree credit or tree retention code to other zoning districts and including consideration for non development. So our current standards through Home and Tacoma we adopted tree retention standards that they only currently apply to urban residential districts and only in cases of development actions.

These standards we have a scale of tree protection based on size, canopy loss fees, the exemptions we have for things like hazard trees, damaged trees you know these very few exceptions we have are consistent with other jurisdictions and our street tree code and then we also have some incentives and flexibilities for tree retention. In terms of looking at peer jurisdictions our current approach with our standards is it within the realm of what peer other peer jurisdictions are doing when we're looking at true retention standards and canopy loss but our standards they only apply to UR districts and development and we see it with other jurisdictions that they extend to other zoning districts and also apply to non development. So this leaves open some variety and code approaches and incentives that we can further explore and the key scoping choices should we expand the tree retention standards to all city zoning districts or any potential variations should it apply to non development and are there any considerations for that that we need to keep in mind? And are there any other factors that kind of IPS committee planning commission would like us to, like, look into further?

All right the third piece of this is the code objective is to increase tree canopy requirements for all parking lots. Our current standards we have parking lot landscaping requirements for all zones They are prescriptive in nature so we have standards for interior, planting, perimeter, and general distribution requirements just to name a few. We also have exemptions for parking lots with 16 stalls or less where in some cases they are exempt from some of these prescriptive standards. Also note that this is happening alongside the parking code update project that was here before IPS on February 25. So that's going to factor into some of these considerations as well.

We've seen that peer jurisdictions incorporate a mix of prescriptive and performance based approaches. One interesting example was Portland that requires 50% shade or solar panels for parking lots over a quarter acre in size and you know this ties into city policy that in the comp plan require new and existing parking lots to have you know tree planting requirements that shade at least 50% of the parking lot and this is this contributes to offsetting urban heat island and other other impacts from impervious surfaces. So some scope choices, should we consider shifting away from the prescriptive base standards more towards performance based or a mix of the two? And in terms of the parking lots with 16 stalls or less, do we want to eliminate or reduce the exemptions? Alright.

Our final piece to this, the code objective is to implement strategies to increase tree canopy, particularly in low canopy areas. And I'll just start by saying that we do have some programs and strategies that are targeted towards low canopy neighborhoods and off to residential property owners. And the grits grit city trees and green blocks programs are like street tree specific programs. The other thing I'll say is that in some of the approach I've already discussed some of the other things we're working on with expanding tree credits and looking at tree expanding that tree retention those things in and of itself are going to be helpful and supportive of this objective especially in areas you know that have lower tree canopy like commercial mixed use zoning. And for further consideration of this the table on the screen shows the zoning districts with the lowest tree canopy industrial mixed use downtown and commercial districts or c two specifically up here.

So the big question moving forward for us will be how to determine focus areas for low canopy management strategies. And this is the closing slide. I wanna just finish up with the next steps before we open it up for input. So we're gonna go our next steps are to develop two initial code options for each of these objectives, come back to IPS in June to review draft code, project updates with the goal of a planning commission public hearing to take place in September. So at this point, we're not asking for any decisions to be made tonight about seeking input.

If you have any on things you'd like us to take into consideration in the analysis and the the work ahead. So with that, I will close out my time and welcome input.

Great. Thank you, and thank you for the discussion questions. Is it possible to leave that up there and still be able to see my colleagues a little bit? Awesome. Alright. Who wants to kick us off? Vice chair Sadalgay, would you like to go first?

Sure. I had a specific question a few slides ago. There was a zone that was called T and PDC. I just didn't know what they were a few slides ago. I think a few more slides back.

Slide eight. It's the charts. Yeah.

What is the t and t d b zones?

T is a transitional zone that falls under commercial, and plan development business is another commercial zone.

Okay. Right. No. That's thank you. You can go to the last slide again.

Was just curious. In reviewing some of the other codes, you know, when I think about development, you know, I I definitely have concerns about nondevelopment, pre on on private property. So understanding what other jurisdictions are doing around that is absolutely gonna be important for me when this comes back. But in development context, whether it's residential elsewhere, One thing we've heard from developers over and over again is this idea of flexibility. And are there opportunities, or are there other jurisdictions that offer flexibility in tree requirements if, you know, you build, I don't know, solar panels on a parking lot is something that comes to mind or some sort of rain, you know, rain garden or or some sort of methodology of capturing and sequestering, you know, storm water that doesn't involve tree, maybe, but it still has some environmental benefit.

So I would love to know if that's a thing that exists, if there's a way for us to incorporate this idea of of adding that type of flexibility when we when we kinda think about this code. Is that something you can answer, or is that something new that you guys need to research?

I think that we've we've certainly seen a variety of examples in the review of peer jurisdictions. I don't have any, like, specifics right in front of me. I'm happy to provide that information to you.

This would also be more maybe potentially questions for the planning commission to consider. Sure. Because the idea is you know, the end goal is to be environmentally responsible. Right? That's where it kinda comes down to for me, and trees are really important, but at being able to add that flexibility in still doing really positive, you know, environmental things than what you know, just asphalt, right, is where I think we you know, I I wanna get that's why I'm less interested in in a very detailed prescriptive methodology here and something that leads to the flexibility and ability for for developers and especially commercial developers to be, creative and and and reaching some good solutions because I don't, you know I I hate to dictate too much.

And I think one of your other questions was I would like to I prefer that we would concentrate on what is missing rather than revisiting anything we've already decided since we need time for things to to to pan out. So that's kind of those were the first few things that that kinda came into my head on this one. Appreciate this this presentation. Thank you.

Thank you.

Great. Thank you, vice chair. Councilmember Hines?

Thank you, chair Walker. I think so my question this is very good question to frame this all up. The tree protection can be lost, you know, fees and and kind of how other cities manage it. Since current approach is within the realm of peer jurisdictions. So, I I mean, I I know I wouldn't ask you for a table that would show, like, what other cities are doing, but I guess maybe that's something I'm relatively interested in. Is that something you are preparing for the planning commission or that it's, like, exists of, like, what are other cities doing around tree retention on nondevelopment sites?

Absolutely. We have that. We already have some drafts going, and we'll definitely be bringing that to planning commission on the April 15 and and happy to share that with IBS committee for sure As soon as, like yeah. As soon as as soon as it's available, I guess.

And and I guess my question is I'm I guess I'll I'm looking at, like, the peers we're looking at, right, or that we looked at. So, I mean, Seattle and Bellevue are there there's a good list here. I guess my question has always come back to, right, there's a a city that's already fully built out that isn't looking to grow or change can have a pretty restricted tree code on both development and nondevelopment sites because the idea is that we're built out, plant trees wherever, and nothing's gonna change here. And so I think when you're looking at some of these cities and peers, I think looking at some that have I'd be really curious about maybe some that have grown over the recent period of time that are growing or have grown and how they're navigating this versus maybe a city that's staying in some place. Right?

So I've had a member of the some members of the public point out to me that cities like Cleveland and Buffalo, New York and Detroit, St. Louis, Missouri have have had growing tree canopies. And, I mean, I've yet to point this out, but every one of those cities has shrunk by more than half since 1950. So, I mean, if no one lives there and it's not growing, then it becomes much easier to fill in and address the tree canopy. So I guess one of the things I'd be curious as you're looking at peer cities is maybe how are they if not reflecting in their policy, how they're balancing growth and land use, but how it what's the what's the discussions happening?

What was the things that were influencing the policy decision that would be something I'd be interested in hearing more of? Because I'm because I'm looking at these conversations happening not only in our community, but in other cities around the country. They they seem to kinda be narrowly kinda landing around the same they're we all seem to be having the same conversation whether we're we're paying attention to what people in cities are saying or not. So that's something else I've been interested to know, and I think probably good for the planning commission to hear. That being said, going back to your questions, I think I agree with council members and vice chair focusing on the gap rather than revisiting recent decisions.

I mean, they they were made a year ago. So, I mean, I think I'd really like to continue to focus on a place where we could step in and do more. You know, I think the tree retention, like, if I'm more open to what it might look flexibly around what it not like doing a blanket approach to all zones, but maybe is there different considerations for different ones and what we think about. Some sites that are zoned for certain uses, having a large tree canopy coverage of those sites might be a challenge. Also, you know, I think one of the things we've I've been picking up, thanks to the the members of the public who've been talking to me is, you know, the idea that trees actually often do better where they're more densely kind of put together.

Like, they they grow in forests. It grows. Right? So they often do better when they're tightly packed. So thinking about how we can lean in and and preserve more trees or encourage more tree planting in areas where they could be more densely packed versus maybe, like, every every site gets a, you know, same number of trees.

Right? I think there's a way to look about that. The I think your priorities investment, I would just be definitely looking in places where we can kind of look at both where canopy is low and also where the use and preservation of those trees makes the most sense to really keep them going for a long period of time. Should we shut the broader yeah. You know, the parking lot conversation, you know, I think about I'll defer you all to think about what that might look like.

The potential impacts consider, I again, something that I has always just kind of as I'm listening to these public conversations is really getting to the core. And I know I know if there's five members of public who will will not like me saying this, but I I've heard it multiple times, which is, like, I want my neighbor to keep their trees on their property. Their tree on their property is really important and provides all these benefits to others. My tree, on the other hand, is my tree, and therefore, I should be able to do what I like with my tree. And I think if we we start talking through how we kind of think as a city, we have to kind of square the circle around that.

You know, we have to come to a common set of agreements on, like, what am I okay with applying both to my neighbor and to myself. Because every neighbor has a horrible reason to cut down a tree, and every property owner has a wonderful reason to cut down their tree in their in their yard. And I've never met someone who cut a tree down that had a bad reason. They're that they thought they had a bad reason, and I've never met I've never met a neighbor who saw their neighbor cut a tree down who didn't think their neighbor had a bad reason. I don't that I think that that makes sense.

Right? So that that as we think about potential impacts to consider, I really wanna push the members of the public and the planning commission to really think through that question right there as much as possible. Thank you, chair. That I went on for quite a while.

No. That's great. Thank you. Thank you both for your input on this. A couple questions. On slide 11, the low canopy management strategies, are these these are things so this list to me looks like things that we're already doing. Would is this proposal to do more of it or keep funding it, or is that just a future question?

This these are separate. These are urban forestry programs. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Come on. Come on up here, Mike.

Speak loudly. Yes.

Hi, everyone. Just for the record, Mike Carey, urban forestry here with the city. The intent for this slide was just to recognize that when we talk about low canopy management strategies that are geographic based and not zoning based, we are restricted in terms of what we can regulate in our development code. We don't have a lot of development authority or regulation authority for saying this geography should have different requirements than this geography. We actually have a a structure that says this zone or this lane use can have different requirements than this other zone of land use.

And so this is to basically not to if what we're talking about for low canopy management strategies are really geography based, like this census block we need to have more trees in because they currently have few trees. These are the current programs that we have to address the geography based approach which are all incentives and non regulatory and so we have these partnerships with the Tree Foundation and other folks as well to provide trees to communities in low tree neighborhoods.

Thank you. That's helpful. And then on the next slide, slide 12 in talking about determining focus areas, is that something that how to determine focus areas? Would that be written into the code that determination criteria, or is that just something that would sort of go along with this?

I I I can provide my perspective on that really briefly. The map on the right is again talking about geography based, which the last slide talked about some of our incentive programs for that. What we're seeing on the left is those are the zones that are currently low canopy zones. And so through the development code, we have the opportunity to change regulations for low canopy zones, and that would be something that would need to be considered by the planning commission and council if that was an approach you wanted to take. So where we currently have, like you can see the type lasting instance, right, sitting at about 4% tree canopy, And that would be a zoned area for certain development allowances, and that is something that we can take on

from development code. Do we

wanna treat the regulations there differently? Okay. Did that answer your question?

Yes. Yeah. Okay. And I think continues to be a conversation around just to your point, we have tools for code. We have tools for planting. We have and programs. We have tools for community. So it this is not a one one strategy fixes the whole thing.

Absolutely. And I would just add on that note too. The programs that you did see on the slide are currently residential focused programs. So just

to call that out Good point.

That we don't have incentive programs for commercial or industrial partners at this time. Mhmm. And so we won't see a whole lot of strides in treating an increase in those zones that are not kinda residential.

Yep. Okay. Great point. Thank you. That is helpful. And then I think that I will just go back to the question slide. I I am a big fan of getting rid of that parking lot exemption so that every parking lot has some requirement. I do I am supportive of a mix of strategies, but I think I don't think we should exempt small parking lot. 16 Stall is not actually that small, so I think we can ask folks to do something. In terms of I mean, I think council member Hines brought up the question about the neighbor.

I mean, we did hear that a lot. I continue to hear that a lot in conversation. I think that is very worth attention, worth talking about. And I think that this data that you you all have or or that you presented here, the the table on slide eight and the details that we're gonna get before the planning commission or the planning commission is gonna get. I think that's super, super helpful.

I think we can have the biggest goals in the world, but it doesn't mean it's actually going to happen. So making sure or you're taking a look at other cities that are similar, I think, will be really helpful in sort of threading that needle in terms of how much to push and how much to continue to support growth. So I don't think that there's anything else that I haven't answered. I'm just Yep. I think I think that covers it.

Thank you for bringing all of this. This was, I thought, a perfect level of detail in terms of what we could all digest and then answer questions versus having the whole thing. I I know, you know, we're we're excited to look into the whole data on the peer cities, but having this level of detail at this committee was really helpful. So thank you.

Great presentation. Well, thank you.

Alright. With that, we will move on to topics for upcoming meetings. Annalie, our committee liaison.

Consider the storm place nomination in North Avenue Greenway, and there'll be a presentation on their twenty twenty five public works capital.

Thank you. I did wanna make a note that the committee received a letter from the climate and sustainability commission on the dissolution of the environmental services commission. That letter was sent to the committee along with today's meeting materials and will be available to the public on Legislature after this meeting. And then I do wanna note that Anna did follow-up with an additional letter that came from environmental services staff. So you have both of those in your inboxes, and I just wanna pause to see if anyone had any questions or comments about those letters that they wanna discuss now.

Okay. And I know I had a great conversation with Romero, our executive liaison about this, so please feel free to reach out if you do have questions. And then since our last meeting, has anyone visited one of our committee's boards and commissions? I do want to note that we have 100% success rate in the first quarter. We have visited all of our commissions, so thank you everybody for making that possible.

As noted earlier, I was the urban design board last week, and it was really, really interesting and fun to dig into a specific project and see them in action. So highly recommend that. And then just noting, council member or vice chair Stalge and I are going to the parking technical advisory committee, which is not a group that this committee selects members for, but is obviously adjacent to a lot of our work. And then I know council member Sadalge is also working on a trip to the permit advisory committee. Again, not under our purview, but very adjacent and intertwined with our work. So thank you for making the time for those. Any other items of interest?

Dear Walker?

Yeah.

I don't know if the clerk's office is still on the phone, but I'm sure someone's in the room. Just can't see the screen. So feature reference, folks, Anna is impossible to hear. So when we call in the community liaison to do the topics for upcoming meetings, can we please have the committee liaison for whichever meeting was moving in this room come up to a mic? We keep doing the mic in front of the chair. Or the mic where Steven was, so the shooting are the most audible. For what it's worth, the feet where Mike Carrier was is also pretty inaudible. We just wanted to get that on the record for both. Because I know that there's a lot of technicians in that room.

Great flag. Thank you for that. Alright. Any other comments? Alright. With that, I will entertain a motion to adjourn.

So moved. Second.

It's been moved and seconded. All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. We stand adjourned.