Portland City Council Approves Work Scope That Includes Revising Tree Code

On May 26, 2021, the Portland City Council approved the project scope to update the Urban Forest Management Plan and make substantive changes to the tree code (Title 11). The plan was prepared by Urban Forestry staff in collaboration with the Bureau of Development Services and the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability.

The new project scope will prioritize updating the Urban Forest Management Plan, last revised in 2004. That plan is supposed to be revised every ten years but budget restraints precluded that. The recently passed Parks levy enable this update. The goals and policies in the updated plan will address current City priorities “such as climate change, environmental justice, and equity,” and these will, in turn, guide Title 11 improvements, according to Urban Forestry’s Brian Landoe. 

Although substantive amendments to Title 11 are now delayed until 2024, what Urban Forestry calls “technical and minor policy improvements to Title 11 to improve clarity, address inefficiencies, and overall improve code implementation” are scheduled to start in July 2021. 

For the record, in approving the plan, Commissioner Ryan expressed concern about low-income Portlanders being able to afford the costs of maintaining street trees adjacent to their property. (To date the City has not taken action to assume responsibility for maintaining street trees.) Commissioner Hardesty shared Commissioner Ryan’s concerns about equity and also stressed the need to monitor the impact of planting trees in tree-deficit areas. Commissioner Rubio stated that the City needs to value its tree infrastructure to the same degree it values other infrastructure such as streets and sewers.

Here’s the project timeline:

● July 2021-2022. Phase 1: Technical and minor policy amendments to Title 11 that can be accomplished with existing resources and staff. In winter the Urban Forestry Commission and Planning and Sustainability Commission will hold public hearings, and in early 2022 Urban Forestry will return to the City Council to present proposed amendments.

● mid-2022-mid-2024. Phase 2: Urban Forest Management Plan update that will require public input and new resources including Urban Forestry staff

● 2024-2025. Phase 3: Substantive Title 11 amendments that will require data analysis, public engagement, and inter-bureau engagement; these amendments will be informed by the Urban Forest Management Plan update.

It is possible that phase 2 will also produce a list of recommended changes to Title 11. Urban Forestry sees “a lot of value in leveraging the outreach and analysis work from the UFMP toward amendments as well.”

We’ll keep you informed of when and how to weigh in on these processes.