Board reviews Horizon View Park replanting after roundabout removals; members urge planting in priority neighborhoods

City staff and the contractor presented a replanting map for Horizon View Park after trees will be removed for a roundabout project. Sam Cole, the city’s urban forest planner, told the board the removal will reduce about 1,400 square feet of canopy and that the contractor proposes to replace approximately 1,500 square feet of canopy coverage in Horizon View Park as remediation.

Board members acknowledged the value of adding public trees in parkland but questioned the choice to concentrate mitigation at a single park rather than distributing trees within the previously identified priority zones (northeast of Horizon View, northwest near the shoreline, and south-of-town-center areas). Members and the council liaison said contractors and public works favored park planting because public land avoids the legal and administrative complications of placing city-funded trees on private property (the so-called gift-of-public-funds constraint).

Several members urged staff to pursue code changes or new incentives so replanting after major removal projects would better reach low-canopy residential neighborhoods in future projects. The council liaison suggested engaging the incoming public works director and city attorney to explore code revisions, and members asked Sam to coordinate with staff on options (right-of-way plantings, intermediary nonprofit partners, or targeted outreach lists) to ensure future mitigation aligns with priority areas.

The board also discussed on-site details (species placement and canopy overlap), water and maintenance responsibilities, and monitoring windows for contractor-planted trees. Sam noted the city requires multi-year monitoring and that dead trees in the monitoring window must be replaced by the contractor at their expense.

Board members asked staff to bring potential code amendment language and to consult with city attorneys and public-works staff before the board finalizes formal recommendations to council.