NEWS - 7/2/2009

The Trees Task Force has continued to meet throughout the spring and summer. They expect to meet next at 8-11 a.m. on Thursday, July 9, in the County's Development Services Building. The following documents were sent to members for the July 9th meeting:

Agenda, ZDO review procedures, preliminary draft of the tree ordinance (these are proposed sections of the ordinance and are not at all final), meeting topics for July 9, mitigation examples and information, Wilsonville tree code examples.

NEWS - 2/11/2009

Here is a preliminary, revised "charge" for the Trees Task Force from Doug McClain and Jennifer Huges of the County planning department. This will go to the BCC for review.

(This is a PDF file.)

NEWS - 2/3/2009

Task Force Charge to Include Pre-Development Loophole

At the work/study session of February 3, the new 5-member Board of County Commissioners discussed the various options for protecting trees from being clear cut by developers prior to getting a development permit. These developers intentionally bypass tree protection ordinances, taking advantage of this legal loophole.

The BCC decided that closing this loophole is now officially a part of the Trees Task Force (TTF) charge. CCUG commends the Board for adopting a policy that more accurately reflects the real-world threats to our urban tree canopy.

Doug McClain will write up the new charge and deliver it to the TTF before the next meeting. [CCUG will post the document on this website as soon as we get a copy.]

The next meeting of the TTF is scheduled for February 12th, 8 - 10 AM at the County's Development Services Building. It is a public meeting and we encourage everyone to attend.

TTF Documents

These are documents that were distributed to the TTF by Ellen Rogalin (County Staff). They are PDF files that you can read online or download.

Email from Ellen Rogalin to members of the TTF and interested parties.

Agenda for February 12th meeting.

Summary of the January 8 TTF meeting.

Websites recommended to the TTF by TTF member Bob Murch.

Information submitted to the TTF by TTF member Catherine Blosser.

Text of email correspondence between Jennifer Hughes and Brian Knotts at Oregon Department of Forestry.

The Clackamas County zoning development ordinances (ZDOs) related to trees.

NEWS - 1/25/2009

New Clackamas County BCC to Review the Task Force Charge

The new Board of County Commissioners will meet for a study session on Tuesday, February 3 from 2:30 to 3:30 at the Board conference room, 4th floor of the Public Services Building in Oregon City, to reconsider the charge of the Trees Task Force.

Three new commissioners, Jim Bernard, Charlotte Lehan, and Bob Austin replace two commissioners who have moved on, Bill Kennemer and Martha Schrader. The new commission will appoint a 5th commissioner shortly to fill the final seat. We are hoping that the new commission will be more open to protecting our urban tree canopy than the last one and will demonstrate this by including closing the loophole in the task force's charge.

Original Task Force Charge, handed out on December 4, 2008, showing the Charge, Scope, and Timeframe - HERE.

It is meaningless to talk about "maintaining and enhancing the tree canopy" (part of the official charge of the Trees Task Force) if the loophole is left open. Any developer can circumvent existing tree protections (which, frankly, are weak even without the loophole), simply by clear-cutting a property before they apply for a permit. That's no protection at all! How can we take seriously the commissioners' committment to protecting the tree canopy if they insist on leaving the loophole open?

The study meeting is open to the public and anyone can attend and observe the proceedings. Please show your support for urban tree conservation by attending this important meeting!

The next Trees Task Force meeting is scheduled for 8:00 - 10:00 AM, February 12th, in the Development Services building at the Red Soils campus in Oregon City. Please attend if you can, as we want to show our support. There will be time at the end of the meeting for public comment.

NEWS - 12/21/2008

Clackamas County BCC Takes "Closing the Loophole" Off the Table

Back on March 19, 2008, the Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously to form the task force similar to the one that CC Urban Green proposed (or so we thought).

All those at the task force meeting who were familiar with the year-long effort by CC Urban Green were astonished.

CC Urban Green's main issue has been "closing the loophole": unless a piece of land is near a stream or other specially protected area, there is no regulation, law, restriction, or mandate that can protect the trees. Someone can buy a piece of land, and, before they apply for a permit to develop the land, they can do whatever they want—no restrictions, no say from the neighborhood, the local community, or the county. Often, clear cutting is done by a person with no personal ties to the neighborhood.

Closing the loophole was taken off the table. This, Mr. McClain said, was a descision made by the county commissioners, even though closing the loophole was at the heart of the entire effort to create a tree conservation ordinance. This is what was voted on at the March 19th meeting, or so we thought.

Please note that the March 19th vote by the BCC was widely reported as an action to close the loophole. For example:
The Oregonian, April 1, 2008.

The position UG takes is that the tree canopy is of immeasurable value to the community for a variety of reasons (water conservation, cooling, habitat, CO2 storage, property values, etc.). Closing the tree cutting loophole is the most important change we are trying to achieve with a Tree Conservation Ordinance. That the BCC is failing to close the loophole that allows wanton plundering of this community resource is unconscionable.

A Little About the Task Force

The Task Force (TF) is holding pubic meetings in which the members discuss every issue, take testimony, and formulate the actual tree ordinance, using the model ordinance written by CCUG as a starting point. The results are to be submitted to the BCC for final approval in the fall of 2009.

The membership of the task force includes a spectrum of 'stakeholders" representing the interests that one assumes would be affected by a tree conservation ordinance. Here is a list of the members and the interests they represent:

The Loss of Our Urban Tree Forest

CC Urban Green is aware of the importance of development within the UGB.  Though slowed now because of the economic collapse, development will continue, and such development is said to be necessary to accommodate the large population increase that Oregon expects over the next 20 years. But it is simply wrong not to be able to stop someone from coming into the county, buying a piece of land in the middle of a neighborhood and clear-cutting all the trees with no attempt to save any trees, and taking no input from the neighborhood or the county. The citizens of the county within the UGB do not want to see this continue in their neighborhoods.

Help us put the brakes on what a builder friend of ours referred to as “a loophole big enough to drive several logging trucks through”.

CC Urban Green's Model Tree Conservation Ordinance

Responding to the County's saying that they do not have the resources to create a tree conservation ordinance, CC Urban Green did the research and took the best of the best tree ordinance components to use as a model. It applies to the unincorporated area of Clackamas County within the UGB. It only targets properties that can be subdivided for high-density development - in other words, "new development". It does not address existing residential property where the homeowner might want to cut or trim trees for landscaping purposes. Because of the existing loophole, it is intended to regulate tree cutting before a developer applies for a building permit.

To learn more about Urban Green's model tree conservation ordinance, click here: Tree Conservation Ordinance.