The Bainbridge Island City Council voted unanimously last week to adopt Ordinance 201-14, amending the city’s tree and landscaping regulations.

The ordinance is one phase of work from the Tree Ordinance Ad Hoc Committee focused on landscaping regulations that apply to the Mixed Use Town Center and High School Road zoning districts.

Key elements of the new ordinance include: adding a “Heritage Tree” definition to the zoning regulations; clarifying that Heritage Trees are a public amenity eligible for FAR bonus; adding a cross reference to the city’s shoreline and critical area regulations; increasing the “Landscape Maintenance” time period from 3 to 5 years; increasing areas where soil compaction should not be allowed during construction and clarifying when soils need to be augmented or aerated; increasing the size of shrubs required in perimeter buffers as well as clarifying that trees on adjacent properties must be protected during construction and allowing trees that straddle property lines to be used for meeting tree unit requirements for land use permits on adjacent properties.

The new ordinance also requires that land use permit applicants submit valuations of all trees to be retained through a development and revises tree unit requirements so that both retained and newly planted trees in protected areas (e.g. wetland or roadside buffers) would not count towards meeting tree unit requirements.

New parking lot trees would also not count towards tree unit requirements.

Comprised of two council members and two planning commissioners, the Ad Hoc Committee has been meeting since last February.

Members of the committee include Councilman Roger Townsend, Councilwoman Sarah Blossom, Commissioner Jon Quitslund and Commissioner

Mack Pearl.