July 14th Joint City Council and Planning Commission Meeting

On July 14th, 2025, City Council and Planning Commission held a joint Dinner Meeting to discuss the goals of the Tree Code Update. The purpose of the meeting was for City Council and Planning Commission to discuss policy ideas and guidance on key topics for the Tree Code Update.

You can ready the Staff Memo written for the meeting here: July 14th Joint City Council and Planning Commission Meeting Memo

You can read the full meeting summary at this link: July 14th Joint City Council and Planning Commission Meeting Summary

Key points discussed at the meeting by Council and Commission members are summarized below.

• Support for better protections for very large and native trees.
• Supported exploring expanding tree retention requirement areas zoned for high density commercial and mixed use development, such as areas near the light rail stations and along Aroura.
• Concern that protections for trees could impede housing development, and that it will be very important to balance tree protections with the City’s housing goals.
• Support for flexibility in the code. There are many competing interests, such as increased housing density, affordable housing, and maintaining trees. These goals should all be balanced.
• Support for charging reasonable fees for tree removal and having a better process to track tree removals.
• Support for exempting trees that are damaging foundations and/or water/sewer lines from the tree code.
• Supportive of developing a tree code that is easy to understand, with consistent requirements.