Our Partners
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Now is the Time
Millions of Square Feet
We have millions of square feet of office space being built in downtown Bellevue. Large companies such as Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Symetra, T-Mobile, Appito, OfferUp, Smartsheet, and K2 attract new residents to Bellevue. Amazon's new office, for example, will be completed in 2025 and brings 25,000 jobs and significant demand for housing.
We are a city of transplants. We welcome people from all over the world. We need new and more diverse housing options, but this does not need to come at the expense of our tree canopy. We need to strengthen tree codes in 2022 to preserve our city for current and future residents of Bellevue. Today, old homes are being torn down, and new larger homes are being built in their place. In the process, large quantities of significant trees are coming down. These trees take many decades - or in some cases, many lifetimes, to grow.
In Bellevue, developers can cut down five significant trees without a permit. A significant tree is defined as 8" in diameter. These trees take approximately 25 - 45 years to grow. Additionally, we have no special protections for Landmark Trees that are 100 - 150 years old. Read more about this on the city's website.
You can imagine how quickly these regulations could change the face of our community. You can see it, already...if you look around.
Bellevue's tree code needs to be updated to include:
- Permits for all Significant or Landmark Tree removals
- Minimum tree density requirements
- Special protections for Landmark Trees
- Replacement tree requirements
- & More.
Bellevue defines a significant tree as 8" in diameter...
These trees take 25 - 45 years to grow.
Other major municipalities in the Puget Sound region define significant trees as 6" in diameter.
Can you imagine...
5 Fewer Trees?
With 5 fewer trees, 50% of the trees from the pictured home would be gone. Imagine what a difference that would make in the feel of the street, the neighborhood, and the community.