June Tree Events
Public Info Session
The City of Bellevue is holding an information session! Attend the tree canopy code amendment public information meeting at City Hall on Thursday, June 8th from 6 - 8 pm.
Meet us out front at 5:45 so we can all sit together!
- Learn more about the project.
- Provide your input.
- Encourage city staff to create strong new codes with effective enforcement mechanisms.
Please sign up in advance for this event to ensure capacity.
Bellevue Tree Code Update - Info Session Tickets, Thu, Jun 8, 2023 at 6:00 PM | Eventbrite
Tree Code Survey
Important! Bellevue Tree Code Update Survey (surveymonkey.com)
- This survey will help inform new rules that are put in place in Bellevue.
- Take time to read the questions carefully.
- You will see questions about significant and landmark tree protections, replacement requirements, minimum tree density, and more.
- Trees4Livability is advocating for maximum protection for significant and landmark trees.
Our Partners
We are honored to work with community partners.
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 2023 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.