City Council APPROVED proposed Title 11 Amendments on October 12, 2022. Effective date for updates is 11/11/22.
Second Reading for proposed Title 11 Amendments to occured on October 12, 2022.
City Council Public Hearing for proposed Title 11 Amendments occurred on October 5, 2022. In response to questions from Commissioners and public testimony from constituents, Urban Forestry staff compiled the following information:
Public Hearing of the Urban Forestry Commission occurred on May 19, 2022.
Public Hearing of the Planning & Sustainability Commission: occurred on May 24, 2022
Review the Proposed Amendments
Final product for Council review on October 5th has been informed by input received through public comment, stakeholder review, and partnership with City Bureaus and City Commissioners.
Title 11 with updated code language noted in text:
Summary table of proposed amendments with descriptions:
What is Title 11?
Title 11 is the City’s Tree Code. It was adopted by City Council in 2011, went into effect January 1, 2015, and serves as Portland’s first unified Tree Code to regulate the preservation, removal, planting and pruning of trees across public and private property- in development and non-development situations. See Sections 11.05.010 and 11.50.010 for more information on the purpose of Title 11.
Related to Title 11 is the Portland Urban Forest Management Plan (UFMP). The Portland UFMP is the City's overarching policy and vision for tree infrastructure. Title 11 is an implementation tool of the Portland UFMP.
The 3 main goals of the Portland UFMP are:
Goal 1: Protect, preserve, restore and expand Portland’s urban forest
Goal 2: Develop and maintain support for the urban forest
Goal 3: Manage the urban forest to maximize community benefits for all residents
Why an amendment process?
Regular review and updates to the City Tree Code are an important aspect of good urban forest management. Likewise, updates to the Portland UFMP are important to address changes relative to climate, development, canopy, and best practice of urban infrastructure, including emerging pests and pathogens.
Over the course of the 6 years that Title 11 had been in effect, the Tree Code has been reviewed and evaluated formally by oversight committees comprised of various stakeholders. Additionally, public input has been gathered through various community engagement processes and as a result of input collected during previous code review and amendment projects involving both internal and external stakeholders.
The current amendment process came about on the heels of the last major amendment process brought before Council in 2020. At that time, while Council was considering two amendments related to preservation of trees during development situations, Council recognized that other updates were overdue and directed PP&R Urban Forestry to lead this effort in collaboration with the Bureaus of Development Services and Planning & Sustainability.
What is the timeline for this process?
- Phase 1 (2021 – 2022) : Technical and minor policy Title 11 amendments
- Phase 2 (2022 – 2024): Portland Urban Forest Management Plan (UFMP) update
- Phase 3 (2024 – 2025): Portland UFMP-informed amendments
Phase 1 addresses technical and minor policy amendments. These proposed changes will provide clarity, resolve inconsistencies with other city codes, and improve the efficiency of implementation. More substantive amendments will be considered in Phase 3.
Phase 2 will update the Portland UFMP. It will include significant outreach and engagement with partner bureaus, stakeholders, and the community over about two years. Phase 2 requires new resources including staff.
Phase 3 will develop more-substantive amendment proposals. Importantly, Phase 3 also builds upon and is informed by the updated Portland UFMP completed in Phase 2
This scope of work follows the City Auditor’s recommendation published in the 2017 Tree Code Implementation Audit Report, that substantive amendment proposals be based on an updated Portland UFMP.
To provide comments, suggestions or if you have any questions, please email: TreeCodeAmendments@portlandoregon.gov