Redmond is a great hometown known for its natural beauty and environment.
Unfortunately, the Group Health project recently approved by the City of Redmond calls for the 100 percent clear cutting of all the trees and thousands of shrubs and plants to accommodate three million square feet of development.
I believe this decision is inconsistent with past practice based on laws approved many years ago that required that all 65 landmark trees (more than 30 inches in diameter) and 35 percent of 985 significant trees be saved.
City leaders recognized the need to preserve and retain trees as Redmond urbanized under Growth Management.
They knew how trees fulfill an important function as an integral part of our ecosystem and serve as iconic symbols of our community’s shared environmental ethic.
This development threatens an urban forest in what today is otherwise a sea of concrete. With the potential throughout the Overlake neighborhood for 41 additional six-story or taller buildings for housing, offices and stores, preserving what is extraordinary – these trees, with many being older than the City of Redmond — should be important to all of us.
In 2007 I worked closely with Group Health in supporting a significant up-zone of their property allowing two million square feet of development that maintained many of the trees consistent with the tree preservation ordinance. The balance of both the built and natural environments would have been a great addition to Overlake, one of our two urban centers. It would have provided diverse uses resulting in new jobs and additional housing while respecting the environmental heritage of the site.
So when it comes to protecting and defending what makes Redmond special, I will never retire from caring nor from taking action to prevent irreparable damage such as that which will result with the Group Health decision.
Once the trees are gone, the thousands of saplings proposed as mitigation, if they survive, will not bring equivalent environmental and aesthetic value for another 100 years — maybe just in time for Redmond’s Bicentennial!
Rosemarie Ives, Redmond Mayor, 1992-2007
