At Tuesday evening’s regular meeting, members of Redmond City Council voted to pass an ordinance that would define the Technical Committee in both the Redmond Comprehensive Plan (CP) and Redmond Zoning Code.

This vote is just one step in an ongoing process as city staff take a look at Redmond’s tree-protection exceptions policies, which was prompted after City Council approved a development plan for the old 28-acre Group Health Cooperative (GHC) site in Overlake that would allow the developer to remove all 1,133 trees onsite.

This, in addition to the city’s decision to permit a significant number of trees to be removed from the proposed Redmond Bike Park, sparked concerns within the community about the lack of public engagement and notification throughout the process.

After collecting data, Sustainable Redmond proposed a package of amendments to the city’s CP and zoning code concerning tree removal, but the only vote on the table Tuesday evening concerned defining the Technical Committee.

“It’s my hope that this is an ongoing conversation where we’re trying as a city to continuously improve our metrics and processes as well as how we keep our citizens in the loop,” said Council member Kim Allen.

Tuesday’s vote was just one piece of a work in progress, she said, adding that she was taking the affirmative step because it is needed and it was part of the package proposed.

Allen acknowledged the notes they received from the Planning Commission that expressed the feeling that the city’s public notice process could use some “tuning up.” She added that this is consistent with what she has heard from people, that public comments should be considered by the technical committee in reviewing tree-exception requests.

Council member Tom Flynn also acknowledged the need for a more transparent process for the public to see what developments are underway and where they are going, as well as the need for sustainable development, saying this is something they struggle with across the board, not just with tree-exception policies.

Although the other parts of the amendments package were tabled for the time being, a number of people still spoke during the items from the audience regarding the tree ordinance.

Mary Wirta, a Redmond resident from the Idylwood neighborhood, has spoken at previous public hearings and meetings on the subject and spoke during Tuesday’s meeting, as well, encouraging City Council to adopt the proposed amendments submitted by Sustainable Redmond.

She said denser housing and low-impact commercial areas can be developed, while maintaining Redmond’s character as a Tree City USA, a healthy environment and respecting homeowners’ property values. Wirta said to do this, residents in adjacent neighborhoods need to have adequate and transparent notice of what is being proposed by developers and how they will be impacted.

“If we wish to retain our Redmond city character, the healthy environment and values it imparts to the homeowner’s property and families, we need to avoid the debacle that occurred with the Group Health property over the last year or so,” she said.