Edmonds Council Unanimously Extended Its Interim Protection for Landmark Trees 30 Inches and Wider for Up to Six More Months

When a towering coast redwood that neighbors called Big Red came down beside an Edmonds, Washington condominium parking lot in March 2025, it set off a fight over the city’s largest trees that is still running. On Oct. 13, the Edmonds City Council voted unanimously to keep its stopgap protection for those trees in place for up to six more months.

After holding a public hearing, the council extended the interim ordinance governing the removal of landmark trees, My Edmonds News reported. The rule protects trees 30 inches or more in diameter while the city works out a permanent tree code.

What Counts as a Landmark Tree

The ordinance defines a landmark tree as one with a trunk diameter of 30 inches or more at breast height, which is measured 4.5 feet above the ground. That works out to a trunk roughly 7.8 feet around.

The protection applies to private property. When the council first adopted it, the rule temporarily barred property owners from removing large trees while the council drafted permanent regulations, according to My Edmonds News’ coverage of the April 2025 vote.

There are two exemptions. Trees already vested through the permitting process are not covered, and neither are trees that have been deemed hazardous or a nuisance under city code. In practice, a landmark tree found to be hazardous can still come down, while a healthy one that is not tied to an already-vested permit stays protected for now.

How a Redwood Started It

The current rule traces back to Big Red. The redwood was cut down March 31, 2025, next to the entrance to the Boardwalk Condominiums parking area, and residents who protested were unable to block the removal permit, The Daily Herald has reported. Accounts put the tree at roughly 100 feet tall.

Weeks later, about 50 people spoke during public comment before the council adopted the interim ordinance on April 21, 2025. Among them was Lora Hein, who told the council about growing up near redwoods “1,000-year-old and older.” Mayor Mike Rosen told the room he loved the city’s parks and trees.

Edmonds had been here before. A 2021 emergency ordinance protected landmark trees over 24 inches, but it expired before the council finished permanent rules, My Edmonds News reported. The new interim rule raised the threshold to 30 inches.

Two Extensions in Six Months

The interim rule was meant to last a year. Instead, it has needed repeated extensions as the permanent code took longer than planned.

In April 2026, the council approved a first six-month extension to carry the protection into October. City Urban Forest Planner Deb Powers told the council then that the Planning Board and Tree Board needed more time to work through public comments and new information. She also flagged a gap: the code had no rules for tree removals by property owners that are unrelated to development. “That’s actually missing from the code,” Powers said, according to My Edmonds News.

On Sept. 22, the council unanimously directed the city attorney to prepare a further six-month extension running through April 29, 2027, as reported in My Edmonds News’ account of that meeting. Powers said the extra time would give the council “sufficient time to consider the potential outcomes and the proposed changes in greater detail.” The Oct. 13 hearing and vote put that extension into effect.

Washington law shapes that rhythm. Under RCW 36.70A.390, a city’s interim controls “may be effective for not longer than six months,” or up to a year with a work plan, and they “may be renewed for one or more six-month periods if a subsequent public hearing is held and findings of fact are made prior to each renewal.”

What Council Members Said

Councilmember Chris Eck spoke for the extension on Oct. 13, saying it was important to “spend the time right now and invest it” and get the permanent code as right as possible. Council President Michelle Dotsch also backed it, repeating Powers’ earlier commitment that staff would return with the next plan of action “so that everybody can see it.”

At the September meeting, Councilmember Susan Paine said she appreciated “the gift of additional time” to produce “a very durable tree code.” Councilmember Vivian Olson made a case for the trees themselves, arguing that owners would think twice about removing a tree that is “basically paying” them just for being there, the Herald reported.

The Permanent Code Still Ahead

The Planning Board began work on permanent landmark tree recommendations at the start of 2026, later than planned because of staffing issues, and sent its recommendation to the council in August, according to the Herald. A public hearing followed Sept. 8 and a council work session Sept. 9.

Other cities handle big trees very differently. In Charlotte, two 100-year-old heritage live oaks near Freedom Park are slated to fall for a new home with a penalty of $1,500 and a sapling, and in Philadelphia a retiree stood beside a willow oak street tree to stop a crew with no removal permit.

Staff expect a final version before the interim rule expires in April 2027, with community engagement planned in the meantime. A revised work plan is expected back before the council next month.

Until then, Edmonds homeowners with a tree 30 inches or wider in the yard are living under the interim rule. Anyone planning yard work, a garden expansion or construction near a large tree has reason to measure that trunk 4.5 feet up before calling a tree service.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: SounderBruce – CC BY-SA 4.0/Wikimedia Commons