Trees are valuable assets in Shoreline

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Property owners are encouraged to design around large trees.
Photo by Trish Woollcott

The fee-in-lieu for removal of trees 24” DBH and greater is intended to encourage innovative housing design, avoid the cost of tree removal, and preserve Shoreline’s distinctive tree canopy.

In Shoreline, as in many surrounding cities, a significant tree measures 6” diameter at breast height (DBH) and larger. 

Shoreline’s residential tree code allows property owners/developers to cut down three significant trees every three years per 7200 sq ft and one additional significant tree each additional 7200 sq ft. These are “exempt trees.” 

After this calculation, 35% of the remaining significant trees on a lot must be retained, meaning 65% of the significant trees can be cut down. A tree removal permit is $260 per lot.

Residential tree code differs from tree removal allowed on six development zones in Shoreline. On these six development zones, all trees can be cut down.

Though the City’s development code for cottage housing was updated in July 2023, there was little interest in cottage housing, as many builders were waiting for the middle housing regulations to be finalized in December 2024, offering more housing style options. 

Recently, the City Council also adjusted parking regulations which is favorable for developers, reducing their costs.

How to value a tree? 

Measurements by i-Tree do not provide the value of a tree. i-Tree provides only the value of the environmental service benefits of a tree. 

When assessing a tree, the value of benefits is additive to the value of the tree itself. One recent valuation of a healthy 43” DBH Doug fir was $41,000. 

There is also the timber value. Many of Shoreline’s trees are being logged for timber value, as seen in real estate postings of timber lots, especially when there are stands of large trees on a residential property.

In January 2025, Council voted to apply the cottage housing tree code to all residential properties. 

Council saw the need to adjust the fee schedule and acted quickly to approve Resolution 541, a fee-in-lieu of $3325 for the removal of trees 24” DBH and greater, plus $100 for each additional diameter inch. This fee-in-lieu goes into a restricted City tree fund to plant and maintain trees in Shoreline.

A City goal is to increase Shoreline’s tree canopy, which is currently 37% according to 2021 data. Since 2021, thousands of trees have been cut down. It is not easy to increase a tree canopy. 

Bothell’s tree canopy is 45%; Kenmore’s is 40%, and Edmonds is at 35%. Lake Forest Park and Issaquah outpace many cities with 50% and 51% tree canopies, respectively. In Burien, to increase their canopy from 30% to 40%, 39,000 trees must be planted over the next 20 years, about 1,950 trees per year.

Likewise, no two cities have similar tree codes, and most city tree codes are complicated. 

In the Edmonds tree code, “For each significant tree greater than 24 inches in DBH removed, a fee based on appraisal of the tree value by the city tree protection professional using trunk formula method in the current edition of the Guide for Plan Appraisal shall be required.” Based on this formula, the fees to remove large trees in Edmonds could be considerable.

Penalties of $9000 and more remain in Shoreline’s code for the removal of trees without a permit. In Portland, the removal of a 20” DBH tree without a permit is $9000. In Kenmore, if an exceptional tree is removed without a permit, the civil penalty is $2500 per DBH inch, up to a maximum fine of $150K; the removal of a 30” DBH Doug fir without a permit is a $75,000 penalty.

With a majority vote supporting Resolution 541, the Shoreline City Council recognizes the value of its trees as assets.

--Boni Biery, Jonelle Kemmerling, Kathleen Russell, and Susanne Tsoming contributed to this article.

--The Tree Preservation Code Team, a Washington non-profit organization, is composed of Shoreline residents.