Seattle City Council approves sweeping tree protection ordinance.

The Seattle City Council has passed a new tree ordinance that will overhaul the existing code protecting trees for the first time since 2001. The new ordinance regulates 70,400 trees, creates a static tree protection zone, and allows property owners to pay into a fund that plants trees in under-canopied parts of town. However, community advocates and volunteers who serve on the city commission monitoring urban forestry policy worry that the legislation was rushed through the voting process and doesn't fully account for the city's Green New Deal and other environmental equity goals.