[music] Welcome to Agenda Edina, a program summarizing the actions taken at city hall that affect you most. I'm your host, Dorothia Marty. The city council has updated Edina's tree protection ordinance designed to preserve the community's tree canopy and ensure trees removed during development are replaced. The ordinance, first adopted in 2023, previously applied only to residential construction projects. New amendments approved earlier this month, expand it to apply to all zoning districts, including commercial properties. The changes also move the ordinance to the city's vegetation chapter, and clarify several definitions and procedures to make the rules easier to administer and understand. Additional updates allow more flexibility in how replacement trees are planted. For example, up to 20% of replacement trees could be a different tree type, and developers could meet planting requirements offsite if a property cannot reasonably accommodate new trees. Uh the new updates in the ordinance um are to allow uh applicants more flexibility in uh both the the species that they're planting and and the the locations that they're planting those uh species back on site. Um and you know sometimes uh it'd be nice to have uh you know more conifers on your property for that that year round natural buffer uh as opposed to just all deciduous trees. So now um you know applicants have that flexibility to to you know have a little more variety on on their property with species selection. >> The ordinance continues to focus on tree removals tied to development projects that already require permits. Staff will also explore ways to increase public awareness of the ordinance, such as through an annual report, and provide periodic updates on its impact. Protecting and replenishing the community's tree canopy supports goals outlined in Edina's comprehensive plan and climate action