Portland Parks & Recreation announced Tuesday that its Urban Forestry Department is waiving fees for tree removal and replanting applications for properties damaged by fallen branches and trees during winter storms earlier this month.
“This fee waiver is in direct response to the recent extreme weather event and the Mayor’s emergency declaration,” bureau staff said in a press release. “Tree permit application fee requirements may be adjusted on a case-by-case basis for future weather events.”
Portland’s tree removal requirements and permit fees came under fire in the wake of the storms, particularly when one family’s home was destroyed by a tree.
Sarah and Joel Bond’s home was unlivable after a huge Douglas fir tree they’d been denied permission to remove came down on it in the January storm. The family and neighbors were home, but no one was injured.
Courtesy Sarah Bond
Joel Bond told OPB’s “Think Out Loud” last week that the huge Douglas fir had been leaning toward his house, and he and his wife had applied to get it removed in 2021.
“The person who came out said that it had to be diseased, dead or dangerous. I thought we qualified as dangerous because it was leaning,” Bond said.
But the permit was denied. The tree fell on the house on Jan. 15.
Related: Portland family’s home destroyed by Douglas fir they were denied permit to remove
The city’s fee waiver applies retroactively to tree damage that happened on or after Jan. 12, and applications will be accepted until Feb. 23.
Portland Parks & Recreation spokesperson Mark Ross said the action was designed to remove the financial and deadline hardships for people whose homes and businesses were damaged.
Property owners can email the city’s Urban Forestry Department or call 503-823-TREE (8733) for more information.
Mayor Ted Wheeler declared a weather emergency in Portland from Jan. 12 through Jan. 16.
Crews work to clear downed power lines across Cedar Hills Boulevard at Ridge Avenue in Beaverton on Jan. 14, 2024.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
A tree fell across a car at Southwest Taylor Street near 90th Avenue in Portland, as seen on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
A tree fell across a car at Southwest Taylor Street near 90th Avenue in Portland, as seen on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Power lines are down along Southwest 90th Ave and Southwest Washington Street in Portland, Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Tree damage in the Montavilla neighborhood, Portland, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024.
Shelby Gould / OPB
Crews with Davey Tree work to clear fallen trees near the intersection of Northwest Lee Street and Northwest Flotoma Drive in Portland on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Crews with Davey Tree work to clear fallen trees near the intersection of Northwest Lee Street and Northwest Flotoma Drive in Portland on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
A fallen tree on Northeast Everett near 23rd, on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024.
Alex Zielinski / OPB
A tree fell near Southeast Eighth Avenue and Miller Street in Sellwood, and left several people without power on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024.
John Hill / OPB
A house sustained tree damange near Northwest Lee and Northwest 104th in Portland, Jan. 14, 2024.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
A fallen tree near Laurelhurst Park in Northeast Portland on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024.
Nick Warren / OPB
Trees fell near Northwest Lee and Northwest 104th in Portland. This photo was taken on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Utility workers in Southwest Portland on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Crews work to clear downed power lines across Cedar Hills Boulevard at Ridge Avenue in Beaverton on Jan. 14, 2024.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Crews work to clear downed power lines across Cedar Hills Boulevard at Ridge Avenue in Beaverton on Jan. 14, 2024.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
In these submitted photos, damage to a home in the West Portland Park area, January 13, 2024.
Courtesy of Michele Sabatier / OPB
In these submitted photos, damage to a home in the West Portland Park area, January 13, 2024.
Courtesy of Michele Sabatier / OPB
A bus on Southeast 52nd Avenue just north of Holgate in Portland, Ore. Trimet buses were all equipped with chains on Jan. 14, 2024.
Julie Sabatier / OPB
A view of the downtown Portland waterfront on Jan. 14, 2024.
Prakruti Bhatt / OPB
A view of the downtown Portland waterfront on Jan. 14, 2024.
Prakruti Bhatt / OPB
Snowy scenes from south Salem, Ore., on Jan. 14, 2024.
Natalie Pate / OPB
Snowy scenes from south Salem, Ore., on Jan. 14, 2024.
Natalie Pate / OPB
A sheen of ice covered the Deschutes River in Bend on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024.
Emily Cureton Cook / OPB
www.opb.org
https://www.opb.org/article/2024/01/31/permit-fee-properties-tree-damage-winter/
