A. “Brushing” means the practice of removing ground cover to create better visibility on a property for purposes such as marketing or surveying of said property.

B. “Caliper” is the standard for trunk measurement of nursery stock. Caliper of the trunk shall be the trunk diameter measured six inches above the ground for up to, and including, four-inch caliper size and twelve inches above the ground for larger sizes.

C. “City” means the city of Lacey, Washington.

D. “Class IV forest practice activity” is a timber harvest, thinning or other activity as established in the Washington State Department of Natural Resources Forest Practices Regulations (WAC Title 222), whereby a property owner is allowed to harvest a limited amount of timber from their property within the city of Lacey, while still maintaining their rights to convert their property to a use inconsistent with growing timber.

E. “DBH” is the diameter at breast height, measured four and one-half feet above the groundline on the high side of the tree.

F. “Director” means director of community and economic development or his/her designee.

G. “Drip line” of a tree is located by the vertical projection of a line at the tips of the outermost branches.

H. “Ground cover” means grass, forbs, shrubs, and trees less than four inches in diameter measured four and one-half feet above the ground level (DBH).

I. “Hazard tree” means any tree that is dead, dying, damaged, diseased, or structurally defective, recently exposed by adjacent clearing, or some other factor that will subject the tree to failure, and the tree could reasonably reach a target, as determined by the tree protection professional.

J. “Historical tree” is a tree or group of trees designated as such by the city because of its historical value to the residents of the city.

K. “Land clearing” means the direct and indirect removal of trees and/or ground cover from any public or private undeveloped, partially developed, or developed lot, public lands or public right-of-way. This shall also include any destructive or inappropriate activity applied to a tree that will result in its death or effectively destroy the tree’s appearance and/or functionality, such as topping.

L. “Root protection zone” is an area around the tree to be saved equal to one foot of radius for each one inch of tree diameter measured four and one-half feet above the ground line (DBH), unless otherwise designated by the city’s tree protection professional.

M. “Site disturbance” is any action that requires a city of Lacey building permit.

N. “Specimen tree” is a tree that is unique or rare because of its exceptional size or quality, species, or value in a particular location.

O. “Topping” is the indiscriminate placement of cuts to reduce a tree’s size. Topping is not an acceptable pruning practice in the city of Lacey.

P. “Tree” means any living woody plant characterized by one main stem or trunk and many branches, and having a diameter of four inches or more measured at four and one-half feet above the ground level (DBH).

Q. “Tree protection professional” is a certified professional with academic and/or field experience that makes him or her a recognized expert in urban forestry and tree protection during development. A tree protection professional shall be a member of the Society of American Foresters (SAF), the Association of Consulting Foresters of America (ACF), the American Society of Consulting Arborists (ASCA), or the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA), and shall have specific experience with urban tree management in the state of Washington. Additionally the tree protection professional shall be an ISA Certified Arborist or an ASCA Registered Consulting Arborist with the necessary training and experience to use and apply the International Society of Arboriculture’s Guide for Plant Appraisal and to professionally provide the necessary expertise relating to management of urban trees specified in this chapter.

R. “Tree tract” is a portion of land designated for the preservation and protection of existing trees or the planting of new trees to maintain tree canopy at a development site. The tree tract shall be a separate designated lot(s) shown on the plat map, binding site plan, or site plan review map, and shall be recorded with appropriate description of purposes and restrictions. Restrictions applied to the tree tract will not allow any use other than the growing of trees in the tract, and will reserve the tract for the protection and preservation of trees in perpetuity. Tree tracts can be used for other open space uses when the uses are compatible with trees and will not impact tree health. The tract will be dedicated to, and owned and maintained by, the homeowners’ or lot owners’ association, or comparable entity. The tract may be dedicated to the city of Lacey for maintenance if approved by the city. Creation of tree tracts to save the best trees on a site may require modifications to the street locations, lot designs and/or other features of the site plan. (Ord. 1617 §2, 2022; Ord. 1539 §19, 2019; Ord. 1417 §7, 2013; Ord. 1269 §5, 2006).