Initiatives for Washington

Locality	Initiative Type	Mitigation Strategy	Link	Title & Description	Date
Olympia	Demonstration Project	Cool Pavements	The Decatur Street Low Impact Systems (PDF)	Decatur Street Demonstration Project - The City of Olympia, Washington used a grant of $352,000 from the state's Department of Ecology to re-pave a street in 2007 with permeable pavement as part of a demonstration of stormwater management techniques. Decatur Street was originally designed without any stormwater management infrastructure and drains into nearby Schneider Creek. Olympia will monitor the demonstration site for how well it allows rainwater to infiltrate into the ground and how much pollution it filters. The city will also monitor the construction and long-term maintenance costs of the re-paved street.	Completed
Poulsbo	Demonstration Project	Cool Pavements	City of Poulsbo Public Works Committee (PDF)	Poulsbo Pervious Pavement - Poulsbo, Washington, used a $263,000 grant from the Washington Department of Ecology to pave 2,000 feet of sidewalk with pervious pavement, making it one of the largest pervious surface projects in the state.	Completed
Seattle	Tree and Landscape Ordinance	Trees and Vegetation	Street Tree Planting Procedures	Seattle Street Tree Planting - Seattle requires a street use permit before landscaping in a planting strip in a public right-of-way. For street trees, the strip must be at least 5 feet (1.5 m) wide, unless specific approval from the city's arborist is received. Five feet is generally recommended as the minimum width for planting most trees. A guide is available to help property owners select and install trees in accordance with the city's requirements.	Active
Seattle	Urban Forestry Program; Incentive	Trees and Vegetation	Seattle reLeaf	Seattle Urban Forestry Initiative - Since 1996, Seattle's Neighborhood Matching Fund program has provided more than 17,200 trees to more than 600 neighborhood groups for Seattle's streets and parks, and the city has established the Emerald City Task Force, which advises the city on incentives and policies to encourage private property owners – residential and commercial – to improve their land by preserving existing trees and planting new ones.	Active
Seattle	Zoning Code	Green Roofs; Trees and Vegetation	Department of Planning and Development - Green Factor	Seattle Green Factor - Seattle has adopted minimum landscape requirements, known as the Seattle Green Factor, for new developments in commercial areas in the city. This program requires that, as of late January 2007, certain new developments in neighborhood business districts must provide for vegetative cover on the equivalent of 30% of the applicable property. The regulations apply to developments with more than four dwelling units, more than 4,000 square feet (370 m²) of commercial uses, or more than 20 new parking spaces. Developers can use a menu of strategies, including planting new trees, preserving trees, and installing green roofs and green walls to meet this target. The regulations are part of the city's Commercial Code and encourage planting of layers of vegetation and larger trees in areas visible to the public. The rules also include bonuses for harvesting rain water and choosing plants that need less water. The city has developed a worksheet to help applicants calculate a "score" that indicates whether various mixes of landscaping measures meet the requirements, which will allow developers to try different combinations of features.	Active

Initiatives for Washington

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