Monday I introduce my ordinance to protect trees in the Critical Area (O-18-26). Here is the problem it solves. The City set a goal of 50 percent tree canopy in 2006, to be reached by 2036. In 2024 we had to push the target year back to 2050, not for lack of will but because of arithmetic: after years in which the program was never fully funded, the trees simply cannot grow fast enough to hit the original date. I agreed to that only once the City created a dedicated funding stream for the tree program through the Watershed Restoration Fund. Even so, the 2024 canopy assessment put us at about 42 percent, with essentially no net gain since 2011, and residential neighborhoods are losing canopy even though they hold the most room to plant. The cause is a gap in the City Code. The forest conservation and Critical Area rules apply to development and construction. Within the Critical Area, only the 100-foot Buffer along the water requires approval before a tree comes down. Every other large backyard tree in the waterfront zone can be removed with no permit and no replacement, and that is exactly what has been happening. O-18-26 closes the gap: a permit to remove a tree larger than five inches in diameter anywhere in the Critical Area, replacement of what is removed, help from the Watershed Restoration Fund for owners who cannot afford it, and fines that scale with the size of the tree. It also brings the City's Critical Area variance standards in line with the state law that took effect October 1. Details below, and the full case is in my white paper.

The ferry. Thank you to everyone who came to City Hall on October 26 or wrote in to support the hybrid-electric ferry pilot. It was a long night. Fifteen people spoke and another twenty wrote in, and the written and in-person testimony was split, so your voices mattered. There was no vote, and I argued there should not need to be one: the Council committed to this project in 2022 and in every plan and budget since, and the Charter does not give the Mayor a veto over the Council's adopted actions. The practical result was good. By the end of the discussion the Mayor agreed that the City should issue the next round of requests for proposals, one to design and build the vessels and one for the Hawkins Cove landing, while staff update the business case and the Council's committees work through the remaining questions. I expect the ferry construction RFP to be released soon. The Council will vote on the local match for the grant when that budget action comes forward. I laid out the full case in a commentary for Eye On Annapolis, The Ferry Is Settled Policy. It's Time to Launch It.

Also Monday: public hearings on the two snow ordinances introduced last month, sidewalk clearing deadlines with a City clearing fee (O-24-26) and an updated snow emergency plan (O-31-26); the Housing Authority's quarterly report; and final votes on three items, including water service for two homes on Arundel on the Bay Road. I have no committee report this time because the Environmental Matters Committee meets after the Council, on Thursday afternoon; the agenda is below.

Two dates for the Annapolis Neck: on November 18 the County presents its final design for the Quiet Waters Retreat property at the Eastport-Annapolis Neck Library, and the City's second short-term rental forum is that same evening at the Busch Library. The Blue Route bus pilot now has a target launch date of November 30. And the boards-and-commissions roundup is back, nine meetings this time, with the Environmental Commission's vacancies, the outdoor dining ordinance in Economic Matters, and the Blue Route launch date.

Stay healthy and safe,

Rob

Around City Hall: Boards, Commissions, and Committees, Early November

The third installment. Nine meetings in ten days, in brief, with the Ward 7 angle where there is one. Votes are as I heard them on the recordings; the Clerk's minutes control.