The Des Moines City Council convened on July 10, 2025, addressing several key initiatives that will shape the city’s future.
Discussions included updates about the tree canopy throughout Des Moines, accepting a bid for the reconstruction of the Redondo Fishing Pier, and the approval of a new anti-cruising ordinance.
These decisions reflect the city’s commitment to environmental stewardship, infrastructure development, and community well-being.
Tree Canopy In Des Moines
At the Committee of the Whole prior to the regular council meeting, the council heard an update on the current tree canopy throughout the city, as well as goals to maintain and increase this coverage. GPS mapping of the existing tree canopy began last June, finding that 29% of the city is forested canopy. 16% of that tree canopy is city-owned land. The city owns just 5% of the total land area in Des Moines.
The priority now is to protect and maintain the existing trees on public land, setting an example for private landowners. In the future, protecting the tree canopy on private land could come into play, as well as ways to increase the tree canopy.
The presentation discussed the impacts and implications of transferring the management of city-owned forested land to Surface Water Management. The areas with the highest relevance for managing stormwater include tree clusters and forests. Tree clusters are defined as 10,000 square foot pockets of trees, while forests are anything larger than ¾ acre of trees.
Transferring responsibility and maintenance of the city’s publicly owned forested areas will create a more centralized responsibility for their management, offer long-term protection of this asset, and free up the general fund from the cost of maintenance. There would be a potential utility rate increase in 2027 associated with tree management. There will also be grant opportunities from the Department of Ecology for the management of forests.
Staff will develop a tree preservation program draft which will come back for future council approval. This may include working with or hiring a city arborist in the future, to ensure the correct species are planted. Councilmember Yoshiko Grace Matsui stressed that any future policy should aim for improvements in the tree canopy throughout the city, especially in areas that may currently have a dearth of trees.
City Manager Katherine Caffrey shared the positive news that the city is likely to be chosen as the recipient of a grant to purchase 16.4 acres of forested land behind Wooton Park, in Redondo. This grant selection still needs to be approved by the King County Council, but it’s looking good.
Redondo Fishing Pier Bid Approval
Council gave unanimous approval to accept a $3.8 million dollar bid to rebuild the Redondo Fishing Pier. The bid, which came in below the engineer’s estimate, includes removing the current pier. The old pier was built in 1980, and has been closed due to safety concerns. The pilings are suspected to be even older than the pier itself. Including this construction bid and all prior costs associated with design and planning of the pier, the total replacement comes to $5.8 million.
Construction is likely to begin in late September or early October. The fish window for marine construction opens on Aug. 1 and closes on Feb. 15. This means the underwater phase of the construction must be completed by mid-February 2026. After that time, they will still be putting the finishing touches on the planking and other above-water features of the pier.
Anti-Cruising Ordinance
Assistant City Attorney Matt Hutchins gave a brief presentation on a potential anti-cruising ordinance. He said 18 other jurisdictions in Washington currently have anti-cruising ordinances on the books. When asked, Hutchins said he did not know at this time how many of those ordinances are successfully utilized to ticket offenders and reduce cruising.
It was mentioned several times that the drawback of an anti-cruising ordinance is that residents will now expect it to be enforced, without the police having any extra staff time to do so. It requires a lot of police time, sitting in the same spot for hours, to bust cruisers. Chief Ted Boe did say he expects this ordinance to come in handy as an occasional tool to stop the worst offenders. However, proactive enforcement will require more officers.
The council supported this ordinance in a 5-1-0 vote, with Councilmember JC Harris abstaining and Councilmember Jeremy Nutting not present. The Des Moines ordinance allows for up to a $513 fine for driving along a no-cruise zone two or more times in the same direction in a 1-hour period. Of course vehicles like taxis, transit, residents, and those with medical need will be exempt.
The no cruise zones will be Redondo Beach Drive, Marine View Drive through downtown, and the Marina parking lots. Additional areas can temporarily be made no-cruise zones by council decision or if the chief of police sees a need.
Video
Below is full, raw video of this meeting:
