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03-24-04 v""` MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE TREE CONSERVATION BOARD March 24, 2004 A regular meeting of the Tree Conservation Board was held Wednesday, March 24, 2004, at the Adele Grage Cultural Center. Present were Chair Maureen Shaughnessy, Charles Carroll, Susan Grube, Jim McCue, Bill Permenter, Building Official Don Ford and Recording Secretary Susan Dunham. 1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. Recosnition of Visitors None. 3. Approval of Minutes of MeetinQS of March 10, 2004 A motion was made by Board Member Permenter, seconded by Board Member McCue, and unanimously carried to approve the Minutes of March 10, 2004. 4. New Business A. Tree Removal Applications: 1. 831 Jasmine Street: Mr. Larry Smallwood introduced himself. He advised that tree "E" was a dead tree and the homeowner would like to remove tree "F" because it was too close to the home. '" Building Official Ford identified trees "C," "D" and "F" as trees that need to be removed which totaled 49.35" of mitigation required. He further stated that the applicant had identified trees "A," "B" and "G" as mitigation but trees "A" and "B" were protected and tree "G" was in the right-of--way. Mr. Smallwood stated that he would like to plant 3" oak trees along the back of the property once he placed the fence. Building Official Ford advised Mr. Smallwood that he needed to plant a minimum of 4" oak trees. Mr. Smallwood proposed to mitigate by planting half and paying half into the Tree Fund. A motion was made by Boazd Member Permenter, seconded by Board Member Carroll, and unanimously carried to instruct the Building Official to issue a permit for the removal of 98.70" of oak to be mitigated with 49.35" of oak with approximately half being replaced with new trees at a minimum of 4" in diameter and the remainder to be paid into the Tree Fund at $117 per inch. It was determined that Mr. Smallwood would bring a site plan to the Building Official indicating the location to plant trees. Building Official Ford advised Mr. Smallwood that the trees needed to be planted ten feet apart. Mr. Smallwood expressed concern that the numbers were incorrect. The Boazd verified that the applicant was removing 49.35" of oak, not 98.70" of oak. A motion was made by Board Member Permenter, seconded by Board Member Carroll, and unanimously carried to amend the motion to remove 49.35" of oak to 6e mitigated with 24.67" of oak with approximately half being replaced with new trees at a minimum of 4" in diameter and the remainder to be paid into the Tree Fund at 5117 per inch. 2. Lot 4, Block 40 (Ocean Boulevard north of 10~ Street): Mr. George Bull introduced himself. Boazd Member Shaughnessy indicated that there was a 5" tree that was not listed in the application. Discussion was held with regard to the health of the tree and Board Member Shaughnessy stated that t 4 Minutes of Tree Conservation Board March 24, 2004 Page 2 it was alive, that it was just beginning to bloom. Mr. Bull indicated that he would like to remove this tree. The board requested that Mr. Bull plant the mitigation trees on the other side of the house so that they would not be so close to the house. Board Member Permenter clarified that the applicant wanted to mitigate with oaks. Building Official Ford reminded Mr. Bull that any oaks planted for mitigation needed to be 4" oaks. Mr. Bull advised that he would plant four 4" oaks on the north side of the property and one 4" oak in the back of the property. Mr. Bull expressed concern over all the trees being removed in Selva Marina on private properly. He suggested talking with the City Council to see if anything could be done to protect the trees on private property. A motion was made by Board Member Permenter, seconded by Board Member Carroll, and unanimously carried to direct the Building Official to issue a permit for the removal of 40" of palm to be mitigated with five 4" oak trees. 3. Lots 1-6, Block 120 (Jasmine Street/West 6`~ Street): Mr. Stephen Mabry introduced himself. Building Official Ford distributed two pictures of the site. Building Official Ford advised that he was called out to the site because the builder was clearing the lot without a permit and he stopped the job. He stated that Mr. Mabry contacted the City immediately to advise that he thought the trees being removed were not covered by the tree ordinance and he stopped the project. Building Official Ford stated that Mr. Mabry was here tonight for the board to review his application. Mr. Mabry advised that there were hardwood trees bordering the property and the corner lot (Lot 1) had no trees. He further advised that he did not realize that he needed a permit because he was just trying to clean the lot for the surveyors. He stated that he did not touch any trees along the back but some oak trees were removed. Building Official Ford informed the board that there were several trees in the pile and the problem was that there was no way to determine if they were interior or exterior trees. Board Member Permenter suggested working with Mr. Mabry to identify the trees and determine the mitigation amount. He stated that this was not like the 19"' Street property where there were no trees left on the lot. Building Official Ford advised that he visited this property last year and it had been cleared several years prior so he knew there were no large trees on the lot. He suggested that Mr. Mabry have a root rake spread the pile apart and then they could identify the trees. He further stated that the board could assess 100 percent mitigation. Building Official Ford further advised that some of the trees in the pile had been cut down for some time and some were freshly cut. Board Member Permenter stated that the board would bow to his judgment as to what was freshly cut. He further stated that with regard to the 19~' Street property, the board assessed the $1 per square foot penalty because there was nothing left on the lot. Building Official Ford stated that he would return to the board with the number of inches that were removed. A motion was made by Board Member Carroll, seconded by Board Member McCue, and unanimously carried to instruct the Building Official to prepare a survey of the removed trees and debris to determine the amount of inches of trees that were freshly cut and then present to the board for arbitration and mitigation. A motion was made by Board Member Carroll, seconded by Board Member Permenter, and unanimously carried that once the Building Official had determined the official measurements ., and documented with pictures, that the debris may be removed. 5. Old Business A. Tree Removal Application Form: The board made changes to the application form. S. 4` i ~ s Minutes of Tree Conservation Board March 24, 2004 Page 3 B. Protected Corridor Ordinance: Review of requested changes by Commission: Discussion was held and it was determined that the board would prepare a position statement to bring to the City Commission requesting that the ordinance be re-considered as originally submitted. Suggestions were made to gather some data: 1) any previous emergency tree removal; 2) tree removal George Bull had witnessed along Selva Marina Drive; and 3) other city tree ordinances, i.e., Jacksonville Beach. Each individual to write down their thoughts for a position paper. 6. Resorts and Announcements None. 7. Adiournment There being no other business or discussion, the meeting was adjourned at 8:28 p.m. Maureen Shaughnessy, Chair ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~"''