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04-11-07Minutes ojApril I1, 2007, Tree Conservation Board ,,,.. CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH TREE CONSERVATION BOARD REGULAR MEETING MINUTES April 11, 2007 A regular meeting of the Tree Conservation Board was held Wednesday, April 11, 2007 at the Adele Grage Cultural Center. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Maureen Shaughnessy and adjourned at 8:15 p.m. ROLL CALL 1. Present: Chair Maureen Shaughnessy, Carole Varney, Jim McCue, Brea Paul, and City Liaison/Planner Erika 2. Excused: Stephanie Catania 3. Recognition of Visitors: Brian Burke, Landscape Architect (Behalf of Community Presbyterian Church) 4. Approval of Minutes of March 28~', 2007 Meeting Jim McCue made a motion to approve the minutes from the March 28th, 2007 regular meeting. Carole Varney seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. 5. New Business a. Tree Removal Permits i. 150 Sherry Drive (Community Presbyterian Church) Brian Burke requested to speak to the Board. Brian Burke presented a photograph of a building with branches leaning up against it and asked the Board's permission to cut those branches down. Brian Burke showed another photograph of a tree that he was concerned with because the tree appeared to be diseased, with cavities forming in the lower trunk. The tree was approximately 30" and was thought to be an Elm, though he was unable to definitively identify what type of tree it was. Carole Varney made a motion to issue a permit for the removal of 1-22" Pine, 1-11" Palm, and 1-13" Palm, all in the interior zone, to be mitigatied by 23" of surplus inches identified on the landscape plan at a previous review by the Tree Board; for removal of 1- 30" Hardwood in the exterior zone, to be mitigated by 15" of ~""'` hardwood surplus inches identified on the landscape Page 1 of 4 Minutes of April 11, 2007, Tree Conservation Board ~.,, plan at a previous review by the Tree Board. Jim McCue seconded tt-e motion and it passed unanimously. 6. Reports S Announcements a. Exempt Tree Removals i. 3451 ~ Street (Arens Residence) The Arens requested to remove a 15" Cabbage Palm from the rear interior of their lot. The Cabbage Palm abutted an existing patio and the Arens wish to install a trellis in that location. Permit was issued on 4/04/2007 based upon the fact that proposed construction of the trellis was far less than the $10,000 threshold, and the tree was not considered a private protected tree (less than 20" within the interior zone). ii. 301 Pine Street (Custom Tree Service for Martin Residence) Custom Tree Sen-ice requested to remove adiseased/dead Pond cypress from the rear interior zone of the residential lot. Permit was issued on 4/04/2007 based upon the fact that the tree is visibly diseased and poses a potential hazard. b. Mitigation i. 1680 Jordan Street Ms Hall reported that she had conferred with the City Clerk regarding contact of the Commissioners to discuss this matter and was told that Board Members are not allowed to contact individual members and "poll" them on an issue that might go before them. Recommendation was to discuss with the City Attorney and the Community Development Director. She then spoke with Sonya Doerr, Community Development Director who said that the proper course of action would be to send the matter to the Code Enforcement Board. Ms. Hall also reported that she had received a call from Cynthia Doctor on 4/11/2007. Ms Doctor wished to know the status of her case, and Ms. Hall explained that the Board had been making efforts to assist her in meeting her mitigation requirements. She still seemed not to understand the fact that she had broken a law, and insisted that she had only cut down three trees and she had planted seven to replace them. Ms. Hall again explained that ~ was not a matter of the number of trees, but rather the number of inches of trees tha# had been cut down...that it took a great number of years for those trees to reach that size/maturity, and that the purpose of the mitigation was to compensate for the "lost" benefits of having those trees present. Ms. Hall reiterated that the Board was trying to assist Page 2 of 4 Minutes of April 11, 2007, Tree Conservation Board ~,., Ms. Doctor, but that their hands were pretty much tied because this was a matter of breaking a law. The Board discussed how they might make the community more aware of what trees they are allowed to cut down without breaking the law or incurring mitigation fees. The Board came to a decision of sending out letters to tree specialists and sending brochures to realtors in order for them to help educate the public on the local tree protection ordinance. The Board feels public awareness of the tree ordinance will help alleviate the ongoing problems the city and its citizens are experiencing with unlicensed and uninsured tree services that are soliciting in the area. ii. 105 6~' Street (Orchid?), Lots 1-6 This case is similar to the one above in which the Board feels this case needs to be sent to Code enforcement. iii. 1710 Park Terrace East Ms Hall reported that Mike Burrows with Fasanelli /Atlas made efforts to site trees for mitigation. He called on 4/04/07 to ask if the trees could be mitigated offsite (wanted to plant at several other properties located at Ocean Grove) and was told that according to Section 23-17(e)(2)i, if trees could not be mitigated onsite, the applicant would have to pay the equivalent amount into the tree fund. He stated that they might have to plant part and pay part. On Mike Burrows presented a satisfactory mitigation plan on 04/05/2007, therefore setting into motion the monitoring phase. An initial check of the property will be conducted when the CO is issued, and reviews will take place at 6-month increments to insure trees have survived. iv. 1863 Mayport Road Rick Carper noted that the plan submitted for building permit review does not account for mitigation trees from either the original or revised tree removal permit. Additionally, it appears that a 17" oak on the east bank of the existing retention is missing. Ms. Hall presented this information to the Board Members, who discussed the case and came to the conclusion that the applicant is not following the tree requirements. Jim McCue made a motion to write this applicant a letter that he needs to come before the board for possible mitigation costs and that an interoffice memo be sent to the Page 3 of 4 Minutes of April 11, 2007, Tree Conservation Board ,,, Public Works Departrnent and the Building Department to request that they cease and desist issuance of development permits for this property until the matter at hand is resolved. Brea Paul seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. c. Other i. Application revision Ms HaN presented application revision recommendations to the Board. The Board suggested that, in Section Il: Tree Removal Site Information, the phrase "onsite storage/retention be changed to "stormwater retention" for those applicants who do not know what onsite storage means. Jim McCue suggested that, in Section Ill: Mitigation Information, the work "site" be removed because landscape plan is sufficient. The Board agreed with the revisions that Ms. Hall presented. ii. Websitie revision Ms Hall presented to the Board an example of the revised Tree Conservation Board webpage on the City of Atlantic Beach website. Ms. Hall stated that the website will be more user friendly and easier to retrieve application documents or review pending applications with the inclusion of the new icons and categories. The Board discussed the website changes with Ms. Hatt and suggests three changes. The icon that says Agenda items needs to be changed to say Pending Applications and the icon Tree Removal Applications should be changed to Tree Removal Forms. The last suggestion was for the icons need to be rearranged. The Board was satisfied with Ms. Hall's revisions. 7. Adjournment Mr. McCue made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:15 pm. The motion was seconded by Carole Varney and passed unanimously. Chair 2 5 !O Date Page 4 of 4