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04-25-07Minutes of April 25, 2007, Tree Conservation Board CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH TREE CONSERVATION BOARD REGULAR MEETING MINUTES APRIL 25, 2007 A regular meeting of the Tree Conservation Board was held on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 at the Adele Grage Cultural Center. The meeting was called to order at 6:50 p.m. by Jim McCue and adjourned at 7: 40p.m. ROLL CALL 1. Present: Jim McCue, Carole Varney, Brea Paul, Stephanie Catania, and City Liaison/Planner Erika Hall. 2, Excused: Chair Maureen Shaughnessy 3. Recognition of Visitors: n/a 4. Approval of Minutes of April 11, 2007 Meeting Stephanie Catania made a motion to approve the minutes from the April 11, 2007 regular meeting. Jim McCue seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. 5. New Business a. Tree Removal Permits i. Section H, Block 213, Lots 4, 5, 6 (Lily Street New Development) Erika Hall stated that a site visit was conducted by staff on Monday 4/23/07. Comers & property lines were marked, as were the trees proposed for removal. However, none of the trees noted for protection on the survey were marked with paint or tape. One six-inch (6") Oak was noted on the survey, but not included in the table. That has been added by staff, for a total of 13 trees proposed for removal. A 2006 aerial photo has been attached demonstrating the density of canopy as of last year. The subject property appears to have been sign~cantly cleared already though. Stephanie wanted to know if this property was zoned as commercial or residential. Erika verified that it was residential. Jim had some concerns that the current dirt could have subsurface debris contamination and there might Page 1 of 5 Minutes of Apri125, 2007, Tree Conservation Board ,, be a possibility of removing this old dirt to replace it with about 6 feet worth of new dirt. He asked if there were any further questions and asked if anyone would like to make a motion. Stephanie made a motion to grant the tree permit for the removal of the one 6" oak in the exterior zone, to be mitigated by 3" of hardwood or the payment of $351.00 into the Tree Fund, and the removal of two 6.5" Oaks, two 7" Oaks, three 8" Oaks, one 8.5" Oak, one 9" Oak, one 10" Oak, one 10.5" Oak all in the interior zone, with no mitigation required. ii. Jasmine Street (1000 block land clearing) Erika Hatl stated that Public Works Director Rick Carper sent out an email with photos (attached) regarding the clearing of this property. A letter (attached} has been sent to the owners explaining the consequences and requesting that they appear at the May 9~' Tree Board Meeting. Jim explained to the board the process of flagging and surveying wetlands. He also confirmed that development was required to be at feast 25 feet off the jurisdictional wetland line. Jim noted that this site is not marked with flags, though it is evident that there are wetlands to the rear. Erika explained that Rick Carper had referred this issue into FDEP and the SJWMD. Jim and the board members asked Erika to orient them on this photograph and asked what this site looked like before it was cleared. Aerial photos taken of the property in 2006 and obtained from COJ.NET were the only evidence of previous conditions available. Jim asked the board what preparation is needed in order to take care of the issue at hand. He requested that Rick Carper be sent an interoffice memo to look into this matter and see how to pursue this issue. Jim also recommended that Rick be present at the 5-9-07 meeting when applicant is required to be there. Jim stated that he would like to see the jurisdictional wetlands identified and restored, and he recommended that the applicant be charged the $5 per sq ft fee for land clearing. The board is in agreement with Jim's recommendations and feels that there should be a time line given to the applicant to have this all done and that all board members would like to visit this site for further inspection. ~,.. Page 2 of 5 Minutes of Apri125, 2007, Tree Conservation Board 6. Old Business a. Mitigation i. 1680 Jordan Street (Doctor) Erika Hall stated that a certified letter establishing mitigation requirements & deadlines and appeal options was sent to Ms. Doctor on April 12, 2007. On April 18, 2007, Ms. Doctor requested to appeal the findings of the Tree Conservation Board. She will tentatively appear before the City Commission on May 14, 2007. A copy of the staff report and supporting materials will be provided to Tree Board Members once it has been approved by the City Manager. Board members agreed that this case is out of their hands and that it is up to the commission to decide this case. ii. 105 6"' Street, Lots 1-6 (Van Dusen) Erika Hall stated that a cert~ed letter establishing mitigation requirements & deadlines and appeal options was sent to Mr. Van Dusen on April 12, 2007. . Jim asked if the city attorney had been given info in regards to this case and has the applicant tried to pursue a legal process or has there been any cease or desist action. Erika stated that Code Enforcement Officer Alex Sherrer advised her to send this letter to the applicant in order to follow routine procedures before forwarding the case to the code enforcement board. Jim recommended that this case should be presented to City Attomey Alan Jensen and that a meeting be scheduled to discuss further action. The board was in agreement with Jim's recommendations and Erika stated she would discuss the case with Community Development Director Sonya Doerr and City Attorney Alan Jensen. iii. 1863 Mayport Road (River City Cabinets) Erika Hall stated that a certified letter requesting that property owner Damon Rebhahn appear before the Tree Board to give information regarding discrepancies amongst the site plan and the tree survey was sent on April 12, 2007. Erika stated that she had not yet received a return receipt for the letter but that the applicant had come by City Hall to get a copy of the plan that Rick Carper had forwarded as well as a of the plan submitted to the Tree Board. iv. 1710 Park Terrace East (Fasanelli on behalf Rastrelli) ~""' Erika Hall stated that a certified letter regarding errors in minimum replacement Oak size on the mitigation plan was Page 3 of 5 Minutes of Apri12S, 2007, Tree Conservation Board ~,,, sent to Mr. Mike Burrows of Atlas/Fasanelii on April 12, 2007. Mr. Burrows called on 4116 to say that he had received the letter and that he was working on revisions to the mitigation plan, which will be submitted as soon as complete. Jim asked if there were any comments in regards to this matter and board had no comments. v. 400/500/534/574 Stocks Street (R/E Home Investors) Erika Hall stated that a certified letter regarding mitigation requirements was sent to Mr. Ed Winters of R/E Home Investors on April 23, 2007. Mr. Winters was notified that a mitigation plan demonstrating the location of replacement trees was due to the Tree Conservation Board two (2) weeks from receipt of this letter. Altemativefy, he was given the option of paying $5,564.52 into the tree fund. Erika explained to board that she had been copied on an email from Rick Carper to the applicant Ed Winters, regarding a large pile of dire that had been in the West Plaza right of way for nearly a month. Jim stated this dirt could be causing damage to the trees and asked why a letter had not been sent to applicant about issue. Erika stated that Rick Carper had sent a letter in regards to the dirt to the applicant. Carole questioned if code enforcement keeps an eye on the community with these types of issues. Erika explained to board that Code Enforcement Officer Alex Sherrer has a list of such items that he looks for as he patrols the City. 7. R®ports and Announcements a. Laurel Wilt in Redbay Trees -update Erika stated that she had received the included Laurel Wilt fact sheet from City Manager Jim Hanson and that such items would be linked to the Tree Board website in the future. b. Website -update Erika told the board that she made additional changes to website and has already received phone calls from people who liked the new changes. Erika said she had been directing callers requesting tree, vegetation & landscaping information to access the website, and on occasion, she has assisted people in navigating through the website. Jim asked whether information about the onsite retention requirement mentioned on the permit application had been included on the website. Erika stated not Page 4 of 5 Minutes of April ?S 2007, Tree Conservation Board ~,,,, yet but that it will be included with the information on how to complete a tree survey. Carole asked if this website is consistent with other boards' website pages and Erika stated that the other boards have brief, general paragraphs explaining their purpose instead of links. Jim asked Erika if specific examples resulting in violations could be included as a deterrent of future violations. The board discussed and liked this idea and asked Erika to look into this. Erika said she would try to implement this idea so as to maintain the anonymity of the applicant. 8. Adjournment Mr. McCue made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:40 pm. Carole Varney moved the motion; the motion was seconded by Stephanie Catania and passed unanimously. ~'' Chair ,~ ~^ Date Page 5 of 5