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
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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.
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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
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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
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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.
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Chair ,~
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Date
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