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2008-01-23 (meeting minutes)City of Atlantic Beach Tree Conservation Board Regular Meeting Minutes January 23, 2008 A regular meeting of the City of Atlantic Tree Conservation Board was convened at 7.•20 pm on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at the Ade% Grage Cultural Center, /orated at 716 Ocean Boulevard in At/antic Beach. In attendance were Jim McCue, Brea Paul, Maureen Shaughnessy and Staff Planner/TPO Administrator Erika Hal/. Stephanie Catania and Caro% Varney were both excused from the meeting. The position of Recording Secretary was vacant. I. CALL TO ORDER. Chair Maureen Shaughnessy called the meeting to order at 7:20 pm. The meeting was delayed due to lack of quorum. II. RECOGNITION OF VISITORS. There were no visitors present in the audience. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES. MOTION: Brea Paul moved to adopt the minutes of the ]anuary 9, 2008 regular meeting, as written. ]im McCue offered a second, and with no further discussion, the vote was unanimous. IV. OLD BUSINESS. There was no old business up for consideration. V. NEW BUSINESS. A. TREE REMOVAL REQUESTS. 1. 1015 CAMELIA STREET (BENNETT) Property owner and applicant Kevin Bennett was present to represent this application. The stated purpose of the request was to remove trees from the lot so that it could be developed as asingle-family home-site. Board members reviewed and found the application to be complete and sufficiently in compliance with the criteria of Section 24-17(d). Ms. Shaughnessy noted that only two protected trees were proposed for removal, and that Mr. Bennett indicated that he Minutes of the January 23, 2008 Regular Meeting of the Tree Conservation Board would be leave trees on site that account for nearly all of the required mitigation. MOTION: Mr. McCue motioned that the board approve Mr. Bennett's application and that the TPO Administrator issue a tree removal permit for the removal of 1-8" Oak, 1-11" Oak, 1-14" Oak, 1-18" Oak, and 1-12" Hickory, all from the interior zone; along with 1-li" Hickory and i-15" Oak, from the exterior zone. Total inches to be removed are 63", with 26" being protected and requiring mitigation. Required mitigation is to be accomplished by the protection of 2-2" Oaks, 1-4.5" Oak, and 1-2.5" Hickory on site, and by either planting of 2" of replacement hardwoods or payment at the rate of $117 per inch into the Tree Mitigation Fund. Brea Paul offered a second, and without further discussion, the vote was unanimous. 2. 708 BEGONIA STREET (BENNETT) Ms. Hall explained to the board and Mr. Bennett that she had amended the agenda to include this item since Mr. Bennett was going to be present for discussion. She told the board that she had had a previous phone discussion with Mr. Bennett regarding the removal of a 34.5" dbh Pine on City Right-of-Way at 708 Begonia Street, and that she had just received (the day before) a fax from Mr. Bennett containing a letter from Certified Arborist Marc White, indicating that the tree should be removed. The letter was forwarded to Public Works Director Rick Carper for review because "public" trees fall under his department's purview. Upon inspection of the site, Mr. Carper forwarded his approval for Mr. Bennett to remove the tree in question, at his own expense and with appropriate mitigation, as Mr. Carper did not find the tree to be an immediate hazard, nor did he have monies budgeted for non-emergency removals. Mr. McCue asked if the tree was in the footprint of the proposed driveway, to which Mr. Bennett replied no. He stated that the Pine was not in conflict with the proposed site development. He stated that his reason for wanting to remove the tree was merely for safety of surrounding homes. However, he added that he would not pay to remove the tree himself, as he felt it was the City's responsibility to do so. Ms. Hall reminded board members Page 2 of 4 Minutes of the January 23, 2008 Regular Meeting of the Tree Conservation Board that the burden of removal of public protected trees in conjunction with private development falls upon the private developer. She presented the board with copies of permits substantiating that Mr. Bennett had previously appeared before the board for tree removal on this site (TREE 06- 00032556 & 06-00032557). Ms. Hall also presented the board with copies of Mr. Bennett's open building permit (SFR 06- 00034399) for the property located at 708 Begonia Street, and she reiterated that Mr. Carper's department has both final call and controls budget for the removal & replacement of public protected trees. Asa result, Mr. Carper had made an assessment that the tree was probably in need of eventual removal, but the need was not immediate; and he reckoned that the request was in conjunction with development of the 708 Begonia site, and thus the developer should bear the cost. Some discussion ensued and board members strongly disagreed with Mr. Carper's decision. MOTION: Mr. McCue made a motion that the TPO Administrator return this item to Public Works Director Carper with the recommendation that the tree be removed as soon as possible by the City. Ms. Paul seconded the motion, and without further discussion, it passed unanimously. ~At conclusion of this item and after departure of the applicant, Ms Hall offered some thoughts for the board to ponder in relation to such items Ms Hall stated that property rights (rightly) limit the City's ability to regulate trees on private property; however, the City has every right to regulate trees on public property, and can and does ask applicants to revise deve%pments plans that impact public lands and assets Ms Hall also reminded the board that Certified Arborist Early Piety is on retainer with the City, and it is customary for Mr. Carper (or other staf>, to request assessment by Mr. Piety should he (they) have any reservations as to the safety of a particular tree.J VI. REPORTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS A. Parliamentary Procedure. Ms. Hall provided board members copies of "Navigating Your Way Through a Meeting", a handout, obtained from City Clerk Donna Page 3 of 4 Minutes of the January 23, 2008 Regular Meeting of the Tree Conservation Board Bussey, that summarizes some parliamentary procedures that Ms. Hall felt would be beneficial to the board. She stated that she realized that the atmosphere was typically more casual than in other meetings such as those of the Community Development Board and the City Commission; however, Ms. Hall reminded the ,board that besides having to maintain order of files and documents, summarize applications and findings of site visits and answer questions of the board -she also has to take meeting minutes due to the vacancy of the recording secretary position. Ms. Hall stated that it is very difficult to maintain an accurate record when all members are talking at the same time. Ms. Shaughnessy recommended that Ms. Hall might try tape recording the meetings as had been done in the past. Ms. Hall noted that the Board had had a recording secretary at that time, who in addition to taking minutes, also prepared the agendas and drafts of minutes, created and mailed out packets to Board Members and maintained needed supplies and equipment. However, Ms. Hall said she now attends to all of those administrative duties in addition to her normal workload as Planner and GIS Coordinator. Thus, recording the meetings would require that she keep up with three additional things (recorder, batteries, tapes), plus, there is no budget for such supplies (batteries, tapes). And, in the end, it would merely be a recording of the same incomprehensive jumble that made no sense in person. She said that she felt a much better solution would be to bring more order and civility to the meetings that could be appreciated by applicants, board members and staff alike. Mr. McCue noted that in the past, members had attended training in parliamentary procedure. Ms. Hall replied that she had discussed this with Community Development Director Sonya Doerr, and because the CD Board had a larger turnover, there would most likely be such a training session in the near future. Ms. Hall agreed this would be good for everyone. VII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: )im McCue made a motion to adjourn, Brea Paul offered a second and the meeting was adjourned by Chair Maureen Shaughnessy at 8:20 pm. SIGNED: Maureen ~Shaughnes ;Chair ~~ ATTEST: Erikra Hall, Staff Planner / TPO Administrator Page4of4