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
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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
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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
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