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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/15/2003 - PB&R CommissionMAY 15, 2003 APPROVED PB &R AD HOC TREE MINUTES CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH Ad Hoc Tree Committee of the Parks, Beaches and Recreation Commission May 15, 2003- 7pm 1. Called to order at 7pm ROLL CALL Commissioners Present: Allen, Skoro, Tobin Staff: Marie Knight, Recreation 13 Senior Services Director David Niederhaus, General Services Director Robin Clauson, Assistant City Attorney Dan Ohl, Deputy City Attorney John Conway, Urban Forester Teri Craig, Administrative Assistant 2. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON NON - AGENDA ITEMS - Linda Grant stated that she lived on Fernando Road and stated that she had been offended at the way Director Knight had made fun of her at the Youth in Government Day and that the BAS attorney would be speaking on their behalf this evening. 3. MINUTES - APRIL 10, 2003 & APRIL 24, 2003 Kathy Young stated that her comments from the April 24 minutes should have stated the trees were not native to the area. Yvonne Houssells noted that the minutes stated she was representing 150 homes; it should state 450 homes in her Association and thousands of homes with views. Jan Vandersloot, BAS, stated that some of his comments had not been recorded accurately. Commissioner Skoro stated that as he recalled the minutes did reflect his comments accurately. Motion by Commissioner Tobin to approve the minutes of April 10, 2003 and April 24, 2003 as amended. Motion carried by acclamation. 4. REPORTS a. Report from General Services Director regarding the consolidation evaluation, and staff recommendations for the various suggested changes additions or deletions to the G -1 Policy. Director Niederhaus stated that at the end of the report was a matrix that included recommendations from the public, staff and committee that had been received prior to the meeting and in time to include in the matrix. b. Report from General Services Director regarding current tree replacement policies and an update on the City of Costa Mesa tree replacement program Director Niederhaus noted the G -1 Policy had been revised with strikeouts for deletion and underlines for additions and that staff had tried to be open minded and fair. Chair Allen stated that it was her intention at this time to review the policy and take a straw vote at the end of each page on the revisions made by staff. Ad Hoc Tree Committee April 24, 2003 Page 2 A straw vote was taken to proceed. Commissioner Skoro asked if the City of Costa Mesa had a policy just for ficus trees. Urban Forester Conway stated that the City of Costa Mesa had a Tree Nuisance Policy where the City could remove the following trees without Commission approval: • Brazilian Pepper Ficus Nitida • Ash Carrot Wood Commissioner Allen moved to adopt all revisions on page 1 up to line 37. Allen Beek stated that the Commission was not working in compliance with the set agenda. Discussion ensued regarding the Agenda and the procedure on how the Commission would like to proceed. Assistant City Attorney Clauson stated that after reviewing the agenda that it does not appear that a straw vote is called out for on the agenda. Chair Allen asked if they could move to item 6 and then take Public Testimony after that. Discussion ensued regarding the public need to testify on the March 12 draft before a straw vote is done. After discussion it was decided to proceed with the public testimony. 5. Public Testimony regarding the General Area or Specific Issues the Committee should consider during its review PLEASE NOTE:The following are summary comments from the public are not verbatim due to a technical malfunction. Tess Lier stated that she is opposed to a 2 for 1 tree replacement, as there are so many trees in the City and reminded the Committee that Newport Beach is a view city - not a tree city. She recommended that the Committee consider the homeowner association desires. Allan Beek thanked staff for keeping the 24' box versus the 36' box tree in the Policy and asked what exactly is a City tree. Chair Allen stated that at this time the Committee would not be reviewing the Designated Tree List but would leave that for the entire Commission at a later time. Barry Allen commented that root pruning should only be done on special trees and went on to comment about specific sentences in the Policy regarding that. • Jan Vandersloot asked if any kind of environmental impact report would be done and was concerned about the public's right to appeal decisions. • Steven Wiles, General Counsel for WYSE USE Front and BAS commented on the terms of the BAS agreement and that he did not see that the City was making an effort at getting a Tree Ordinance that would make the policies enforceable. He stated that this was built into the settlement agreement. He commented that Special City Trees should never be reforested. Anne Balderston displayed a picture of people sitting on a bench at Begonia Ft Pacific viewing the bay and peninsula under their favorite tree — The Keyhole Ad Hoc Tree Committee April 24, 2003 Page 3 Tree. She stated that this tree is a Special Tree and believes that it should never be removed and asked if it is a special tree can she believe that it will never be removed. She also commented that people should respect everyone's opinion. Yvonne Houssells gave a copy of view ordinances from Rancho Palos Verdes, Tiburon and Laguna Beach to Mr. Niederhaus and stated again that if there is a Tree Ordinance then there must be a View Ordinance. Linda Grant commented on her view of the importance of trees. 6. Committee Direction to Staff Chair Allen asked staff to format the agenda for the next meeting so that the Committee would be able to go through the policy and do a straw vote on recommendations, hear public testimony and then a final vote on the entire policy. 7. Consideration of Additional Tree Committee Meeting. Discussion ensued regarding possible dates for the next meeting. Chair Allen asked staff to view the City calendar and confirm the next meeting for June 12 at 7pm. The public was reminded that if they want to submit information to the Committee for consideration in this process that it would need to be turned in to Teri Craig at the Recreation Services office by Tuesday, May 27, 2003. 8. ADJOURNMENT - 9:10pm Submitted by: f Teri Craig, Admin is ant