Loftus announced that the planning action had been postponed to October. It will be reviewed at the October 7 Tree Commission meeting, and the October 12 Planning Commission meeting. It was announced that Sager was coming late to the meeting because her firm worked on the following planning action at 2205 Ashland Street.

A staff report was given describing the project, and it was noted that 19 of the 20 trees on site are proposed for removal. The staff recommendation to the Planning Commission was described as the application should be continued until several items are addressed. The areas of concern raised in regard to trees and landscaping were lack of findings addressing the criteria for a Tree Removal Permit, unclear information on amount of area for recreational space, and the lack of a play area for children.

The Tree Commission briefly discussed the proposal. It was noted that none of the existing trees are in good shape. Also, the nicest tree on the site is the birch, but these have a poor history during drought years.

Evan Archerd and John Galbraith presented on behalf of the applicant. Archerd said they are attempting to create one of the first affordable housing projects. Eight of units will be affordable under the city program. He said it didn't seem that there are a lot of trees that were worth saving. Thought better to plan a community that was well landscaped. Galbraith said the solar setback and setback between building requirements were major issues in design. He said there is one Juniper or Arizona cypress that might be worth saving.

There was no testimony received for or against the proposal.

The Tree Commission discussed the proposal It was noted that the best trees in the project area are the Black Oaks in right-of-way. The feeling was that the number of replacement trees, which number more than two new trees for every tree to be removed, mitigates the removal of the 19 trees. It was again noted that the trees proposed for removal have been neglected, under stress, and experienced drought for years. It was asked if any of the existing trees could be tree spaded - specifically the blue spruce identified as number seven on the tree removal/protection plan. It was noted that during wind storms of the last two years blue spruce were most likely to fail, and with transplant would be even more of a problem.

The Tree Commission made the following recommendations to the Planning Commission.

Recommendation:
Revised landscape plan should incorporate the following suggestions.

The recommendation was read back to the Tree Commission by Staff, and all members acknowledge that there were in agreement with the items as presented.

There was a discussion of the draft Planning Action Check List. Loftus said it seemed like a great informal tool to include in the packet for new members. Nelson said he saw it as a tool, very informal. He suggested possibly going through checklist at the beginning of each planning action. Holley said he thought this was being prepared for Planning Staff.

There was a discussion of the letter received regarding cork trees. Todt said the issue he is familiar with is the cork oak forests that are harvested for wine cork production. There are a group of wine producers and cork producers that are concerned that these phenomenal areas will not be maintained and revert to scrub oak areas. There is an organization fighting to protect areas because of wildlife habitat. It was noted that there about a half of a dozen cork trees in Ashland, but the cork tree is not on the Ashland street tree list. bout half a dozen in Ashland. Todt said cork trees don't do well here because they can't take freezes, especially in the first five years.

There was a discussion of letter from K.G. Stiles regarding the pruning of a tree for the Tolman Creek Road project. Todt said he was asked to look at the tree, and that the pruning needed to be cleaned up, but was not detrimental to the tree. The concrete contractor did the pruning himself. Todt added that a couple of trees were salvaged from the Tolman Creek Road LID project, and replanted at Bellview School. It was suggested that correct pruning techniques might be a good example of something to include in the "Tree Tips" pieces that had been discussed. It was noted that Medford's Waterlines newsletter and the Bandon newspaper include pieces similar to the "Tree Tips" concept.

Hartzell arrived and gave a liaison report. There is a discussion of the Lithia Street Parking Lot next to Gen Kai parking lot potentially being used for an affordable housing project. She noted that the Planning Director is updating the City Council about upcoming large planning projects. She mentioned the piece on NPR on cornerstone gardens.

There was a discussion of the Tree Commission review of planning actions. Sager said she started thinking about this issue when a woman who recently attending the meeting told her that the Commission was more involved and detailed oriented than she had expected or wanted. Sager said she thought some of the Commission comments on landscape plans have gotten very detailed, and the group has given more advice than is necessary. She said this seemed pertinent since the amount of time being spent on planning actions has been a frustration of the Commission. Loftus concurred and said that in reviewing plans prepared by a professional landscaper, designer or architect the Commission often gets into issues that are a difference of opinion. Todt said he has noticed over the past years that the level of comments from the Commission depends on where the landscape architect is from. He said that if the landscape architect is from the Willamette Valley there tend to be more comments because the person is not familiar with the Southern Oregon climate.