TREE COMMISSION MINUTES
August 8, 2013
CALL TO ORDER –Ashland Tree Commission meeting was called to order at 6:05 p.m. on August 8, 2013, in the Siskiyou Room in the Community Development and Engineering Services Building located at 51 Winburn Way, Ashland, Oregon.
Commissioners Present |
Council Liaison |
Ken Schmidt |
Carol Voison - absent |
Gregg Trunnell - ABSENT |
|
Russ Neff |
Staff Present |
Casey Roland |
Michael Pina, Assistant Planner |
|
Anne Thayer, Parks Horticulturist - ABSENT |
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Schmidt motioned, Roland seconded the approval of the July 3, 2013 regular meeting minutes.
WELCOME GUESTS & PUBLIC FORUM
No guests.
TYPE I REVIEW
PLANNING ACTION: PA-2013-01049
SUBJECT PROPERTY: 2210-2290 Ashland St.
OWNER/APPLICANT: Urban Development Services for Summit Investments
DESCRIPTION: Request for a Tree Removal Permit to remove 13 trees greater than six-inches DBH located within the Shop N Kart/Bi-mart Parking lot located at 2210 and 2290 Ashland Street.
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN DESIGNATION: Commercial;
ZONING: C-1;
ASSESSOR’S MAP: 39 1E 14B
TAX LOTS: 1300 & 1500
Piña presented the staff report. All conducted site visits. The application proposes to remove and replace 16 trees within the landscape islands at the end of the parking aisles. The proposed tree removal is in conjunction with resurfacing and improving the existing parking lot. Of the 16 trees, 13 have a Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) greater than six-inches, and subject to a Tree Removal Permit. The applicant states the trees are in decline due to the stress of their surrounding environment, and the lack of attention and water. The application proposes to replace the removed trees with 16, 1.75-inch caliper Hackberrys, and to provide irrigation to the landscape areas.
Neff shared concerns about removing all of the trees at once, noting that not all the trees appear to be in a dire condition. To this, the applicant responded that repaving and curbing of the parking lot will undoubtedly further damage the trees. Additionally, once irrigation is installed, the replacement trees will have a better chance to provide a significant canopy for the parking lot. However, the Commission informed the applicant that small caliper trees tend to be more susceptible to sun scold because of their thin bark, especially in parking lot environments. Therefore, the Commission recommended approving the tree removal permit, with a recommendation that the mitigation trees be a minimum two-inch caliper, and provide a protective sleeve around the bark. Schmidt motioned to recommend approval of the application with the aforementioned changers, Roland seconded.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
Piña noted that staff has stated putting together the 2013 Tree of the Year Nomination forms, and will soon submit the nomination form to various media outlets soon.
Piña reminded the commission of the two Public Meeting trainings in September and October.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 7:14 pm.
Respectfully submitted by Michael Piña, Assistant Planner