02/11/1974 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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area, action was hastily being taken which would affect each individual in the City. The moratorium suggested to prohibit cutting more than a certain number of trees in one ownership, he said, was more desirable. ~,- . iCouncilman Murray disagreed that the ordinance would substitute the judgment of a staff member for the private property owner; he felt as a public employe the ~taff member would be administering public policy under guidelines from the Council. :He said the same concern with destroying visual or aesthetic values by cutting ,large stands of trees would apply to neighborhood areas where removal of large :individual trees would affect the appearance of the neighborhood. In answer to IMr. McDonald, he said a "large stand of trees" was similar to the area cut in the South Hills, it was not the language of the ordinance. 't;~aYor Anderson suggested changing the motion to "the earliest possible time" ,"rather than "after this meeting" because of legal requirements for notice of Council meetings. Manager explained that 24-hour notice to the press to allow igeneral public notice is required by State law unless there is sufficient emergency !to waive that requirement. He added that the City Attorney advised the issue was : not of sufficient emergency to be able to defend the calling of an emergency session. . i Councilman Keller felt the proposed ordinance went beyond what was desired to ',' stop the cutting the South Hills area; he recognized the impact on the entire , citizenry and felt there should be mqre public input. Councilman Wood thought the intent was not so much to stop cutting as it was a monitoring and approving , process. . Mr. Braatz said th,ere would be no more cutting 6n the Crest Drive property and i that instructions to that effect had been given the loggers. The only operation : to continue was rerroval of the down trees. He mentioned tha,t~h~r~_ were a few , snags left until a decision was reached on the permit system. He felt it 'should be recognized that developers do not intentionally destroy the value of their properties. He noted developments in the South Hills area where stand- c ing trees were incl uded in overall development plans. Mayor Anderson recognized the community attitude toward preservation of trees but was not convinced that immediate enactment of the proposed ordinance was necessary to stop cutting in the Crest Drive area. He said Mr. Braatz had , given his assurance that further cutting in the area would not occur. He ,strongly recommended referring the ordinance back to the Council subcommittee. I He added that he was disturbed about the high estimate for cost of administering 'the regulations. And he agreed that modifications could be made which would : bring the ordinance more into line with the real intent, saying delay would be ,better than enacting poor legislation through hasty action. . ;In answer to Councilman Wood, Parks Director said there was no way of making a !fi~m estimate on costs of such a program because there was no way of estimating I the volume of permits which might be requested. The $40,000 estimated was the ~result o~ applying what would be done to the existing operation on street trees. Initiation of the program would have to be done with present staff which would reflect 'on other programs; he suggested employment of a qualified urban forester would,be necessary. Councilman Murray felt the estimate was not out of line when compared to costs of other projects which he felt had less community support and less impact. Mayor Anderson was not sure $40,000 value would be received working under the ordinance as now written. He felt it important to write good regula- tions first, then give proper funding to enforce it. Councilman Wood didn't think the cost excessive and felt the ordinance was responsible legislation. However, he felt enactment at the next regular Council meeting, rather than a special session, would be appropriate. Councilwoman Campbell expressed frustration in trying to stop the which occurred in the South Hills area and felt a special meeting the cutting occurrred could have prevented the present situation. her motion, with the consent of Mr. Murray, to adopt the ,ordina~ce special session to be held as soon as legally possible. tree removal at the time She changed and call a - Councilman Keller was in favor of the ordinance but thought enactment should be delayed long enough to give the public an opportunity to be heard. Councilman Williams felt approval of the ordinance prior to public hearing had no official meaning and seemed unwise, especially when there might be additional input from the public and the city attorn~y. Councilman Wood suggested amend- ment would be possible if the item were carried to the next regular Council meet- ing on the consent calendar. Councilwoman Campbell questioned th~ requirement for 24-hour notice. Manager and City Attorney explained that State law requires official notification of the time and place of all public meetings to assure opportunity for interested +4 2/11/74 - 5