04/13/1992 Meeting (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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. e e council adopts the plan, ordinance language will be prepared as necessary to implement the plan's policies. He said Fred lockhart, Tree Commission mem- ber, and Ken Tollenaar, Planning Commission member, were present to answer questions. Jenny Sirnio, 95 Bradford Court, Planning Commission member and former Tree Commission member and Heritage Tree Subcommittee Chair, said she has been involved in the development of the UFMP since the beginning. She said she supported option one of the CCI's recommendation on Policy 12. She supported a voluntary approach as recommended by the CCI for Policy 12.1, which she said appears to best address public concerns regarding costs. She said she supported requiring mandatory retention of heritage trees under Policy 17. She felt that policies on the removal of non-heritage trees in cases where a building permit is not being applied for should be incorporated into the UFMP. Mary Bentsen, 950 West 16th Avenue, testified in support of the Tree Commis- sion's recommendations on polices 12 and 17. She urged for the mandatory retention of heritage trees but felt it would be difficult to regulate heri- tage trees without having conducted an inventory of them first. Opal Batchelor, 34238 Matthews Road, testified in support of a voluntary approach to preserving trees. Jacqueline Chama, 1612 lincoln Street, Tree Commission member, asked the council to separate the cost of the plan from the principle and intent of the community to protect trees from irresponsible development and to preserve the city's existing trees. She said the policies outlined in the plan can be implemented in many ways. She felt a mandatory protection policy must be in place before a major growth boom arrives in Eugene. Richard Wright, 3380 Kincaid Street, quoted the following from a professor of environmental science at Dartmouth: "Environmental problems are caused by billions of small, unthinking actions. They will be cured by small, sensible actions." He felt the UFMP was a collection of small, sensible actions. He said the United States has a history of land use policies protecting trees, some of which he said were far stricter than those proposed in the UFMP. He read a provision from an ordinance adopted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the 1700s, requiring property owners to plant at least one tree on their property to render their property "more healthy." He asked the council to take steps now to defer potential costs of further degradation of the envi- ronment. Tim Vollmer, Executive Officer of the lane County Homebuilders Association, 1679 Willamette Street, said the Homebuilders Association urges the adoption of the Planning Commission's recommendations. He expressed concern about the resources needed to administer a tree program in light of the City's project- ed budget shortfall and about an additional increase in systems development charges. He described how the direct and hidden costs would have a negative impact on housing costs and on low-income households. MINUTES--Eugene City Council 7:30 April 13, 1992 Page 8