CC Minutes - 12/08/99 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Responding to a question from Mr. Meisner, Urban Forester Mark Snyder said that the definition of heritage tree did not include the criteria of "historic" or "significant," and that was an omission on his part that would be corrected in the next draft. At the request of Mr. Meisner, Ms. Andersen described the Planning Commission's discussion of the issue. She said that the commissioners saw land use implications in the draft ordinance and were concerned that the document was not being processed properly. Staff indicated its awareness that a different review process may be required. The commission expressed concern about the lack of a public process and a department advisory committee. However, Ms. Andersen said, the commission also recognized the council's interest in moving quickly on the ordinance. That led to the discussion about possible stopgap measures that might be instituted while a more lengthy process occurred. Ms. Taylor said that all anyone needed to do was to look at the south hills to see the forest canopy was deteriorating, which impelled the need for speedy action. She said she wished there could be a moratorium on all tree-cutting. She questioned why the commission needed to be involved in the review process. Regarding the cost of adding additional FTEs, Ms. Taylor asked if increased permit fee and fines would help meet that cost, and if those fees and fines could be increased soon. She stressed the urgent nature of the issue, and said that it was not possible to reverse tree removal, and planting small trees did not take the place of large trees. Ms. Andersen referred the question of the commission's involvement to City Attorney Glenn Klein. Mr. Klein said that there were elements in the ordinance not related to land use that the council could adopt following a public hearing. The elements of the ordinance that constitute land use regulations were those elements that tie the Tree Ordinance to planned unit development, site review, and conditional use approvals. Mr. Klein said that although the draft states that it amended Chapter 6 of the Eugene Code, there were elements in the ordinance that "impliedly" amend Chapter 9 of the code. To state that the City cannot issue a planned unit development (governed by Chapter 9) without complying with Chapter 6 was to amend Chapter 9. Mr. Klein said that Chapter 9 states that amendments to the Land Use Code must be considered by the Planning Commission, which holds a public hearing and makes a recommendation to the City Council for action. He said that the council would be able to avoid the commission process by modifying the existing Tree Ordinance to make it more effective; for example, strengthening its enforcement provisions. Ms. Taylor wanted the council to insist on the commission acting with as much speed as possible. Ms. Taylor requested information on how many of the Tree Foundation's recommendations were incorporated into the draft ordinance. She wanted the council to adopt all the foundation's recommendations. Ms. Andersen said that staff attempted to include all those recommendations and would identify the correlations for Ms. Taylor in the next draft. She noted that the foundation indicated it was pleased with the draft. Ms. Childs invited questions and reported that the Planning Commission had reviewed the previous ordinance. She said that the commission would do its best to expedite the review. MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 8, 1999 Page 10 5:30 p.m.