Agenda - Planning Commission - 05/28/2026

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5.01: Consider an Ordinance Amendment to City Code Section 106-354 (Private Trees in New Development Areas) Senior Planner Anderson presented the staff report. He stated that the EPB recently contemplated a request for a variance to utilize an alternative methodology to complete a required tree inventory associated with a Minor Plat. Not only did the City Council approve the requested variance, but they also directed staff to prepare an ordinance amendment granting staff the authority to approve alternative methodologies, rather than going through the variance process. The purpose of this case is to consider the draft ordinance amendment to the tree preservation standards. Board Member Hagerty stated that he supports the language as drafted to be more specific related to diseased trees. Councilmember Peters asked if this would deal with trees that are already dead. Senior Planner Anderson stated that there used to be a requirement to inventory dead trees as well, but when they rewrote the Code language, they eliminated the need to inventory dead trees. Chairperson Fetterley stated that she agrees with Board Member Hagerty that the language should be more specific, as she did not want to provide an ability for someone to find a workaround. She noted that if additional changes are needed in the future, they could be done through additional amendments. Board Member Payne stated that diseased trees would be dying or dead within the near future, so it makes sense not to inventory those. He also agreed with the more specific language. Motion by Board Member Salami and seconded by Board Member Hagerty to recommend City Council adoption of Ordinance #26-09 amending City Code Section 106-354, granting staff the ability to approve alternative methodologies for collecting tree data. Motion carried. Voting Yes: Chairperson Fetterley, Board Member Salami, Hagerty, Bernard, Houts, and Payne. Voting No: None. Absent: Board Member Burgess.