City Commission Workshop Meeting

APPROVED: 7/18/2013 City Hall City of Eustis, Florida 10 North Grove Street Post Office Drawer 68 Eustis, FL 32727-0068 Meeting Minutes- Final* City Commission Workshop Thursday, June 27, 2013 7:00PM City Hall CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Muenzmay- 8:11p.m. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF QUORUM AND PROPER NOTICE Present: 5- Linda Bob; Albert Eckian ; Michael Holland; Karen LeHeup-Smith; and Kress Muenzmay I. Workshop Item 13132 Review of Section 115-8 of the Land Development Regulations -- Tree Protection Dianne Kramer, Development Services Director, explained the proposal to allow more flexibility in the tree ordinance particularly for single family home owners and commercial development. She explained the benefit to allowing a commercial owner to bring in a revised landscape plan which could resolve their issues while allowing them to remain in compliance. She reviewed the proposed recommendations as follows: 1) Exempt palm, citrus and pine trees; 2) Permit single family homeowners to remove trees if the tree is located within 25 feet of their occupied residence; and 3) Under Section 115-8.4 -Add clear cutting of vacant land would be prohibited without an approved development plan even if the trees are one of the exempted trees. II. Commission Discussion The Commission asked if the tree removed from within 25 ft. would be required to be replaced with Ms. Kramer responding negatively. The Commission discussed the possibility of someone clear cutting a large developed lot if it is covered with pine trees or someone building on a lot with a number of exempt trees and sometime later cutting down all of those trees since they were all exempt. Ms. Kramer suggested not exempting palm, pine and citrus trees, which would prevent removal of the trees unless they were within 25 feet of the home. The Commission discussed how to permit removal of some trees but not all and how to mitigate or reduce large fines for tree removal. Ms. Kramer explained the current ordinance provides no leeway and reviewed the proposed change to Sec. 115-8.5 which would allow a determination to be made by the Code Enforcement Board or special Magistrate if the trees would have met criteria for removal. The Commission discussed the following issues: 1) Property owner rights to remove trees from their property; 2) Amount of damage caused each year by trees; 3) The additional cost to a developer for landscape architects; 4) The cost to a property owner for tree maintenance; 5) Exempting palm, citrus and pine trees from permit requirements; 6) Allowing property owners to remove suggested exempt trees without removing all of them; and 7) Possibility of landscape requirements discouraging development. City of Eustis, Florida Page 1 Printed on 71812013 City Commission Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final June 27, 2013 III. Public Input Kevin Jenness, 25 E. Magnolia Ave. -Peddler's Wagon, commented on the number of trees removed from his street in the past fifteen years and trees that he has planted. He expressed opposition to exempting any tree species from the permit requirement and with the 25 ft. allowance for removal of trees. He agreed with the suggestion of allowing changes to a commercia/landscape plan to resolve issues with the original plan. Joan Bryant, Trout Lake Nature Center, addressed the Commission regarding the value of palm and pine trees for natural habitat. She read a statement from the City's website describing the community and citing the City's status as a Tree City USA. She commented on the Commission's responsibility to protect the quality of life within the City. Sean Jenness, 25 E. Magnolia Ave., commented on the benefits of trees to the environment, challenges to protection of the environment, effect of trees on utility bills, and benefits of ecotourism to the community. IV. Commission Direction The Commission discussed the following: 1) The trees that used to exist on Orange Avenue; 2) The amount of growth in Lake Mary compared to Eustis and the need to preserve the community; 3) What makes Eustis special and the need to preserve trees; 4) The need to help people who have trees that are not where they need to be; 5) The need to limit the removal of trees and to mitigate the level of the fines with a maximum amount that can be levied; and 6) Finding a way to allow specific trees to be removed without allowing large scale removal. Ms. Kramer indicated the need for a consensus and some direction. She noted the amount of research already performed by staff in crafting the recommended changes and further explained the requirements for replacements and fines and the provision that allows individuals to pay into a fund rather than replace a large number of trees. The Commission further discussed the recommended changes with the following suggestions: 1) To omit the exclusions but include the other recommended changes; 2) To change the replacement formula from times 2 to times .25; and 3) To allow a monetary donation to the revised landscape plan in lieu of replacing trees. CONSENSUS: It was a consensus of the Commission to revise the ordinance using recommendations 4 - 7 with the addition of an allowed monetary payment to Item #5, changes to the fine structure and for the changes to be brought back as an ordinance. V. Adjournment-9:13p.m. City Clerk Mayor/Commissioner *These minutes reflect the actions taken and portions of the discussion during the meeting. To review the entire discussion concern ing any agenda item, go to www.eustls.org and chck on the video for the meeting in question. A DVD of the entire meeting or CD of the entire audio recording or verbatim transcript of the meeting can be obtained from the office of the City Clerk for a fee . City of Eustis, Florida Page2 Printed on 71812013