Urban Forestry Commission

Urban Forestry Commission Meeting Minutes Wednesday, May 19, 2021 ❖ 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Virtual Meeting NOTICE: This meeting was held pursuant to and in compliance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, Section 2.2-3708.2 and state and local legislation adopted to allow for continued government operation during the COVID-19 declared emergency. All participating members will be present at this meeting through electronic means. All members of the public may view this electronic meeting via the meeting link listed above and in the City’s website calendar. Attendees UFC members: Kathy Philpott Costa, Amy Crumpton, David DeCoste, Stephanie Hamilton, Mike Nichols UFC City Staff Liaison: Charles Prince City Council Liaison: UFC Student Representative: Dylan Petrillo City Staff: Members of the Public: 1) Call to Order - the meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. 2) Reading of Virtual Meeting Notice. Read by Kathy Philpott Costa. 3) Roll Call - Completed. 4) Approval of the April Minutes- Approved. 5) Public Comments - No comments. 6) Staff Updates/Informational Items: a) UFC calendar update - Charles Prince reviewed the City calendar and identified the following items as noteworthy: the equity review on June 7 which means that the UFC should provide input by June 2; and the June 21 work session where the planning commission will discuss an entry plaza at the corner of Little Falls Street and Park Avenue. If this project moves forward, then some trees will need to be removed. According to Charles, that isn’t all bad, however there are a few that we will want to try and protect. More to come on this topic. b) Arbor Day Update - the Arbor Day video has been published.  c) Dan Sze Memorial Tree and Plaque - The two memorial Gingko trees should be planted after the Spring landscaping has taken place. The trees will be planted on both sides of the Little Falls Street entryway in the City Hall parking lot. The plaque is in the process of being made. Charles will meet with the clerk’s office to determine the details of the ceremonial dedication. d) School grounds maintenance update - Facilities director Seve Padilla is retiring in June, so Charles will soon have a new contact at FCCPS. Charles and Dave DeCoste walked the path at TJ Elementary and identified trees and bushes that should be removed by facilities. Once a date has been determined, they can identify a weekend where they could recruit volunteers from the high school (to rip out the shrubs and/or plant native plants?). It is recommended that there be at least two weeks notice and the event will likely take place on a Saturday morning. The bamboo removal at Thomas Jefferson Elementary, near the homeowner by Tripps Run is still in process. Once all the bamboo is removed, the property lines will be enforced, which will result in a wider entrance/pathway between Seaton and the school grounds/bridge area. e) Stormwater Code proposed changes - there are two concurrent code changes under development. The first change is the DEQ-required code which will be required by mid-year 2022. This code will improve the current codes that overlap with a little of the existing tree codes. This change will allow the UFC an opportunity to update the tree code. The second change is the opportunity for the UFC to address vegetation codes more broadly as they relate to stormwater codes. Charles will be working closely with the lead engineer, Tony Dudley, who is amenable to UFC input regarding the code changes. f) Fellows walk through with ABRP - On May 5th, Recs and Park held a meeting at Fellows Property. In attendance were Charles Prince, Amy Crumpton and David DeCoste. The objective was for people to see the property first-hand as there will be upcoming meetings regarding the use for the space. The commission chair noted that residents will have several opportunities to provide input. Charles identified all the specimen trees to the attendees. He also discussed with the commission chair his desire to create a tree lined street. The commission expressed their desire to keep the specimen trees and even make the plaques more prominent. g) Neighborhood Tree Program (NTP) - 23-25 trees were planted this week and should be completed by the middle of next week. Eight of the trees are "Phase Two" plantings - meaning that they will be placed beyond the City’s street easement, but not farther than fifteen feet into the homeowner’s property. VPIS will reimburse the City for the cost of the Phase Two trees. h) Staff Updates - Charles informed the UFC that several Urban Forestry crew members have left their current city positions, including Jeremy Edwards, Greenspace Manager, who will be leaving June 1. As a result, there will be 3 open positions - a crew leader, a senior maintenance worker and a maintenance worker. Amy Crumpton noted that Jeremy was an important resource for the Habitat Restoration Team and the Neighborhood Tree Program and that interface to the City is crucial for the success of the programs. Charles stated that the job postings will include these responsibilities. 7) Current Business a) UFC responsibilities/subcommittees- the document was reviewed by the team members. The UFC reviewed the “matters” (topics) and identified 1-2 UFC leads. See the document for details. b) Equity Review - the team reviewed the Equity Review document. For more details, review the document since comments and updates were made directly to it. The UFC will need to submit this document to the City Council by June 2. Update: Kathy submitted a memo to Council on May 19.  c) West Falls Church-3rd Submission - at this point there are not any official documents. Charles stated that the anticipated plan will include multi-tree planters, but they will not be edged planters since the city will not maintain the planters. It was noted that if an adjustment needs to be made, then it will be easier to convert planters by adding the edging than converting them to multi-tree planters. Amy Crumpton will draft a letter to the planning commission asking why they rejected the UFC recommendation regarding planter edges, despite the willingness of the developer to implement this change.The UFC discussed revisiting the streetscape standards because of the continuing discrepancies in interpretation among different stakeholders, but this is a long-term goal. d) Tree Canopy/Greenspace Standards - the tree canopy/greenspace standards data regarding mixed use greenspace for all current projects has been trending down. This is a concern for the UFC and should be for the City. Public greenspace is very minimal, especially when you remove streetscape greenspace. Dylan Petrillo will help collect the data to show the percentage of project tree canopy and greenspace on the property while identifying the percentage of streetscape tree canopy/greenspace as this often makes up a disproportionate percentage of the recommended standard. He’ll also identify resident greenspace (areas that are not accessible by the public). This analysis will help the UFC decide which type of greenspace standards the commission should advocate. The UFC will ensure that the nomenclature is consistent between city codes, development projects and UFC terminology. e) Development Review checklist - no updates were made to the document. This is just an informational document for the new UFC members. Stephanie asked about the streetscape setbacks and other typical UFC recommendations: are these part of the city code or are they UFC best practices that are not enforced by code? While streetscape setback standards are in a guidance document and global UFC goals are in the City's Comprehensive Plan, Kathy stated that other greenspace standards and tree canopy standards are not part of the code, and it happens to be a goal of the UFC to address this issue for mixed use properties. f) Streetscape Discussion - this topic was discussed earlier in the meeting. g) Storm Water Proposed Changes - Amy Crumpton reviewed the new law which addresses two issues related to the UFC. For all local tree codes that provide for “replacement of trees” (such as Falls Church), there has been a new Section J added which will go into effect in July 2022. Section J provides that a local code may exceed its tree canopy cover requirements as part of its best management practices for stormwater or to ensure conformity to its comprehensive plan. Charles and Kathy will follow up with Tony Dudley, the new Stormwater Project Manager, to understand how the City envisions implementation of this new law. h) Sidewalk Grant Project for S. Washington St. - Amy informed the UFC that there is a grant being developed by VDOT to update Washington St. with new bus stops and sidewalks on both the Falls Church City and Fairfax County sides of the street. This proposal does not mention tree removals or plantings. From review of the call for proposal document, it appears likely that some existing trees could be impacted, but it is unclear whether any trees would be removed to install the bus stops or or to make way for sidewalk improvements. Amy will forward the information she has on this topic to Charles Prince. It is not clear why the UFC was not informed about this project. 8) Future Business - these items were not discussed since the meeting ran long and the items do not require immediate attention. a) Counting Tree Plantings (My Tree Counts) b) Green Infrastructure Plan/Standards c) Biophilic Cities d) UF Management Plan e) UFC Standard Maintenance Agreements f) TOTY Revision  g) UF Code Changes h) Outreach / Publicity i) Memorial or Commemorative Tree Designation Process j) Stormwater task force coordination 9) Adjourn - the meeting was adjourned at 9:20 p.m. These minutes were prepared by David DeCoste. Urban Forestry Commission Staff liaison: Charles Prince: 571-238-6306, arborist@fallschurchva.gov. The City of Falls Church is committed to the letter and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act. To request a reasonable accommodation for any type of disability, call 703-248-5350 TTY711.