Tree Protection Board

Tree Protection Board Minutes November 8, 2021 Members Present Kenny Sott David Morris Peter Wallace Faye Campbell Staff Present Jessie Shuler, Director of Planning Bill Salisbury, Arborist The meeting was called to order at 9:00 a.m. Mr. Sott asked for consideration of the minutes of the September 7, 2021 meeting minutes. Mr. Wallace made a motion for approval of the minutes as presented. Mr. Morris seconded the motion. The motion carried. Old Business 1. Summerville Commons – Erica Chase with Santee presented, explained the challenges of grading the site (15’ change) and aligning the driveway with adjacent development; rotating the building would go against the DRB requirements to have buildings frame the road; it does not work because the building elevation is 73 and the grade is 67; their plan does save the 35” and the 21” Live Oak trees. They will have an arborist on-site during construction and will use pervious pavement on the multi-use path near the 21” Live Oak as well as save clusters of pines along 9th Street. Mr. Salisbury went into more detail on this. Mr. Wallace made a motion to approve with changes. Mr. Morris seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. New Business 1. 106 Hazeltine Bend – Removal of three Pine, one Maple, one Oak, one Tupelo tree No representative was present, previous discussion about removal. Mr. Wallace made a motion to remove trees #1 and #2. Mr. Sott stated there are no defects or issues with trees #3 or #4. Mr. Salisbury confirmed. The right fork of tree #6 has a dead top, tree #5 is a Willow Oak with some damage in the top which has healed itself, talked about removing the other two stems. Mr. Wallace made a motion to allow removal based on discussion – Trees #1, #2 remove, inferior stem on #6 and two inferior stems in #5. Ms. Campbell seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 2. 89 Old Trolley Road – Removal of one 31” Cedar tree The property owner was not present. Mr. Salisbury introduced and explained the application reason is for additional parking which does not appear can be added in that location and does not appear to block sight lines. Mr. Sott stated the tree appears very healthy for its size and age; based on this and the information on hand he made a motion to deny. Ms. Campbell seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 3. 118 Azalea Drive – Removal of one Cypress and one Sweet Gum tree Denise Miller presented. She is concerned about the Cypress tree damaging the foundation of the home and the Sweet Gum is very large so there is concern for it falling on the house. Mr. Wallace stated the Cypress is beautiful but understands the concern regarding the knees under the house, but the knees can be removed, and a bio-barrier installed; the Gum  Tree Protection Board Minutes November 8, 2021 tree is healthy but there are two large limbs leaning towards the neighbors that could be removed. The tree company representative asked for guidelines on pruning which Ms. Campbell answered as no more than 20%. He then asked about options for replanting which Mr. Wallace answered yes, but the options are limited. Discussion ensued regarding mitigation and when planted; no option for Tree Fund. Ms. Campbell mentioned pruning to alleviate the problem and that trees suck up a lot of water. Mr. Sott said because the tree is healthy and there are no defects seen the request can be reconsidered if defects are found while pruning. Mr. Wallace made a motion to permit removal of the Cypress tree and deny removal of the Sweet Gum tree but recommend proper pruning. Ms. Campbell seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 4. 302 Rutherford Drive – Removal of one Pine, one Magnolia and one Dogwood tree Brian Tuten presented. The Dogwood tree is dead, the Pine is straddled by utilities (water and sewer) and he wants to put in a driveway. The Magnolia tree is where he would like to put a garage; working on garage plans now. Ms. Campbell stated a decision cannot be made on the Magnolia until the plans for garage are submitted. Brian said his neighbor has a large Live Oak tree near their property line and he does not want to damage the roots of that tree; he has a landscape plan. Mr. Sott stated there is a small defect in the Pine tree, but he’d like more information on it, if there is any damage to water and sewer lines yet. Brian has only been there two months but is not aware of past damage. Mr. Wallace asked if there is any urgency in the request to which Brian said no. Mr. Wallace then made a motion to defer decision until plans for garage are ready but to permit immediate removal of the Dogwood tree. Ms. Campbell seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Mr. Sott stated it would be helpful to have an arborist look at the defect in the Pine tree. 5. 114 Surlington –Removal of two Pine trees The property owner was not present, and the fee was not paid. 6. 121 Plantation Drive – Removal of two Oak and one River Birch tree The owner was not present; had a medical procedure. Mr. Salisbury explained the White Oak roots appear to go under the house but has not broken the foundation yet; the Live Oak is very close to the house with leader hanging over it; the River Birch has a large leader hanging over the house and does not feel it can be removed without rot forming. Mr. Wallace voiced surprise that the foundation has not been damaged yet. Mr. Sott asked how far from the house the White Oak is – about 15’? Mr. Salisbury confirmed this. Mr. Wallace made a motion to approve removal of all trees. Mr. Morris seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 7. 106 Hasting Way – Removal of two Pine and one Bradford Pear tree Brian McLaughlin presented. He is honestly trying to keep his partner off roof, but he doesn’t live there. Some of the limbs already came down and damaged the house, but to remove all the limbs over the house would be more than 20% of the canopies. Ms. Campbell stated limbs of Pine trees do naturally fall off and growing together makes the roots system stronger. Mr. Wallace stated tree #1 could be trimmed to remove some of the weight over the neighbor’s house. The tree company representative said it appears the top is broken out of the largest tree. If he climbs it and finds defects, can Mr. Salisbury come out and look to verify defect?  Tree Protection Board Minutes November 8, 2021 Mr. Wallace made a motion to permit removal of Bradford Pear and to defer decision of Pine trees until further information is available. Ms. Campbell seconded the motion. The motion carried. 8. 108 Horse Shoe Bay Court – Removal of three Pine trees The owner presented. There are seven Pine trees in a small backyard. Trees #1 and #3 are within 10’ of house; tree #1 leans, tree #3 has roots growing toward foundation and cracks have started, and tree #2 has a hole in it. Ms. Campbell suggested root pruning. Mr. Morris asked about distances from house. Tree #1 is 9’ 9”, tree #3 is 9’ 2” to house from foundation to base of tree. Mr. Sott questioned health of trees; Mr. Salisbury reported both are healthy, tree #2 is the only one with issues. The owner stated the backyard is approximately 1500 sq. ft. with seven large pines and other trees. Mr. Wallace state he believes that two or three large limbs could be removed from tree #1 and still leave a quality canopy; Mr. Salisbury agreed. The owner is concerned about going over the 20% guideline. Mr. Sott stated there is some flexibility on that guideline; tree #3 would need a good bit of pruning also; root pruning was done when sod was laid but only those on the surface. He added there is a hairline fracture at foundation from tree #3. Mr. Wallace made a motion to allow removal of trees #2 and #3 and to prune tree #1. Ms. Campbell seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Miscellaneous 1. Mr. Wallace shared feedback from Dominion: pruning should comply with ANSI 300 standards in line with standards of height above, below, and on the sides, but no FEMA requirements. Mr. Sott confirmed no federal standards, then. 2. Discussion of mitigation requirements. ADJOURN: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:30 a.m. on a motion by Mr. Wallace and a second by Mr. Morris. The motion carried. Respectfully submitted, Date: November 30, 2021 Bill Salisbury Arborist/Natural Resource Planner Approved: Kenny Sott, Chair _________________________________________; or, Faye Campbell, Vice Chair _________________________________________