Eugene Planning Commission <br />August 22, 2016 <br />Page 8 <br />"As described above and shown on Attachments 'B' and 'C', a total of 31 <br />deciduous and evergreen trees are located within the boundaries of this site. This <br />includes three deciduous trees within the Water Resources Overlay area. A total <br />of 25 trees located elsewhere throughout the site are proposed for removal, <br />primarily due to limited opportunities for placing the hotel, parking and drive <br />aisles in a manner that would preserve a greater number of trees. Most of the <br />existing trees - 20 in total - are located in the western half of the site. An existing <br />public utility easement that occupies a significant portion of the eastern half of the <br />site precludes placing the building in this area, even though there are fewer trees <br />in this portion of the property. The need to provide adequate vehicular circulation <br />around the hotel - particularly for fire apparatus - requires maintaining a standard <br />width drive aisle around the entire building. This results in impacts to trees along <br />eastern boundary of this site, immediately adjacent to the public right-of-way for <br />Delta Highway/1-105. <br />"Despite the number of trees proposed for removal, those remaining on-site and <br />along its perimeter will help buffer the building when viewed from adjacent <br />properties, the highway, and the Willamette River. Given that a net increase of 27 <br />new trees will be planted within the site, it is highly likely that the resultant <br />canopy will eventually exceed the current canopy area, resulting in greater <br />potential for deriving associated ecosystem services. On balance, the applicant <br />argues that the subject proposal preserves existing trees to the greatest degree <br />feasible while achieving a development pattern that is allowed in the C-2 <br />commercial zone, and, at the same time, delivering greater environmental benefits <br />over the long term." Exhibit 9 (Revised Application p. 41- 42). <br />As noted above the application's Attachments 'B', the site plan showing existing conditions, and <br />'C', the tree preservation site plan, are important to understanding the site context in light of this <br />standard. Attachment'B' is included herein as Exhibit 10 and Attachment'C' is included as <br />Exhibit 3. Also useful in understanding the design difficulties faced by the project is the project <br />site plan, attached herein as Exhibit 11. <br />From attached Exhibit 10 (existing conditions plan) the Planning Commissioners can see the <br />trees that currently exist on the subject property. The tree groupings tend to lie along the <br />perimeter of the property. With Exhibit 3 (tree preservation site plan), the Planning <br />Commission can see the overlay of the proposal and the trees that will be preserved and those <br />that will be removed. <br />What Exhibit 3 also helps to show are the substantial impacts caused by the design limitations <br />imposed by the site, easements, and the Eugene Fire Code. For starters, one sees that the site is <br />very linear, which provides minimal east-west flexibility in locating any physical structure. As <br />the narrative above explains, the building cannot be located further east for two reasons - first is <br />an easement on the property that prevents the location of the building, and second is the need to <br />provide for fire truck circulation. Also evident is the mandatory emergency fire truck access <br />