Capital Hill PUD: PDT 17-01 Page 4 of 9 <br />Completeness Review Response <br />June 19, 2017 <br />Of the 32 lots only 8 have the potential to be viewed from beyond the property and it is highly <br />unlikely they will be as a result of the mature trees off-site and directly west. <br />The proposed private drive has been located as closely as is practical in the existing footprint of <br />the vehicular circulation that was previously created on site in the past for the owner to get <br />around the property and maintain it. In this manner cut and fill has been minimized to the greatest <br />extent practical. The private drive could not be viewed from off-site and the removal of those trees <br />required to install the drive is minimal. <br />There is a thick border of preservation area on the eastern portion of the site. This area is in <br />addition to the existing vegetation on city owner property to the east. The topography on the <br />eastern boundary of the property is quite steep and the city owner property contains various <br />topographic outcroppings which makes views into the site form the Ribbon Trail challenging. <br />One must look up hill, through vegetation to a point a minimum of 160 feet away to see any <br />proposed buildings. <br />This property is well screened from views into the site and has taken advantage of existing <br />mature growth and clustered the lots around the existing roads and a proposed road that literally <br />resides where existing vehicular circulation existed. <br />Tree Preservation Requirements <br />37. Provide a tree preservation plan prepared by a certified arborist or approved equivalent. Included <br />both a narrative description and a corresponding site plan to address tree preservation criterion. <br />• The Tentative Tree Preservation Plan, Sheet L3.0 is difficult to read in many places where tree <br />numbers and descriptions overlapped and the font is small. Please revise this plan to make it <br />legible <br />The Tree Preservation Plan now includes 4 sheets at 20 scale so that it is legible. <br />38. Healthy trees that have a reasonable chance of survival conserving the base zone or special area <br />zone and other applicable approval criteria. <br />• On the tree preservation plan please include an assessment of the condition of the health of the <br />trees on site. Please also clarify why many lots show every tree to be removed on the lot (or <br />within the usable area of the lot) while several lots do show some trees to remain. Was this based <br />on the health assessment of the trees to be removed or saved? Some trees near property lines <br />are shown to be removed, for example tree #2237 that straddles the property lines of Lots 15 and <br />16, or tree #1105 at the rear preservation line of Lot 11. Please further explain why these trees <br />are proposed for removal, or revise plans to show they will be preserved. <br />The condition of the trees on the site, according to the Tree Assessment, are fairly evenly <br />dispersed throughout the site. In other words most of the site has equal measures of good, fair <br />and poor trees. The forest has never been maintained or managed. Conifers have dominated and <br />created poor and shady growing conditions for the deciduous trees (i.e. maples, cherries, ash, <br />oak). Even some of the conifers have been damaged by falling trees, lack of care, etc. <br />Then the topography of the site was considered and the location of the existing road. Clustering <br />the homes near the top of the property where the existing road currently resides contributed to <br />the preservation of the site that is labeled as the Conservation Area on the plans. <br />Creating a conservation area in this location served multiple purposes. It created a thicker forest <br />buffer between the urban hiking trail (Ribbon Trail) and the proposed development, minimized <br />ground disturbance (erosion) when the existing road is improved, the proposed private drive is <br />constructed and the homes are constructed. <br />The lots were located clustered around the circulations system. The trees in the remaining area <br />that is not considered conservation area are called discretionary trees. In other words, it will be at <br />the discretion of the owner to remove or keep the trees. These trees will be evaluated at the time <br />Schirmer Satre Group • 375 West 4 m Avenue, Suite 201, Eugene, OR 97401 • (541) 686-4540 <br />