<br /> <br /> Comments of Keri Green <br /> PDF-25-01/SDR 25-02 <br />____________________________________________________________________________________ <br /> <br /> 2 <br />Throughout previous Braewood Hills planning actions, going back to 1996, the city required that every <br />tree on the existing landscape, pre-development, be inventoried. The applicant retained the services of <br />arborists to assess the health of existing trees, pre- and post-development. By 2006, arborists were <br />advising new residents to remove dead and dying trees that had been impacted by the buildout of the <br />neighborhood. Reference June 27 letter from Kyle W. King, Certified Arborist, to a Blacktail Street <br />resident: <br /> <br />“At your request, I inspected the Douglas fir tree on the right side of your house. It appears to be <br />in serious decline. The needles are quite sparse and there is little indication of new growth. The <br />several fir trees around it are in similar condition. Many of the firs on the downhill side of <br />Blacktail Street near your lot have died and most of them exhibit serious stress. <br /> <br />The street and home construction has probably changed the natural water course and has affected <br />the trees’ health. Logging operations that allowed lots to be created in the first place have <br />exposed these trees to much more heat by removing much of the forest originally surrounding <br />them – this also caused further stress. <br /> <br />Whatever the causes, in my opinion, your tree will most likely die, along with its neighbors, <br />withing the year and probably sooner. I think your tree should be removed now…” <br /> <br />To ensure preservation of the centuries old heritage oaks and Douglas fir trees that line the south <br />side of Videra Creek in city-owned Videra Park, the city should require the applicant to conduct a <br />full survey and mapping of the wetland and Videra Creek within the Park to ensure that <br />conservation zone codes are met. <br /> <br />It is possible that the applicant’s proposed extension of Randy Lane will create deleterious impacts to the <br />root zones of the existing trees. Given that the city, by its own admission, neglected to apply tree <br />preservation standards to this PUD application, the buildout creates a risk to the trees of Videra Park. <br />Reference: Hearings Official Decision Braewood Hills 3rd Addition (PDT 24-1; ST 24-3) September 5, <br />2024, Page 8: <br /> <br />The written staff report also explained that, subject to some potential exceptions, because the <br />property is included in the City’s acknowledged Goal 5 inventory, the Tree Preservation and <br />Removal Standards at EC 9.6885 would apply directly at the time of future development <br />depending on the timing and scope of tree removal, lot size, and other factors that may require a <br />separate tree removal permit under the requirements of EC Chapter 6. However, at the public <br />hearing on the application, the staff explained that the staff report was in error and that because of <br />changes to the City’s clear and objective standards, the acknowledged Goal 5 resources that have <br />no specific environmental protections in place are no longer subject to any protections. As staff <br />stated during the public hearing: <br /> <br />“Unfortunately, the entire site is identified as a Goal 5 resource due to its inclusion on the <br />Scenic Sites Working Paper, which was adopted as a Goal 5 resource. Unlike the <br />protections create for wetlands and other riparian resources, there were no specific <br />environmental protections put in place for areas identified on the scenic working papers. <br />As an outcome, we are left with a development project that can be approved without any <br />specific tree preservation, exception for the protected stream and runs across the property. <br />Given these facts, we believe we lack the authority to require tree preservation on the <br />majority of the property through this PUD process and at the time of building permit.”