Council committee orders public hearing on amendments

Monday, November 14, 2005
revised: November 22, 2005

Responding to concerns raised by the cTc, the Urban Affairs Council Committee ordered a public hearing on amendments to the Tree Preservation Ordinance and other changes to the Unified Development Code.

Public Hearing on Tree Ordinance Amendments
DATE: December 1, 2005
TIME: To be announced. See City Council Agenda, online November 28th
PLACE: City Council Chambers, 103 Main Plaza

At the Urban Affairs meeting, the cTc articulated numerous problems with the amendments and their approval process. Among those concerns:

• City staff did not tell Planning Commissioners they were voting to slash preservation of old heritage trees by 75%. More on this...
• Staff didn't inform the Urban Affairs committee of the 75% cut in its presentation or written handout.
• An amendment eliminating the requirement to individually survey large heritage trees is so vague and undefined that it will be exploited.
• City staff failed to convene meetings of a review committee established by the 2003 ordinance.

As a result, Urban Affairs committee members ordered staff to convene an additional public hearing to receive input from the community on the many amendments. Council will also hold a public hearing on December 15th, the day it votes on the amendments.