THOUSAND OAKS OKs INTERIM RESTRICTIONS TO PROTECT TREES By Michele Willer-Allred | Special to The Star The Thousand Oaks City Council on Tuesday unanimously adopted an interim urgency ordinance placing certain restrictions on the removal of oak and other trees in the city until changes to the city’s tree ordinance can be made. During the interim, a request to remove one to three native or non-native oak trees would now require paying an application fee and showing evidence that the tree is damaging property. Trees planted by the owner wouldn’t automatically be exempt as they once were. The removal of four or more nursery-grown oak trees or six or more nursery-grown landmark trees in parking areas would require Planning Commission approval rather than approval only by city administrative staff. The moratorium period is 45 days but can be extended for a total of two years. “This moratorium would buy us the time we need in order to come up with a very thoughtful and well thought out tree ordinance. Because right now there are so many different sections in the ordinance, it is so confusing and very convoluted,” said Councilwoman Claudia Bill-de la Peña. The council also directed staff to establish an oak and landmark tree committee to help study the oak tree ordinance and make recommendations to the city’s Planning Commission. In response to public outcry over the removal of oak and other trees at the Westlake Plaza shopping center, the council on May 13 agreed to initiate changes to the city’s oak and landmark tree ordinance. In 2010, the tree ordinance was changed so that nursery-grown, non-native trees planted by a property owner could be removed without question. Councilwoman Jacqui Irwin said the city erred in not considering the size or age of owner-planted oak trees, as demonstrated with the removal of those trees at the Westlake Plaza. “At a certain point, those owner-planted oak trees should be treated as any other oak trees. On the other hand, if you have a naturally planted oak tree and it’s an oak bush, we should take that into account also,” Irwin said. Councilman Joel Price agreed with Irwin about taking individual homeowner rights into consideration when reviewing the tree ordinance. Price said it would be overly restrictive to prevent homeowner removal of oak trees, especially since many of those trees impact sewer lines and cause other problems, which can’t be remedied without removing the tree. Price said a development representative should also be on the committee to make sure all sides are represented. Councilman Al Adam said the owner-planted exemption was made in 2004 to help residents, but over the years the law “morphed” and ended up benefiting commercial projects with “unintended consequences.” Adam agreed with the rest of the council that a diverse and balanced group of people should be on the committee. City staff will bring back more information on the committee at an upcoming council meeting. “I think it’s very important right now that we look at the entire ordinance and make it simpler to understand because it’s very clear to me that the people in Thousand Oaks want their oak trees and landmark trees protected,” Adam said. City Attorney Tracy Noonan reminded the council that the moratorium and any change to the tree ordinance does not affect Regency Centers’ renovation of Westlake Plaza and its removal of trees. “The moratorium is perspective, not retroactive. They already have vested rights with the permits they received,” Noonan said. The council also approved using $36,000 from the general fund to continue operation of a day laborer site for another six months starting in July. As of July, the day laborer site no longer qualifies for federal Community Development Block Grant funding. Adam said stopping the day laborer site abruptly wouldn’t be responsible. During the six months, the site will only run for four hours a day while city staff evaluates if the site should continue and if alternative funding is available.
Posted on: Wed, 28 May 2014 16:49:07 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015