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Regular Planning Commission Meeting Minutes – Wednesday, August 6, 2014 Page 14 Boguszewski questioned if there was any way to accomplish those instances when there 651 wasn’t room on an individual site, but reforestation or replacement could be 652 accomplished in other areas of the community (e.g. Central Park). 653 Mr. Paschke agreed that staff could look into options to plant trees off-site, or in certain 654 developments to plant on adjacent properties, opining that there may be a number of 655 opportunities to review. 656 As an example Member Boguszewski suggested a line of shade trees along County 657 Road B-2. 658 Member Stellmach stated that his concern was that right now it seemed like you could 659 clear cut a lot as long as you replaced some trees. 660 Mr. Bilotta agreed with that perception; however, he noted that it generally meant 661 replacing one tree with multiple trees, but there came a point where you couldn’t plant 662 any more. 663 Member Stellmach opined that, if you were replacing on other sites, it was not a true 664 replacement (e.g. young trees versus heritage trees); and habitat and absorption were 665 other considerations. Member Stellmach further opined that there needed to be a way to 666 incentivize retaining older trees on a lot and not cutting them down in the first place. 667 Member Stellmach suggested a tradeoff in higher density or different setbacks for 668 keeping older trees. 669 While they provide great aesthetics, Chair Gisselquist noted the burden in trying to build 670 around heritage or older trees in an attempt to preserve them. 671 In his initial read of the materials, Member Daire opined that it was written in such a way 672 to include private properties across the City, not just those being proposed for 673 redevelopment, and questioned if that was the intent and purpose that any tree 674 preservation plan needed to be submitted and approved. If this was the case, using a 675 recent porch remodel at his residence as an example, Member Daire opined that he 676 found this scary, as well as noting that the City didn’t have sufficient personnel to deal 677 with such an overreaching purpose. Member Daire questioned the viability of passing on 678 the cost of a tree preservation plan to private property owners. If he was reading the 679 existing ordinance correctly, Member Daire opined that this created a huge burden for 680 private property owners. 681 Mr. Bilotta advised that, as with reliance on engineers and surveyors for grade 682 specifications, the City also had to depend on a professional developer to make a 683 determination on sick trees or other considerations as part of the tree preservation plan 684 presented as part of the requirement. 685 Mr. Paschke clarified that a private citizen in Roseville could not get a building permit until 686 they identified trees – whether through a formal or informal tree preservation plan – and 687 specific to the impacted area only, not the entire site. Mr. Paschke noted that if there was 688 no impact to existing trees, a property owner still had to fence around those trees, if 689 applicable and within the impact area, to ensure there was no root damage as the project 690 proceeded. 691 Member Daire further opined that this gave the City the right to tell a private property 692 owner what to do with tree coverage on their property, which he also found problematic 693 and overreaching; further opining that the City didn’t have any right to come into his 694 property to tell him what he could or could not do unless the City owned the trees. 695 Chair Gisselquist noted that in some instances, such as easements for power lines, 696 people other than the City could access private property. 697 Member Daire recognized this as an incentive to have consistently dependent utility 698 service available; but could find no benefit in his having to submit a tree preservation plan 699 to qualify for a building permit for a porch addition. While being a verbal processor, 700 Member Daire reiterated that this frightened him, causing a need for his only recourse to 701