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ATTACHMENT D ATTACHMENT B REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION Date: February 10, 2020 Item No.: 7.c Department Approval City Manager Approval Item Description: Discussion Regarding Cash-in-Lieu Tree Replacement Requirement 1 B ACKGROUND 2 On July 10, 2019 the Variance Board considered two different variance requests topermit reductions 3 to required tree replacement under City Code Section 1011.04.J.8(full ordinance provided as 4 Attachment C). The Variance Board requests were for single family lots recently formed through 5 subdivision and upon completion of the tree survey and determination of caliper inches of replacement, 6 the lots could not reasonably fit the required amount of trees. The variances requested were for 3056 7 Hamline Avenue and 907 Burke Avenue and both were approved. Since those approvals, and in 8 preparation for this discussion, staff discovered the variance for 3056Hamline Avenue was not 9 necessary. Steps will be taken to make that applicant whole based on the email sent to Council on 10 February 4, 2020. The Variance Board packet materials for 907 Burke Avenue are provided as 11 Attachment A. 12 Both variances were granted based upon the practical difficulty that the lots were not large enough to 13 practically accommodate all the required tree replacement. Reduced cash-in-lieu fees (fee = $500/3 14 caliper inches) were not discussed as part of the variance requests because economic considerations 15 shall not be sole considerations in approving or denying variances(this language is specifically 16 provided in the State Statute). More importantly, staff felt it was inappropriate for the Variance Board 17 to make reduced fee recommendations as this is typically a policy issue. Right or wrong, the variance 18 approvals resulted in no cash-in-lieu replacement penalties even though the ordinance does anticipate 19 replacement may be impractical due to lack of space. For this reason, staff seeks direction on how to 20 resolve specific situations where unreasonably high cash-in-lieu fees result. 21 At the joint Planning Commission and City Council meeting held on November 25, 2019, the Planning 22 Commission expressed interest in advancing a code amendment tothe tree preservation ordinance to 23 prevent unreasonably high costs associated with the cash-in-lieu tree replacement fee. Rather than 24 direct the Planning Commission to undergo such process, the Council requested further information 25 from staff prior to providing direction on a code amendment. The purpose of thisrequest is to provide 26 information sufficient to understand the perceived problem and outline an array of possible solutions, 27 which range from do nothing to amend the ordinance. Staff would note, in light of the variance for 28 3056 Hamline Avenue being unnecessary, the urgency or need to make any changes is lessened. 29 Should the Council be interested in exploring a code amendment aimed at preventing unreasonably 30 high cash-in-lieu penalties when goodfaith steps have been taken to plant as many trees as is 31 practically possible, staff offers two likely options: 32 Decrease the cash-in-lieu cap, which currently is 10% of the fair market value of the 33 development site. The cap could be a flat amount based on the use (single family, multi-family, Page 1 of 2