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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-21-22 Public Comment - M. Kaveney - Comments for Historic Preservation Advisory Board_Heritage Tree ProgramFrom:Marcia Kaveney To:Agenda Cc:Sarah Rosenberg; Alex Nordquest; Terry Cunningham Subject:Comments for Historic Preservation Advisory Board/Heritage Tree Program Date:Wednesday, September 21, 2022 11:16:07 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Dear Members of HPAB- I am writing to you regarding the Heritage Tree Program that you will be discussing tonight. Ithink it's a great idea and I look forward to participating in your community outreach. My main concern is that it cannot come quick enough to protect two beautiful groves near me thatare most likely slated for demolition this winter or early next year. I hope that you will consider the following suggestions to your phases and that you will work hard to getprotections of both individual trees and groves into the UDC changes that are happening concurrently with the city commission. In the HPAB memorandum of the August 17, 2022 meeting there are three phases outlined. Iwould like to suggest additions to Phase I and II. Under Phase I; A Self-Evident Truth, you have many excellent values and benefits listedbut have left out what I consider two of the most important values today- waterconservation and survival rate. Existing mature trees and groves use significantly less of the city's limited water supply than newly planted trees. By keeping mature trees and grovesintact, new developments do not create a strain on both the city's limited water supply and the groundwater below. Existing mature trees also have a much higher success rate due to lack oftransplant stress and proven native adaptation to severe weather and existing water availability. In Legends II , I have noticed about a 50% survival rate of the planted trees sincethe development was established and each year the HOA spends hundreds of dollars replacing trees with non-native species and using substantial amounts of groundwater to get them to livewith. I hope you will add these very important benefits to your paragraph. Under Phase II: Community Outreach, I would add Developers , the CommunityDevelopment Board, and City Planning Staff to your partnership list. In my experience,Developers are not being asked to preserve their existing trees and groves in the UDC code and are only doing so when personally interested. See "Doing it Right" in the BlackwoodGroves Vision: https://blackwoodgroves.com/vision/ The Community Development Board also acts as the Design Review Board and in thiscapacity should become educated on the value of preserving mature trees and groves. The City Planning Staff is the group that works first with the developer and sees the preliminary platsthat show the existing trees and then the overlay of streets and lots. While under preliminary plat review, the city works with the developers to follow city plans and this is the ideal stageto adjust street and lot design to accomodate groves and trees. I.e. Currently the city staff are reviewing Canyon Gate that has two historic mature Cottonwood and Juniper Groves as wellas a couple of spruces near the old homestead with no apparent signs of preservation in the preliminary plat as far as I can tell. Therefore it is imperative to have city staff educated in theHeritage Tree Program as soon as possible. Under Phase II, Heritage Tree Program Values, I would add the following: #8. Create natural barriers for diminishing light pollution at night and for breaking up thevisual urban landscape by providing visual barriers between buildings. (This is especially desirable when trying to preserve a sense of place with rapid growth.)#9. Use substantially less water than newly planted trees resulting in conservation of city surface and groundwater supplies. #10. Leaving mature trees intact provides opportunities for developers to use "place-based" design practices for new subdivisions that will be more harmonious with theirsurroundings. Good examples of these are Legends II, Creekwood, and Sundance Springs. These same practices can be used with higher density zones. I hope you will take these comments into consideration tonight. I look forward to workingwith the community outreach on the tree inventory as soon as that is up and running. I have attached a couple photos of the groves in Canyon Gate but I also have favorite groves andtrees all around town. Thank you, Marcia Kaveney1496 Boylan Rd.