Loading...
MinutesMeridian City Council Meeting• September 5, 2000 Page 49 Anderson: I would make a motion to continue the public hearing on the request for the variance for the reduction of landscaping requirements by Seven Gates until 9/13 at 6:30 p.m. Bird: Second. Corrie: Motion made and seconded to continue the public hearing on Item 26 until 9/13 at 6:30 p.m. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor of the motion say aye. MOTION CARRIED: TWO AYES, TWO ABSENT Item 27. Public Hearing: VAR 00-019 Request for variance of the required size and number of trees from 37 three-inch Caliper trees to 27 two-inch Caliper trees for The Bower Street, LLC - southwest corner of Bower Street and East 5th Street: Corrie: Item No. 27 is a public hearing. I will open the public hearing and request that - *** End of Side 3 ** Corrie: -- to 9/13 at 6:30 p.m. Bird: Mr. Mayor. Corrie: Mr. Bird. Bird: I move that we continue the public hearing VAR 00-019, Request for variance in required size and number of trees from 37 3-inch caliper trees to 27 2-inch caliper trees by the Bower Street, LLC until September 13, 2000 with meetings starting at 6:30. Anderson: Second. Corrie: Motion made and seconded to continue the public hearing on the Bower Street, LLC -request for variance until 9/13/2000 starting at 6:30 p.m. All those in favor of the motion say aye. MOTION CARRIED: TWO AYES, TWO ABSENT. Item 28. Public Hearing: Registration fees for new fall recreation classes offered through the Meridian Parks and Recreation Department: Corrie: We are going to hear the 28? •~ Meridian City Council Meeting i September 13, 2000 Page 20 three-inch caliper trees. As a policy, if the applicant can demonstrate to us that they have looked high and low and no three-inch caliper trees are to be found, we have allowed them to reduce it to two-inch caliper trees if they meet 110 percent of the total caliper-inch requirement on the site if they were three inches, which roughly doubles the number of trees. I don't see that as a possibility here, so that policy wouldn't help them at all. The ordinance is 1 three-inch caliper tree per 1500 square feet. That is the recommendation that is made on all current applications. Corrie: Mr. Attorney, I think we're going to have to have a cut somewhere and we might as well cut it right as soon as we have the landscaping ordinance if it goes through. It'll be cut and then the others will go to be a two. Personally, I would say somebody is going to get it. Mrs. de Weerd, that doesn't answer your question. Nichols: Mayor, members of the Council. What I would say then, is the ordinance now requires three-inch. If it's impossible to find three-inch, then I guess there's another variance application. I don't propose that to Mr. Dane just to make him jump through some other hoops. The Planning and Zoning Commission has looked at the Landscape Ordinance so it's had its hearing there. We have the Landscape Ordinance for public hearing here tonight and I would expect that some action will be taken on that in the near future. De Weerd: How does that affect existing applications, though? Nichols: The way the existing ordinance is if it requires three-inch, then that's what the existing applications have to meet it. Siddoway: In the Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law are specific to three- inch and if they're Conifers, six to eight feet. De Weerd: Thank you. Siddoway: If they want to change that, I guess they'll need to reapply. Item 3. Continued Public Hearing: VQR 00-019 Request fora variance of the required size and number of trees from 37 three-inch Caliper trees to 27 two-inch Caliper Trees for The Bower Street, LLC - southwest corner of Bower Street and East 5~' Street: Corrie: Item No. 3 is a continued public hearing -request for a variance of the required size and number of trees from 37 three-inch caliper trees to 27 two-inch caliper trees for The Bower Street, LLC -southwest corner of Bower Street and 5th Street. So I will open the continued public hearing with staff comments. -~. ~ Meridian City Council Meeting September 13, 2000 • , Page 21 Siddoway: Mr. Mayor and members of the Council. This also is a variance on the Landscape Ordinance. The location of this is at the extension of Bower Avenue where it intersects with East 5th. There are two lots in this location right here that are the subject parcels of this variance. Unlike the variance that we just considered, this variance does have hardship that was not required by the applicant. There are Nampa Meridian Irrigation District easements on the north and west sides of the property. Just the west side? Oh, that's right. Mr. Morrow has presented a landscape plan which staff feels does maximize the landscaping on three sides. He is not able to add additional landscaping along this side due to the easement. He has requested a reduction from 37 to 27 trees and also reduction from the three-inch requirement down to a two-inch caliper requirement. You have the staff comments prepared by Brad Hawkins-Clark and Shari Stiles dated September 1, 2000. We see that this is a clearer case of hardship and we can support this one, so we recommend approval of this variance with the comments noted in the staff report. Corrie: Steve, just for correction. You said 37 to 27. I think it was 37 to 25. Is that correct? Siddoway: Is it? I'm just reading off the transmittal. It says 27 on the transmittal, so I'll have the applicant clarify that. Corrie: Okay. Is the applicant here? Morrow: Walt Morrow, 2340 West Franklin Road, Meridian. I'm here representing the Bower Street, LLC. The request that you have before you is a variance from 37 - 25. If you will look at your application summary, the bottom line in parenthesis, states from 37 -25 and in size from three-inch to two-inch caliper. I want to address the issue of the three-inch to two-inch caliper first. When I became aware of a potential shortage of three-inch caliper trees, I spoke directly with my landscaper, Mr. Loring Evans, who is here tonight as a representative of Montgomery Landscaping. He indicated to me that those trees were difficult to get. At the same time, we are just completing a residence in Highland Woods for Jim Dallas. Jim Dallas is a co-owner of Baxter Nursery. Some of you that have been in Meridian for any length of time will recognize that Baxter Nursery formerly was on Black Cat Road and the ground now is covered by the golf course and by Ashford Greens. Baxter Nursery moved to Emmett when we started the Dallas' home. I toured Baxter Nursery. It's a 240-acre site. In terms of trees, they grow only deciduous trees. They eliminated Conifers. I spoke directly with Jim concerning the three-inch issue. The reality of the three- inch issue is that they know longer produce three-inch caliper trees. It takes one year to grow a tree from atwo-inch caliper tree to a three-inch caliper tree and the net return to them is $20. Therefore, they eliminated three-inch caliper trees. Baxter Nursery is a major supplier of trees in the Pacific Northwest. So this amounts to a no-brainer. There should be no increase in two-inch trees required to offset three-inch trees. Two-inch trees would grow to three-inch trees on site ~ Meridian City Council Meeting • September 13, 2000 Page 23 De Weerd: Second. Corrie: Motion made and seconded to close the public hearing on a request for variance on Item No. 3. All those in favor of the motion say aye. MOTION CARRIED: THREE AYES, ONE ABSENT. De Weerd: Mr. Mayor. Corrie: Mrs. de Weerd. De Weerd: I move that we instruct the City Attorney to prepare Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law and Decision of Order to approve the request for a variance of the required size and number of trees from 37 three-inch caliper to 25 two-inch caliper trees for the Bower Street, LLC. Bird: Second. Corrie: Motion made and seconded to have the attorney draw up the Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law to approve the request on the variance 00-019. De Weerd: And to include staff comments -sorry. Corrie: With staff comments: Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll-call vote please. Roll-call: Bird, aye; De Weerd, aye; Anderson, aye, McCandless, absent. MOTION CARRIED: THREE AYES, ONE ABSENT. Item 4. Continued Public Hearing: Proposed change to the Notice of Mailing Ordinance by the City of Meridian: Corrie: Okay. Item No. 4 is a continued public hearing. This is a proposed change to the notice of mailing ordinance by the City of Meridian. I'll open the continued public hearing. Is there anyone from the City that wants to say anything on this? Do you have anything on this -probably the City Clerk but - De Weerd: Probably the City Clerk and Planning and Zoning. Corrie: Is there anything you want to say on this one? Siddoway: The Notice of Mailing Ordinance? Corrie: Yes.