HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/05/2001 Adjourned Meeting / Study Session 21
CITY OF YAKIMA, WASHINGTON
ADJOURNED MEETING /STUDY SESSION
OF THE CITY COUNCIL
JUNE 5, 2001 - 7:30 A.M.
CITY HALL - 129 NORTH 2 STREET - COUNCIL CHAMBERS
1. ROLL CALL
Present:
Council: Mayor Mary Place, presiding, Council Members Clarence Barnett,
Henry Beauchamp, Lynn Buchanan, Larry Mattson, John Puccinelli,
and Bernard Sims
Staff: City Manager Zais, Assistant City Attorney West, Joan Davenport,
Supervising Traffic Engineer, and City Clerk Roberts
2. REPORT RE: ALTERNATIVE TREE ORDINANCE PROPOSALS
• The Alternative Ordinances are Reviewed
By consensus, Council reviewed the ordinance alternative prepared by Council
Member Mattson. Referencing Section 8.80.040 (5), Council Member Puccinelli
asked if 18' provides high enough clearance over the street. It was the general
consensus, after discussion, to incorporate a 16' maximum clearance
requirement into the ordinance. Council Member Sims stated he would like to see
a survey done to determine how many trees will be removed from the City by all
these regulations if this ordinance is passed.
Council Member Puccinelli stated that Section 8.80.115 (A), tree planting and
maintenance, should be deleted from the ordinance; it is not an enforceable
provision. Mr. West pointed out that paragraph has been in the Municipal Code
since the 1960s and its elimination could put the city in jeopardy of lawsuits for
trip- and -fall incidents.
Council Member Puccinelli stated the term "noxious fruit" mentioned in Section
8.80.200 (5) is too abstract. Mayor Place said that we need to include 10 feet
from a fire hydrant. Council Member Puccinelli suggested adding it to Section
8.80.115 as the new number D. Mayor Place asked if Section 8.80.200 in Section
14 could end after Item A. She also directed staff's attention to an error in that
Sections 11 and 12 are printed in reverse order in the ordinance.- Council
Member Beauchamp commented that we need to make sure that we plant trees
that have roots that will go down. Randy Murphy, the City's arborist, reported
that staff has prepared a list of undesirable trees to plant in the City's rights -of-
way.
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Leslie Bratton, Arboretum, spoke about the policy she followed while working in a
California city that included a list of trees that could be planted and those to
avoid. She commented that it was a long list of permitted trees. Mr. Murphy
stated he has similar lists for this area. Council Member Mattson stated those
lists could be added as items D and E depending on what is done with Item A.
Council Member Barnett asked if existing trees would be "grandfathered" in so
they wouldn't have to conform to the new ordinance. Council Member Buchanan
responded that we would have to do an inventory before we could regulate what
is out there. Mr. West cautioned that an inventory of problem areas would create
a duty for the City to address the problem and a liability if the problem is not fixed
and someone gets hurt.
• Lynne Kittelson Presents Her Proposal
Lynne Kittelson, 305 North 9 Street, asked Council to accept the fact that trees
are a valuable asset to the city. If an inventory of trees were accomplished, we
would find we have millions of dollars of value in trees as an asset. She asked
Council to re -think this entire issue. We have a tree committee and we are
looking at a tree ordinance and becoming a Tree City USA. The ordinance is
simple and easy to read and is non - threatening. This ordinance should preserve
what we have and should enhance ,trees in the future. She distributed a leaflet on
Tree City USA that includes a list of the American Forestry Association
recommended trees that are located in Yakima. She also reported the
committee plans on doing an inventory of the trees in Yakima, using volunteer
help.
• Council Continues Review of Ordinance
Council Member Barnett asked to delete "to maintain or permit" in Section
8.80.115 from this point on.
Randy Murphy suggested that the sidewalks don't have to be in a straight line;
the sidewalk could curve around existing trees if the homeowner would allow it.
The Street Department has a 50/50 sidewalk program and if those funds were
larger, a lot of people would take advantage of it.
City Manager Zais stated that Council Member Barnett's suggestion would work.
It would preserve the basic intent along with the application with the next section,
8.80.200 (3).
Council discussed the intent of the ordinance to clarify the responsibility of the
homeowner to care for the trees in the City's right -of -way and ownership of the
trees. Council Member Buchanan commented that 99% of the trees were
planted by the property owner and one of the reasons for putting some kind of
tree ordinance in place is so people can have the rules and regulations in one
place in the Code Book. He further commented that he doesn't believe that we
can transfer the responsibility of the City's right -of -way to the property owner.
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ADJOURNED MEETING /STUDY SESSION
The property owner planted the trees and it should be their responsibility.
Mr. West stated that in the current law, it is unclear who is responsible, and by
law, we can clarify that law.
Council Member Sims stated that the City would hold the property owner
responsible for caring for the trees in the right -of -way, but they would need the
City's permission to remove any trees. Mayor Place stated that it would not be
fair to give the property owner the right to plant a tree, but not the right to remove
the tree.
In Section 8.80.200, Jeff West stated they tried to establish a quick method to
remove those trees. Under the other two versions, they were required to get
Council's permission to remove a tree. Some of the trees, especially those in the
downtown were planted by the City. He asked Council if they want the property
owner to be able to remove those trees without the City's permission?
Council Member Puccinelli spoke in favor of adding a list of trees that are
acceptable and make it so the property owner does not need permission to
remove a tree.
Council Member Mattson summarized the discussion, saying that we are in
agreement with all the changes being proposed except .115 tree planting and
maintenance. Proposed changes include:
• Include ten feet from fire hydrant
• Remove Section 14, #5, on page 9, and put in-a list of unacceptable trees
that we do not plant provided by Randy Murphy
• Change the order of Sections 11 and 12 in the ordinance
• Bottom of page 8 in Section 13, Council Member Barnett suggested we put in
"to plant" or eliminate that section. On the second line, after Yakima, take out
"to maintain or permit" and put in "to plant" under A in Section 13.
It was the general consensus to accept these recommendations.
Council Member Beauchamp stated he thinks if the property owner is made
responsible for the tree in the City's right -of -way, the City should share the cost
of tree removal with the property owner.
Council Member Mattson stated this ordinance amendment had three tasks
assigned to it:
1) Consolidate all the sections relating to trees into one section of the Municipal
Code.
2) From a legal aspect, what do we see, as legislators, that needs to happen?
3) Educational components — put in list of undesirable trees
He stated that with Council Member Barnett's change to Section .115, we need
the legal aspect, with the fire hazard and other changes
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Jeff West stated we are not creating a new responsibility for the property owner;
we are clarifying the situation and, in many cases, it is already their responsibility.
Without this ordinance the street trees are the responsibility of the property
owners. If we can clarify it, it helps everyone.
Jeff West also clarified that we had changed the clear view triangle maximum
height to 16'. We are creating a gap between two -feet and 16 -feet to look
through. He asked if Council still wants to maintain the larger height in 8.08.005
in the last section of the Mattson version that is 12 -feet over streets and 16 -feet
over truck thoroughfares. This change was added at the request of the Mobile
Home Owners Association. Joan Davenport recommended staying with 16 feet
in that section also. Council Member Buchanan asked if this recommendation
included Linden Way? He doesn't think one standard should be applied
everywhere in the city. Mr. West suggested we could do it 12 -feet for all streets
except streets with speed limits over 25 or arterial or classified streets could be
regulated to 16 -feet. It was the consensus to change truck thoroughfares to •
classified arterial collectors.
® Summation
Council Member Barnett requested staff to prepare a separate list of changes to
the ordinance when this comes before the Council for action. City Manager Zais
asked if Council members wanted to conduct a public hearing. It was the general
consensus of the Council to not hold a public hearing, but rather, give the public
an opportunity to address this issue when it comes back to Council.
Mayor Place asked Joan Davenport to meet with Council member Buchanan
about the letter sent to citizens asking them to trim their trees to 18 -feet for the
seal coat program.
3. ADJOURNMENT
BUCHANAN MOVED AND MATTSON SECONDED TO ADJOURN THE
MEETING AT 9:00 A.M. The motion carried by unani •us voic- vote.
READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY: L J � . a.A1L4%f4 ' d,
OUNCIL R V A T
- COP MBER DATE
ATTEST:
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CITY CLERK MARY/L MAYOR
An audio tape of this meeting is available in the City Clerk's Office
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