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Home My WebLink About1996-07-22 Ordinance 4356follows: • • ORDINANCE NO. 4356 ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO PROHIBITING THE REMOVAL OF SPECIFIED OAK TREES, IMPOSING PENALTIES FOR SUCH REMOVAL# AND DECLARING THE URGENCY THEREOF, TO TAKE EFFECT IMMEDIATELY The City Council of the City of Palo Alto does ordain as SECTION 1-FindingB_. The Council finds and declares, based upon written and oral testimony presented and considered on July 15, 1996: A. Preservation of native oak trees is important to the City of Palo Alto for many reasons, including but not limited to conservation of the aesthetic and scenic beauty of the City, and furtherance of the public health and safety by aiding in the reduction of air pollution, provision of shade, and absorption of rainwater, among other things. B~ In order to protect remaining native oaks within the City, and to retain their great historic/ aesthetic, and envirorm1ental value for the benefit of all residents, the Council on July 15, 1996, introd.uced for first reading an ordinance adding Chapter 8.10 to the Palo Alto Municipal Code, imposing new tree preservation and management requirements ( .. Tree Protection Ordinance~). That ordinance, if passed upon second reading, will be effective on January 1, 1997. C. It is necessary for the preservation of the public health and safety to enact as an emergency measure an ordinance imposing restrictions on the removal of specified oak treeD during the interim period before the Tree Protection Ordinance is effective. The reason for the urgency is that the pendency of the Tree Protection Ordinance, which will limit the ability of property owners to remove specified oak trees on private property, will encourage some persons to remove such trees in advance of the effective date, thereby undermining the City's protection efforts. SECTION 2. Definitions. For the purposes of this Ordinance~ the following definitions shall apply: (a) "Building Area" means that area of a parcel: (1) Upon which, under applicable zoning regulations, a structure may t~e built without a variance, design enhancement exception, or home improvement exception, or 1 960717 LK0080338 • • {2) Necessary for construction of primary access to structures located on or to be constructed on the parcel, where there exists no feasible means of access which would avoid protected trees. On single-family residential parcels, the portion of the parcel deemed to be the Building Area under this paragraph (a) (2) shall not exceed ten (10) feet in width. (b) •nangerous"means an imminent hazard or threat to the safety of persons or property. (c) ~oevelopment~means any work upon any property in the City which requires a subdivision, planned community zone, variance, use pennit, building pennit, demolition permit, or other City approval or which involves excavation, landscaping or construction within the dripline area of a protected tree. (d) "'Director'' means the Director of Planning and Community Environment or his or her designee. (e) "Discretionary development approval" means planned community zone I su1x1i vis ion, use permit, variance, home improvement exception, design enhancement exception, or Architectural Review Board approval~ (f) "Protected oak tree'" means any tree of the species Quercus agrifolia (Coast Live Oak) or Quercus lobata (Valley Oak) which is eleven and one-half (11.5) inches in diameter (36 inches in circumference) or more when measured four and one-half (4.5) feet {54 inches) above natural grade. (g) ~Removenmeans cutting to the ground or extraction of a tree. SECTION 3 . Removal of Oak Trees Prohibited. No person shall remove or cause the removal of a protected oak tree, unless one of the following circun~tances applies: (a) The Director has determined, on the basis of a report prepared on behalf of the requesting party by a certified arborist and any other relevant information, that the tree should be removed because it is dead, dangerous, or constitutes a nuisance under Section 8.04~050(2) of the Palo Alto Municipal Code, or (b) The tree is located in the Building Area of a single family residential lot, or {c) Removal has been approved as part of project approval under Chapter 16.48 of the Municipal Code, because retention of the tree would result in reduction of the otherwise-permissible building area by more than twenty-five percent (25%), and 2 960717lec0080331 • • appropriate replacement has been required as a condition of approval .. SECTION 4. Appeals.. Any person requesting approval to remove a protected oak tree pursuant to Section 3 of this ordinance who is aggrieved by a decision of the Director may appeal such decision in accordance with the procedures set forth in Section 16.48.090 of Chapter 16.48 of the M~nicipal Code. SECTION 5. Rnforcernent; Remedies for Violation. (a) In addition to all other remedies otherwise provided by law, the following remedies shall be available to the City for violation of this ordinance: (1) Stop work; temporary moratorium. If a violation occurs during development, the City tray issue a stop work order suspending and prohibiting further activity on the property pursuant to the grading, demolition, and/or building permit(s) (including construction, inspection, and issuance of certificates of occupancy) until a mitigation plan has been filed with and approved by the Director, agreed to in writing by the property owner(s)1 and either implemented or guaranteed by the posting of adequate security. The mitigation plan shall include measures for protection of any remaining trees on the property, and shall provide for replacement of each tree removed on the property or at locations approved by the Director of Planning and Community Environment and by the Director of Public Works, if replacement is to occur on public property~ If a violation occurs in the absence of development, or while an application for a building permit or discretionary development approval for the lot upon which the tree is located is pending, the Director may issue a temporary moratorium on development of the subject property, not to exceed eighteen n~nths from the date the violation occurred. The purpose of the moratorium is to provide the City an opportunity to study and determine appropriate mitigation measures for the tree removal, and to ensure measures are incorporated into any future development approvals for the property. Mitigation measures as determined by the Director shall be imposed as a condition of any subsequent permits for development on the subject property. {2) Civil penalties. As part of a civil action brought by the City, a court may assess against any person who commits, allows, or maintains a violation of any provision of this Ordinance a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $5000 per violation. 3 9607l71K 0080338 • • Where the violation has resulted in removal of a tree, the civil penalty shall be in an amount not to exceed $5000 per tree unlawfully removed, or the replacement value of each such tree, whichever amount is higher. Such amount shall be payable to City. Replacement value for the purposes of this section shall be determined. utilizing the most recent edition of the Guide for Plant Appraisal, published by the Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers. (3) Injunctive relief. A civil action may be commenced to abate, enjoin, or otherwise compel the cessation of such violation. (4) Costs. In any civil action brought pursuant to this Ordinance in which the City prevails, the court shall award to the City all costs of investigation and preparation for trial, the costs of trial, reasonable expenses including overhead and administrative cost.s incurred in prosecuting the actionf and reasonable attorney fees4 (b) The foll.owing designated employees may enforce the provisions of this Chapter: Chief Building Official, AsS.!.Stant Building Official, Code Enforcement Officer, Planning Arborist. SECTION 6. Excepti9n for Complete Applications. The provis~ons of this ordinance shall not apply to any development for which a complete applicatj on for a building p2nnit ~ demolition permit, or discretiona~~ development approval is on file in the Department of Planning and Community Environment as of July 22, 1996. SECTION 7 ~ Effective Date. This ordinance shall be effective immediately upon adoption and shall cease to have force and effect on January 1, 1997, or the effective date of the ordinance referenced in Section lB of this ordinance, whichever is later. SECTION 8. The Council finds that this project is exempt from the provisions of the Environmental Quality Act (•CEQA") because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that this project will have a significant effect on the environment, and because this ordinance falls within the emergency project exception to CEQA set fo.rth in Section 15268 of the CEQA Guidelines. II II II II II 9607171ac 0080338 4 • • This ordinance was introduced at a regular meeting of the Council of the City of Palo Alto on Monday, July 22, 1996, and was passed by a four-fifths vote of all Council members present at the meeting as follows: INTRODUCED AND PASSED: July 22, 1996 AYES: ANDERSEN, FAZZINO, HUBER, KNISS, MCCOWN, SCHNEIDER, SllfiTIAN, WHEELER NOES : ROSENBAUM ABSTENTIONS: ABSENT: 5 9607171ac 0080338