Six the seven Planning & Zoning commissioners (Lori Huey apparently was on vacation in Florida) along with Development Director Howard Koontz and three "onlookers" sat around the table in the Minerva Falcon Conference Room at City Hall tonight to ponder the latest reiteration of the changes being proposed to the city’s landscape ordinances, changes that the commission is scheduled to vote on Sept. 13.
This was the first time the commission has discussed this pending ordinance in nearly a year and since then several new commissioners have joined.
"We made quite a few changes to areas basically where we identified problems," chair Michael Rubsam said, directing his remarks, in large part, to those new members who were getting their first exposure to the proposal that has been under discussion, I’m told, for nearly three years. "A lot of variances come through. Primary among them was the diameter of the trees when they are freshly planted. The four-inch trees are not typically stocked (by sellers) very well. They’re much more expensive than smaller trees and their survival rate really isn’t that good overall. So we knocked that down from four inches to three inches. We’ve changed the way we measure them and where they’re located, the density, the overall numbers. What we’re really trying to do is simplify (the existing ordinance). It was done this way deliberately, initially, to raise the bar very high because it’s better to ask for as much as you want and grant variances to work your way down."
Koontz told the commissioners the revisions change the way the city looks at landscaping for new developments.
"One thing that we’ve gotten closer toward is incentivizing keeping trees on an undeveloped site," Koontz said, "rather than moonscaping the site and replanting new landscaping. You can actually go through and design with the site, move your building around, move your parking areas around to keep mature trees there and protect them during and after construction. You’ll have a nicer property when you’re done."
Koontz did, however, caution the commissioners by telling them "One thing that’s really important to point out about this entire landscape ordinance is the tree ordinance and the landscape ordinance only has applicability when somebody pulls a permit to do something. You have to have some sort of other type of development permit. You have to be installing a parking lot, building a building or putting in stormwater management — something to that effect. If you’re just Target and you have more trees than you need, you can cut down the trees that you don’t need. We don’t have a tree preservation ordinance. Nor do we have a specimen tree ordinance or anything like that."
During tonight’s two hour and five minute workshop the commissioners recommended only minor word changes and additions, but nothing that substantially altered any of the changes on which the commissioners had previously agreed.
The agenda during which the commission will consider whether to recommend the changes, as presented tonight, to the city council for adoption, will also contain a proposal for an ordinance that attempts to regulate the percentage of a homeowner’ property, other than the actual house itself, that is covered with an impervious surface.
No more private swimming pools for Kyle
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