02/12/2003 P&Z Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Planning & Zoning Board January 8, 2003 Page 25 Mr. Corson asked if a house can be constructed in that area and the trees remain if they are at the height requirement. Mr. Hunter stated if the trees are cut back to 7:1 now, in five years it will not be at conformance any more and the property owner at that time will probably not give permission. Since they have permission from the property owner now, they will remove the trees that do not comply. Mr. Corson stated there may be a way to keep the more northerly stand of oak trees in place. Mr. Hyden asked if someone else could have bought the land, not cut down trees, and shut down the airport. Mr. Hunter explained that should that occur, they would have to change the configuration of the runway to maintain conformance. Mr. Rafferty stated the trees exist now and have not been trimmed. Mr. Hunter stated that is correct but they have trimmed trees on the Airpark property. He stated they have never researched these trees before. Mr. Rafferty stated he agrees the Airpark exists and that is what it is for but is questioning why the trees have to be looked at now since they haven't been looked at up to this point. Mr. Hunter stated he is unprepared to say whether the trees are more or less than 25 feet. Mr. Rafferty stated it becomes an issue if it is because the Airpark has expanded to the west. Mr. Lyden asked if they can land multi- engine planes. Mr. Hunter answered in the affirmative. Mr. Hunter stated the issue of the trees came up when City staff raised issues with Lots 4 and 9. Staff had stated that the trees are another reason to remove a couple of Airpark lots. He stated he would be thrilled to make them all Airpark lots and keep the oak stand as long as they can get a taxiway in there. Mr. Uhde stated the Environmental Board made them aware of the stand of oaks and had stressed the need to preserve it. He stated they looked at many solutions but the road has to be located where it is indicated due to wetland impacts. He stated they looked at a way to minimize the impact to the trees but in 1992 -1993 they had agreed to work with the Airpark Association to protect their interests at all costs. He stated they continue to do that. Mr. Uhde stated when he and Mr. Johnson addressed the oak tree stand, it was known that the first 25 feet of oak trees would be removed to preserve the safety zone. He suggested putting Airpark lots along that area to minimize the impact of taking the trees down since they will be on Airpark lots and controlled by the Airpark Association. Mr. Uhde noted that if those two Airpark lots are eliminated and the lots extended out to the Airpark, 25 feet and maybe 50 feet of trees will still be lost to maintain the safety zone. He asked if that is the best way to control access to the Airpark. He stated they DRAFT MINUTES