Title
Consider a resolution removing the monarch designation for a tree located on a proposed development site at the southwest corner of the intersection of Sunrise Road and Eagles Nest Street.
Body
This request, submitted by Mr. Jonathan Wagner of Studio 16:19, on behalf of the owner, Burke Real Estate Group, proposes to remove the monarch designation from a tree located on a lot proposed for light industrial development. The monarch tree is a multi-trunk 26-inch Texas Red Oak and is located on the eastern periphery of the 13.34-acre property, close to Sunrise Road. Measurements of the tree are taken of the diameter of the trunk(s) at four and a half feet above ground level; for multi-trunk trees the measurement is calculated by utilizing the diameter of the largest trunk and adding to it half of the diameter of the other trunks. In accordance with Sec. 8-18 of the Code of Ordinances, removal of a monarch tree requires City Council to first remove the monarch designation from those trees.
The site development permit (SDP) application was submitted for preliminary review in August 2022, and no monarch trees were identified by the applicant at that time. Upon further evaluation of the site, and after the applicant had substantially laid out the site improvements, the design team identified the monarch tree in their first full submittal to city staff in December 2022. Staff provided a review comment to the applicant pointing out their proposed removal of the monarch tree and asked for alternative site designs to preserve the tree or for the applicant to submit a formal request to have city council remove the monarch designation. The applicant provided the next submittal of the SDP in June 2023 depicting the same site design and without a request to remove the tree. Staff review comments identified this as a critical path item that needed to be adequately addressed in order to avoid undue delay in approving the permit. The applicant submitted the third full submittal in mid-October 2023 showing the same design and with a letter to remove the monarch designation. However, the applicant did not demonstrate an attempt to save the tree so staff directed the applicant to provide a justification and to sketch a revision to the site design around the tree that would provide a fuller understanding of the impact of preserving the tree. Staff met with the applicant one week later to talk through the site design and tree preservation issue, then provided full review comments in early November with the same direction.
In December 2023 the applicant provided a formal letter requesting removal of the tree along with justification and exhibits outlining the challenges of keeping the tree. One of the exhibits demonstrates that preserving the tree is possible, but is not an ideal outcome for the applicant due to the engineering required to redesign that portion of the site and the impacts to the parking lot, drive aisle, grading, and subsurface drainage infrastructure. The redesign would not cause any buildings to change their location or footprint; the impact of preserving the tree is solely to other components of the development.
The city’s arborist assessed the tree in November 2023, found it to be in good-to-fair health, and deemed it to be worth saving. Although it doesn't have a classic monarch tree appearance, it is of typical form and condition for a Texas Red Oak (sometimes also called a Buckley Oak or Spanish Oak) and exceeds the size criteria to be considered a monarch tree. The Code recognizes 12 tree species as monarchs when they reach a certain size; Texas Red Oaks achieve monarch status at 21 inches. Each tree species has a distinctive growth habit and form. A Texas Red Oak will never have the stately appearance of a mature live oak or pecan tree, but the Code recognizes value in preservation of this native species, which is not as common as other oaks.
It is the purpose of the Code to preserve and incorporate the City's oldest growth trees into development projects. City staff has a well-established record of working with developers and property owners in designing around these unique, uncommon trees while exercising flexibility to ensure development goals are met. In this case, the site to be developed is a vacant greenfield site with a single monarch tree within the project limits. It has been staff’s precedent on sites with multiple monarch trees to recommend de-designation and removal of a small proportion of monarch trees in order to preserve and accentuate the larger ones. However, staff does not generally support removal of a monarch where only one exists on a large site, and also not in instances where the site can be developed with no reduction or only a slight reduction in yield.
Therefore, staff does not recommend approval of this request as the location of the monarch tree does not notably constrain the development potential of the property.