Encinitas commission delays recommendation on mature tree ordinance, schedules special meeting with UFAC

The Encinitas Environmental Commission voted at its October meeting to delay any formal recommendation to the City Council on a proposed mature tree ordinance and requested a special joint meeting with the Urban Forest Advisory Committee to resolve substantive differences between the staff draft and UFAC revisions.

The ordinance defines which trees would be regulated, when preservation is required, and what mitigation — replacement trees or fees — would be required if a mature tree is removed. Senior Planner Evan Jednak presented the staff draft and said it would apply to public property and to private sites subject to new development and redevelopment while exempting single-family lots and properties in high or very high fire-hazard severity zones. "The primary intent of the ordinance is to preserve mature trees," Jednak said, and described replacement ratios and an in-lieu fee based on an appraisal guide approved by the International Society of Arboriculture.

Commissioners and volunteers raised multiple concerns about key points where the staff draft (Attachment 1) differs…