City administration has proposed shifting final approval of landscape plans, subdivision plans and certain street landscaping from the Shade Tree Commission to the Planning Commission, and the commission discussed ways to retain meaningful involvement.
The move was described at the July 10 meeting of the Athens Shade Tree Commission as an effort to consolidate approval steps that city staff say exceed the three approvals mandated by state law. Commission members and city staff said the change would likely reframe the commission’s role from issuing final approvals to providing an early review and formal recommendations to planning.
Commission members said the change raises concern that the commission’s input could be lost if it arrives after planning commission review. “The city does not want to have additional approval steps beyond the three mandated by state law,” a commission member said, describing the city’s position. A city staff member said the preferred model would place the Shade Tree Commission on the “upfront end” of review so its recommendations reach the planning commission before final decisions.
Discussion at the meeting focused on drafting precise code and process language that would preserve the commission’s technical role while meeting the city’s objective of reducing approval steps. Options discussed included: creating a permanent or ex officio seat representing maintenance staff or the service/safety director on the commission, formally requiring a commission representative to attend planning commission meetings that include landscape plans, and granting the commission read-only access to the city’s work-log system so members can track removals and maintenance actions.
City staff and commission members said the administration is aiming to resolve wording and process details before upcoming elections and to move a proposed code change through the city’s ordinance readings. A city staff member told the commission the change will be a proposed code amendment that requires three readings; the commission discussed aiming to produce a draft code for council consideration within the next weeks so hearings can proceed in the normal reading schedule.
No formal code amendment was adopted at the July 10 meeting. Commissioners and staff agreed to draft specific language and to circulate it to the commission for comment; the commission also discussed establishing a bylaw or practice requiring a commission presence at planning commission meetings where landscape plans are considered.
The commission also reviewed structural issues the city and commission face when review timing is out of sync: planning commission often sees projects weeks before the Shade Tree Commission, leaving the commission to review plans only at the final-approval stage. Commission members and staff described the current sequence as “a broken system” and said the proposed changes are intended to put the Shade Tree Commission earlier in the sequence so its technical expertise informs planning decisions.