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Commission approves Demco preliminary site plan after utility agrees to 15‑foot vegetation buffer
Summary
Demco (utility) asked the Planning Commission to remove a prior condition requiring evaluation of an alternate site; Demco agreed to show and maintain a 15‑foot vegetation barrier (native/evergreen or bamboo) on the site plan, and the commission approved the preliminary site plan subject to that note and routine final engineering submissions.
The Planning Commission on April 3 reconsidered action on a Demco substation and approved the utility’s preliminary site plan after Demco agreed to include a 15‑foot vegetation barrier on the site plan and to maintain it.
Matt Gibson, Demco’s director of engineering, told the commission Demco is willing to provide and maintain an aesthetic buffer (vegetation such as evergreens or bamboo) of 15 feet outside the required security fence but is not willing to undertake the relocation‑or‑re‑evaluation of an alternate site that had been discussed at a previous meeting. Gibson said Demco would not perform the extensive engineering and environmental studies necessary to compare alternate sites, but it would document the agreed vegetation barrier on the submitted site plan.
Commissioners and staff discussed the nature of the vegetation buffer, whether existing trees could satisfy the requirement, and the difference between a vegetation barrier and an engineered sound wall. Demco said it will preserve as much on‑site tree cover as possible and that any vegetation detailed on the plan would be maintained; the company also said the transformer sound specifications and basic sound‑propagation estimates indicate noise at nearby homes would be “barely audible” to conversational levels absent additional barriers, and added vegetation would further reduce sound levels.
A commissioner emphasized the need for the barrier to provide effective visual and acoustic buffering and suggested evergreen plantings or bamboo rather than relying only on tall pines whose canopy might not screen at lower elevations. After discussion, a motion to approve the preliminary site plan with a 15‑foot natural/vegetation barrier shown on the plan passed on a roll call; planning staff reminded the commission and the applicant that final approval will still require drainage and final engineering submittals.
The commission’s action approved the preliminary site plan; Demco will include the 15‑foot vegetation buffer notation on the plan and will be expected to maintain the vegetation as part of subsequent site approvals.
