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After neighbor protests, council approves revised landscape plan and site agreements for France Avenue PUD
Summary
The City Council on April 16 approved final site plans and a revised landscape plan for the France Avenue PUD, after developer and landscape consultants agreed to add larger trees and other screening to address complaints from an adjacent resident about trees removed during phase‑1 work.
The City Council on April 16 approved final site plan and site‑improvement performance agreements for phase 2 of the France Avenue PUD and a revised landscaping plan for phase 1 after weeks of follow‑up between the developer, nearby property owners and city staff.
City staff said the work addressed council questions from the March 18 meeting and that the revised plan adds about 20 new larger‑caliper trees on the 7200 site and increases caliper sizes to improve screening. Terry Menarik, landscape architect with Confluence, described a planting plan that includes larger deciduous trees on the slope and higher‑quality evergreens in flatter locations, and said the team will install larger root balls and higher‑quality stock to accelerate canopy development. The city forester reviewed and cleared the revised planting strategy.
Neighbors raised objections after tree removal associated with earlier site work; property owner Steve Brown came to the meeting and said he was “very disappointed” with the way additional tree removals had occurred and warned that the dispute had pushed him toward more adversarial remedies. Brown told the council: “All that does is create strife... I’m very disappointed in this legal position about the fact that we can’t figure out a way to document something in a three‑party agreement.”
Developer Ted Carlson (Orion Investments) said staff and the company were in active conversation with Mr. Brown and other adjacent property owners and pledged to use “best efforts” to satisfy neighbors. Confluence’s Menarik said the revised plan calls for retaining‑wall work at the property line to create flatter planting zones, larger tree calipers (up to 5–6 inches where feasible), additional understory plantings and installation timelines that will be secured by a city letter of credit.
Staff said a letter of credit in the amount of $750,000 will be collected and held for two years after installation; the city will not issue certificates of occupancy until required landscaping is planted. Council adopted the final‑site plan for 7200 France (Resolution 2025‑25), approved the revised 7250 landscape plan and updated site‑improvement agreement (Resolution 2025‑34), and approved the second reading of the ordinance that incorporates the changes into the PUD (Ordinance 2025‑05). The council recorded at least one dissent on the final 7200 site plan vote.
Council and staff said further negotiations were expected between the developer and the adjacent private property owners, but the city’s approvals secure required public‑facing landscape and public‑improvement obligations and provide funds and permitting leverage to ensure plantings are installed.
