Bexley staff report 41 landscape projects; 16 residential plans remain pending, some declared noncompliant with April deadline

Monette Friedlander, the commission's staff consultant, told the commission Feb. 19 that the city's consolidated landscape-permit register lists 41 projects and that 16 residential projects remain pending review or correction. "This comprehensive list has 41 projects on it," Friedlander said. "There are 16 projects in the residential realm that are left pending for one reason or another."

Friedlander said the commission's tracking sheet uses a green/yellow/red coding: green for installations approved and completed, yellow for projects still under construction or with outstanding questions, and red for projects the city has determined were not installed according to the approved plan. "The applicants that are red on the list have been sent a letter from code compliance," she said. "They have until April of this year to modify or repair what is wrong."

Why it matters: the backlog affects street-tree maintenance, right-of-way plantings and the city's canopy goals. Commission members pressed staff on how the city enforces approvals and how long older applications remain valid. Friedlander said many of the oldest open files dated from 2021'2022 and were delayed by the pandemic; she described a two-track follow-up process: continued outreach to applicants and formal referral to code compliance for nonresponsive cases.

Matt Klingler, director of building and planning, said the city is moving the spreadsheet tracking into its permit system so staff can run reports and send automated notifications. "We're going to be sharing this on Google Docs, and he's going to be implementing this into the city's Viewpoint system so he can run reports from it and then have notification sent out from there," Friedlander said of the work Klingler has begun. Klingler told the commission the integration is underway and that increased reporting should help staff manage enforcement.

Commercial projects also drew scrutiny. Friedlander and commissioners reported cases where approved landscape space had been used for concrete pads or bike racks instead of planned street trees. Commission members cited Catalina's on Main Street as an example where a planned London plane street tree had not been installed and the space now contains concrete pads and bike racks. Grant Archer, city urban-forestry staff, flagged irrigation and long-term maintenance as a recurring problem for commercial plantings: "If we go with all oaks, those are more expensive," Archer said when the commission discussed the city's proposed Fair Avenue oak plantings and the tree-giveaway program. He and others suggested the city consider options to improve maintenance compliance, including coordinated contracts, monitoring technology or incentive programs.

Next steps and deadlines: Friedlander said she will reinspect properties after the April compliance deadline and will work with code compliance on unresolved cases. Klingler said staff will continue workflow integration into the city's permit system and will coordinate any mayor's-court referrals generated by code enforcement. Friedlander told commissioners she would return with an updated residential and commercial list in a few months.

The meeting also recorded three routine commission votes: approval of prior meeting minutes, moving the March meeting date to March 26, and adoption of the white oak as the commission's 2025 landmark tree; each motion carried by voice vote.