Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Infrastructure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council directs staff to reconcile conflicting arborist and structural reports on tree removal at 460 Hale Avenue
Summary
After extended testimony and conflicting expert letters, the council asked staff to convene the arborist and the structural engineer who prepared the foundation report and return with clarifying evidence and photographs before deciding whether the city should remove a street tree that a property owner says is damaging a building.
The council considered a request to modify a prior condition requiring removal of two live oaks near a multiunit building at 460 Hale Avenue. The property owner said the trees on his land were not causing the reported damage; staff had conditioned the earlier approval on removal of two additional trees near the structure.
What council heard: The property owner and his arborist said only one tree — a city-owned tree adjacent to the right-of-way marked with red tape — is an immediate hazard to a building foundation and should be removed; they said two other larger oaks do not pose the same risk. A structural-engineering report supplied to the city recommended removal of the oaks “between the ditch and the buildings” because of foundation undermining; the arborist’s letter described the trees as mature and unlikely to grow further.
Council action: Faced with contradictory expert opinions and incomplete photographic documentation of the foundation damage, the council directed staff to coordinate a joint review — asking both the arborist and the structural engineer to explain the discrepancy and to provide photographs and a more specific, itemized explanation of which trees threaten which foundations. The motion passed; council members said they would not remove the city tree solely at city expense if the owner would not also remove nearby privately owned trees unless staff provided evidence showing the city tree alone posed an imminent hazard.
Next steps: Staff will bring both experts together, request clear photo documentation of the foundation damage and an explanation of inspection methods, and return to council with a consolidated recommendation about which trees must be removed, who should pay for removal and the timing.
