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Design review board approves removal of three street oaks at Florence School District administration building
Summary
The Florence City Design Review Board approved a certificate of appropriateness for Florence School District 1 to remove three street trees at its administration building, subject to replacement plantings and prior Parks Commission approval.
The Florence City Design Review Board voted to issue a certificate of appropriateness allowing Florence School District 1 to remove three street trees in front of its administration offices at 319 South Urbie Street.
City staff told the board the administration building sits in the Central Business District, the Irby Street Corridor Overlay District and the Arts and Cultural Overlay District, and that the removal request is limited to three oak trees along Pine Street. The staff report said the school district had an approved landscaping plan and a separate plant-removal plan, and that the Parks Commission had granted permission to remove the trees because they are in the public right of way.
"These trees are growing now very, very closely to the building and kind of blot out that entire side of the landscape," said Evan Clements, project manager for Healy Horticulture, who said his firm is performing the work for the school district. Clements said the district plans to replace the removed trees with smaller, more columnar species to avoid large canopies and to improve species diversity. He also said the project will include replacement of about 300 feet of sidewalk that is damaged beneath the existing trees.
Board discussion referenced the city’s Unified Development Ordinance requirement that street trees be provided and preserved on new development and noted that preservation is a citywide priority to help maintain community character. Staff said the application met applicable UDO provisions and that the Parks Commission approval addressed the right-of-way requirement.
A motion to approve the request "as submitted" passed after a board vote; the transcript records the board saying, "All in favor? Aye," and staff later said the certificate would be issued.
The board’s action applies only to the three trees shown in the submitted plant-removal plan; staff told the board the broader landscaping plan for the school’s renovation had already been approved.
Minutes from the meeting show no individual roll-call votes recorded in the transcript for this item.
