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Staff recommends deferral of Mayfair Drive specimen tree removal to Nov. 19, 2025
Summary
Staff recommended deferring VAR 25281307 (Mayfair Drive) to 2025-11-19 to allow the applicant to pursue alternative driveway designs that may preserve specimen trees; the applicant agreed and Board members asked staff to seek additional arborist valuation details and tree-canopy guidance.
At the meeting, staff presented VAR 25281307 (Mayfair Drive), a request to remove a specimen tree outside the building envelope. Staff recommended deferring the case to Nov. 19, 2025, to allow time for the applicant to explore nontraditional house designs or alternative driveway placement between two trees. "Staff is recommending to defer the case to 11/19/2025," Speaker 5 said, noting the applicant had submitted a revised site plan and was willing to revisit the design.
Staff explained the challenge: the trees' critical root zones overlap and the structural root plates bring constraints to driveway placement. Staff said a driveway might be possible between the two trees, but that it would require limiting land disturbance to avoid encroaching more than about 30% into either root zone and could require utilities to be routed under the driveway.
Board members asked staff to consult the city's tree canopy manager and to ask the applicant's consulting arborist to explain the methodology used to calculate the tree valuation shown in the packet (values recorded in the packet ranged roughly from about $1.50 to $23, which Board members found puzzling when compared with other valuation methods). Members discussed conditions that could accompany a future approval (for example, stump grinding and boundary-tree considerations) and agreed deferral was appropriate to gather more information.
No final decision to remove the specimen tree was made at the work session; the Board adjourned at 6:29 p.m. and staff will return the item on the stated deferral date or sooner with additional information.
