Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Urban Trees topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Draper Tree Committee debates planting standards, removal rules and Arbor Day plans
Summary
Committee members discussed posting planting specifications on the city website instead of including them in code, reviewed tree-removal and risk-assessment guidelines drawn from Salt Lake and Sandy City policies, heard an update on Pioneer Street plantings, and planned Arbor Day activity and a park planting.
The Draper City Tree Committee spent much of its March 3 meeting reviewing tree-planting standards, discussing a proposed tree-removal policy, and planning Arbor Day activities.
Brett Hoffman reviewed committee practice and legal constraints and said the city attorney advised against embedding the new planting-spec document directly into the adopted tree guide because that could create enforceable liabilities for residents and contractors. As a result, staff proposed posting the planting specifications as a standalone document on the city website alongside the tree guide so contractors and residents can reference best practices without creating immediate code enforcement obligations.
"We're always just an advisory committee," Hoffman said, reiterating that the committee can recommend specs and standards but cannot itself enforce them. Chair Dave Cloward emphasized the committee’s objective: "the city has adopted this spec so that we don't waste money planting trees in road base," and urged ways to get the standards into practice sooner than a multi-year code rewrite.
Members reviewed planting opportunities on Pioneer Street (7th–13th), where Dylan Bliler said some park strips may be as wide as 10 feet and could accommodate street trees while other segments will be too narrow. Michelle and David presented research on tree-preservation and removal policies used by Salt Lake City and Sandy City, including limits on cutting large roots, use of alternative sidewalk designs, tree-protection zones (one foot of protection radius per inch of trunk diameter), requirements for ISA-certified arborists to perform risk assessments, and replacement-tree guidance when large trees are removed.
The committee discussed whether to recommend a policy requiring replacement trees when large street trees are removed and whether road-base cleanup requirements could be added to street-contractor specifications to prevent planting failures. Members also discussed Arbor Day plans; staff said April 24 at Rotary Park is a placeholder and proposed planting an elm near the Gold Star memorial in Draper City Park.
Actions taken during the meeting were limited to approving the previous meeting minutes and adjourning; staff said they will follow up on attorney guidance about whether planting specs can be more formally referenced or adopted in code and will update the committee at the next meeting.
