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Council delays vote on tree‑preservation code change, asks for fire department briefing and study session
Summary
City staff presented a city‑initiated municipal code amendment to exempt many single‑family properties from the tree‑preservation ordinance while protecting conservation areas. Council members asked for more analysis on front‑yard protections, HOA impacts, defensible‑space and insurance exemptions and directed staff to return for a study session and a Fire Department presentation.
San Dimas city staff on May 27 presented a city‑initiated municipal code text amendment (File 23‑05) that would exempt most single‑family properties from portions of the tree‑preservation ordinance while continuing protections for HOA common areas, open‑space and scenic easements, slope easements and HOA‑maintained areas.
Yasmin DeBose, assistant planner, said the amendment grew from an applicant's request and subsequent citywide review; staff and an environmental consultant (Somos) analyzed CEQA implications and recommended protecting specific conservation areas so the city could justify a notice of exemption rather than a mitigated negative declaration.
Planning Commission review on April 17, 2025, produced three recommendations: revised review authority for tree permits, continued preservation of front‑yard trees (protecting trees 15 inches or greater in diameter measured at 54 inches above ground) and non‑exemption of single‑family hillside (SFH) properties. Staff's draft ordinance implements the council's direction to exempt many single‑family lots but does not include all Planning Commission recommendations.
During the public hearing residents raised safety and maintenance concerns about large trees along Via Verde and the berm (fallen branches, blocking streets, and coyote habitat and homeless encampments in drainage swales). Councilmembers questioned how the amendment interacts with recent defensible‑space and Zone 0 considerations, whether the fire department's recommendations were incorporated, and how insurance letters would be treated as evidence for exemptions.
Staff explained that where the fire department specifically requires removal of a tree, the code would allow an exemption; insurance company letters alone would not suffice. Councilmembers asked for clearer materials, side‑by‑side comparisons of current language versus Planning Commission recommendations, examples and a list of tree species being considered for exemption.
Councilmembers recommended a Fire Department presentation on Zone 0 and defensible‑space policy before a study session; they also requested a table or matrix showing how proposed exemptions would apply to HOA property vs. private single‑family lots, slope areas and front yards. The council did not adopt the ordinance; instead it continued the item and directed staff to schedule a study session to provide the requested information and a presentation from the fire department.
