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Staff outlines Board of Adjustment role in specimen‑tree removals; Hillrest case reviewed
Summary
City staff explained the Board of Adjustment’s quasi‑judicial role, variance standards and public‑notice rules for specimen‑tree removals, and described a recent Hillrest redevelopment case in which staff said six specimen trees were approved for removal and four were approved for expanded critical‑root‑zone impacts.
City staff gave Wilmington Tree Commission members a detailed overview of how the Board of Adjustment (BOA) handles variance requests — including removals of trees designated as specimen specimens — and reviewed a recent Hillrest redevelopment case.
Brian Chambers, identified in the meeting as the assistant director in the department, told the commission that the BOA is appointed by council’s appointments committee, typically consists of five permanent members and four alternates, and decides quasi‑judicial appeals and variance requests based only on evidence presented at hearings. “In granting the variance, there are four findings and they have to meet all four,” Chambers said, summarizing the statutory standard that staff cited as 160D Article 7 (quasi‑judicial) and 160D Article 1 (administrative appeals).
Chambers said the city’s 2021 land development code created a specimen‑tree category that generally requires BOA approval to remove specimen trees; the code includes an industrial‑district carve‑out that exempts heavy industrial parcels from BOA review but still requires mitigation. “All the trees are required to be mitigated,” he said of mitigation requirements that apply even where BOA approval is not required.
Commissioners pressed staff on expertise and public participation. Chambers acknowledged there is no arborist on the BOA and said staff are available to serve as witnesses at hearings, but in quasi‑judicial proceedings board members cannot have ex parte communications with applicants or staff. “It seems like that should be part of the board rules,” Chambers said, describing concerns that board members may lack the technical background to evaluate tree‑specific evidence.
Staff also explained notice and standing procedures. According to staff, signs are posted 10–25 days before a BOA meeting, adjacent property owners receive letters about two weeks in advance, cases and staff summaries are posted online when the agenda is finalized (roughly one week prior), and newspaper notice is used as required. Staff emphasized that public commenters must present evidence specific to the case to establish standing and that applicants may challenge a commenter’s standing, which the BOA then decides.
On the Hillrest redevelopment site, staff said phase‑one work affects several live oaks designated as specimen trees. Chambers described that six trees were approved for removal and four trees were approved to receive increased disturbance to their critical root zones to accommodate a proposed road realignment and redevelopment for housing by the housing authority. Commissioners asked staff to notify the Tree Commission when specimen‑tree requests appear on BOA agendas in future phases so the commission can track and advise on cases affecting significant trees.
The presentation closed with staff offering to provide the Hillrest slide deck and to continue answering commissioner questions; commissioners thanked staff for clarifying the procedures and evidentiary limits of BOA hearings. The meeting then moved to other agenda items.
