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County hearing on Tioga South Annex spotlights conservation management areas and protection of large oaks
Summary
County staff and the developer highlighted conservation management areas, tree-canopy preservation and a single 64-inch oak proposed for special protection; the approved plan will identify a conservation management plan and easement as conditions of final approval.
Staff described mapped conservation management areas (CMAs) on the Town of Tioga South Annex and explained how those mapped CMAs satisfy required open space for a traditional neighborhood development. Leslie McClendon said the CMA mapping represents the extent of the Hickory Sink Strategic Ecosystem on the property and that the staff-ground-truthed mapping shows roughly 15.64% of the site as CMA open space.
Commissioners and the applicant focused on tree canopy and a single large oak. McClendon noted the requirement to preserve a minimum tree canopy within TNDs and identified one 64-inch oak on the entrance drive the applicant proposed to protect. The developer said it will adopt special protections in the conservation management plan and prefers to keep the CMA contiguous on the perimeter when possible; Luis Diaz said the team would prefer not to construct a new road bisecting the CMA but agreed to dedicate a right-of-way so future county decisions retain flexibility.
The board attached conditions requiring an appropriate conservation management plan and easement language addressing special protections for the noted specimen tree and other CMA features; those details must be finalized in plan documents and recorded or memorialized as part of final approvals.
