Loading...
HomeMy Public PortalAbout20220321_PC_MINUTES.pdf PLANNING COMMISSION CITY MANAGER Marie Gooding Shawn Gillen Susan Hill David McNaughton Elaine McGruder COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Whitley Reynolds George Shaw Marie Rodriguez Martha Williams CITY ATTORNEY CITY ATTORNEY Edward M. Hughes Planning Commission Meeting MINUTES March 21, 2022 Chair David McNaughton called the March 21, 2022, Tybee Island Planning Commission meeting to order. Commissioners present were Marie Gooding, Susan Hill, Elaine McGruder, Whitley Reynolds, Marie Rodriguez and Martha Williams. Consideration of Minutes: Chair David McNaughton asked for consideration of the February 14, 2022, meeting minutes. Martha Williams stated one of her comments was written wrong and needed to be changed. Lisa Schaaf stated she would fix the comment. Susan Hill made a motion to approve. Whitley Reynolds seconded. Vote was unanimous to approve with changes, 6-0 Disclosures/Recusals: Chair David McNaughton asked if there were any disclosures/recusals: there were none. Old Business: Chair David McNaughton asked if there was any old business: there was none. New Business: Appeal: tree ordinance – 2 Gabby Lane – 40003 01036 – Zone R-1-B – Jay Schmetz George Shaw stated Mr. Schmetz had a tree company come out to cut some trees and the company cut ten when he asked them to only cut five. There was no permit issued. Officer Hattrich and the tree arborist came to the site after the trees were already gone. They issued tickets for the ones that were gone. There was no way to tell the health or status of the trees prior to their removal. There were also some in the marsh buffer which is not allowed at all. Staff recommends the mitigation requirement stands as is. Marie Gooding asked if the home owner has been fined. George Shaw stated he have been cited and will go to court after the mitigation determination is made. Chair David McNaughton asked if we know the name of the contractor who cut the trees. George Shaw stated it is in the packet and not a company we are familiar with. Marie Rodriquez asked Officer Hattrich if he talked to the company that cut the trees. Officer Hattrich approached the Planning Commission and stated yes, when they arrived on scene he did not recognize the name of the company and they did not have any identification and did not speak English. One of his assistants did speak English and had identification so Officer Hattrich issued him the citations, his name is Ishmeal Padilla. The company could not show any business license and he is not registered as a contractor with the City of Tybee. Officer Hattrich also stated he and the arborist did observe the ten stumps and measured the diameter and it was his opinion that all of those trees at breast height would have exceeded the diameter for a tree pursuant to our code sections. So he did issue ten citations to Mr. Padilla who has also been in front of the judge with the owner of the company. Officer Hattrich stated he also cited the owner of the property since he hired the company that cut the trees. The judge postponed any decision so that this process can go through and the mitigation requirements can be met. Officer Hattrich also contacted DNR Deb Barreiro to come look at the trees in the marsh. DNR Deb Barreiro stated the ones near the marsh are very close to the jurisdiction line but she did not want to pull a line since the city was taking care of the citations. Marie Rodriquez asked Officer Hattrich if he asked the company if they cut more trees than they were supposed to. Officer Hattrich stated no, he is not required to ask anything like that and this is something that he’s brought up since we issued the citations, the owner was not on site. Jay Schmetz, who lives at 1121 Sandhill Road, Guyton, approached the Planning Commission and stated he has some pictures that show the trees look dead and he handed it to the Planning Commission to look at. He stated he was unaware he needed a permit to cut trees. Also the company employees did not speak English and just misunderstood what he wanted. Martha Williams asked if the contractor had a valid business license and was registered with the city. Jay Schmetz said no. He also stated he has plenty of trees left on the property. Elaine McGruder made a motion to deny. Marie Rodriquez seconded. Vote was unanimous to deny, 6-0 Appeal: tree ordinance – 2 Horsepen Point Dr. – 40015 02001 – Zone R-2 – Terry Timmons George Shaw stated the applicant Terry Timmons did apply for a tree removal permit and wanted to remove a few palm trees that he believes will interfere with the growth of live oak trees. The arborist went to the site and he did not feel the palm trees were causing imminent damage to the oak trees or any structures. So based on our ordinance he didn’t feel like it was appropriate to issue a permit for tree removal. Staff recommends denial for that reason. Susan Hill stated she saw a couple that she thought could interfere with the oaks growth. She asked if under section 7 050 A if the minimum density of three trees per 4,500sqft could come into play in this situation and allow him to take out a couple of those trees. George Shaw stated under normal circumstances yes, but unfortunately all species of palms are considered significant and the way the ordinance is written we didn’t feel like we could approve. Terry Timmons, who lives at 2 Horsepen Point, Tybee Island approached the Planning Commission and stated palms will grow eight or nine inches a year and when you have high winds they will eat away the small branches and over time it modifies the shape of the tree. He stated he is looking for about four palms to remove which is less than ten percent of the palms that he has now. He also stated he does values live oak trees more than palms. Martha Williams asked if he discussed his concerns with the arborist when he was there. Terry Timmons stated he never saw him. George Shaw stated unfortunately our ordinance does not favor one significant tree species over another, so determining which species should if any of them come out is not spelled out or clear. Marie Rodriquez made a motion to deny. Elaine McGruder seconded. The motion failed for lack of majority vote. Whitley Reynolds made a motion to continue until the arborist can meet with the owner. Martha Williams seconded. Voting in favor were Elaine McGruder, Marie Gooding, Susan Hill, Whitley Reynolds and Martha Williams. Voting against was Marie Rodriguez. Vote to continue was approved, 5-1. Site Plan review: Fourth Street location – City Hall temporary buildings – City of Tybee George Shaw stated that Council member Barry Brown recommended this Fourth Street site instead of the lot next to the fire station on Jones since the city uses that location for an emergency lay down when there is a hurricane or disaster. This site does not block any accesses to properties. It would be an inconvenience to some who come upon it accidentally. And of course the city will have to find another staging area for some of our parades. Staff looked at it and it will be feasible. These plans are tentative right now we will figure out better when the buildings come in. These are two modular buildings. Elaine McGruder made a motion to approve. Whitley Reynolds seconded. Vote to approve was unanimous, 6-0 Adjournment: 7:30pm Lisa L. Schaaf