know
like to call the November 15 2023 Bexley
tree Public Gardens commission to order
and call the
role Mary mcmun here Susan quintens here
Sheila strob here Dave Wakeman Celeste
Williams here Jim Wilson here Linda
znick here uh alternat Barb Giller Larry
Helman neither here ex official Ellen
Bowen uh staff Ellena and Andrews she
will not be participating today Grant
Archer laurianne fibel is not here mayor
Kesler pres Monette freedlander staff
consultant here all right we have a
quorum we will move
forward uh approval of the minutes of uh
of October we will not be doing that
because um we were not able to get them
to tr commission members in a timely
matter so I'd like to have a motion to
um uh table the reading of the minutes
and the approval of the minutes till
December that we table them till
December second second okay uh is there
any discussion a motion made and
seconded that we table the reading of
the minutes and approval till of our
minutes from October 18th 2023 to our
December 18th meeting all those in favor
say I I all those oppose same sign Madam
chair I think just for the record the
motion was made by Celeste Williams and
seconded by sh thank you very
much um do we have any additions to the
agenda B any no Mr Wilson none none all
right then we'll go forward announcement
small victories and comments um I wanted
to remind everyone that our December
meeting date is on Monday December 18th
2023 instead of
Wednesday um we today we need to finish
by six o'clock rain or shine heil or
sleer snow uh because the school board
will be coming in to do their um I guess
monthly meeting uh Ellen do you have a
trees for Bexley update I
Dov
14 toal receiv the foundation was $
29371 from 83 an average
$49 which means at this point can
purchase 7 more
and our goal is oh sorry let me start
again if you just if you just give the
numbers the numbers are uh $
29,37 as of November 14 1923 84 donors
average gift
$349 which means at this point we can
purchase uh 74 trees for infill around
the community um our goal is still 100
trees so everybody think um 26 more
trees so let's go and let's go for
it thank you Alan I mean that's an
outstanding
report um is are there any other
announcements small victories or
comments I would just like to comment
about the beautiful lighted trees on
Main Street they look great thank you
you we could also comment on the fact
that the Christmas tree on Drexel was
put up in 60 degree weather guess right
yes yes I guess you prefer that
yeah well good timing regardless okay uh
no announcements small victories or
comments let us move on requests from
residents and this would be requests
outside of comments on our landscape
applications for
today there aren't any requests from
residents we'll move on to the review of
landscape applications um as I mentioned
Elena Andrews is um not available today
uh Jim Wilson will be leading the
discussion on this Mr Wilson I just to
remind everyone of our our ground rules
um as you all can see our me meetings
are videotaped and available on becky.
org website within a few days uh and
that website can be access accessed by
anyone um anywhere as commission members
we do not comment or discuss the
findings of other commissions nor do we
comment on subjects under review from
other Sub City
commissions as a commission we will not
be party to negative or disparaging
comments about City staff elected
officials appointed officials or city
Consultants or other commission members
uh comments presented today should be
Germaine to the subject so please stay
on topic if um in the chair's view uh
any presentation is trending to be
inflamatory or confrontational will
recess for 10 minutes um I think our
applicants have been before us but so
everyone's aware uh our process is to
begin with our staff consultant who will
present a report on the
application uh the applicant and or
their authorized representative will
have up to 10 minutes to present their
case including any Witnesses or offers
of evidence uh then we'll hear from any
one that wants to oppose any of the
applications and each of those
individuals will have up to three
minutes to present their case will then
here for anyone that wants to speak in
favor of an application again those
individuals will have three minutes uh
we will then give the applicant um five
minutes to conclude to respond to
anything that's been said uh or
otherwise rebut uh any evidence that
they want to and then we'll move to the
board's deliberations uh we will um
begin with questions of the applicant or
our staff um and then move into
discussion question so everyone can try
to keep that distinction in mind as we
move through today do we have um the
list no but I I will get that as Monette
starts her staff review so I think our
the first applicant is the 2200 East
Main Street um so uh I guess you can
stay seated while you listen to the
staff recommendation and then we'll get
from I'm reading from your
documents so I'm from the screen so can
you move the
microphone you need a copy a hard copy I
didn't realize I I have a hard copy here
that would be
great I
have the way here I was going
so
okay
bear with me minute I'm
sorry
okay okay we're looking at the
application for 2200 East Main Street um
applicant number
tbg does this one not working
okay very yeah I was going to say it's
kind of like your outdoor
voice am I normally reading the
overview yes I think you could start
with that I mean usually um we start
with the check off list on the
application and I have reviewed that and
it seems like uh everything that was
needed to be submitted the one the page
above that may was yeah right was was
submitted or um not needed at the time
we received the
application and
um still awaiting based on the the
conceptual phase of the design we don't
have lighting locations accessories and
some other fine details but I don't
believe we're at that stage
yet so this project is currently under
review by the city of Beckley the ARB
tabled application on
11923 to be reviewed in December
followed by a review by BAP no
substantial changes to the site planed
landscape are anticipated so the owner
has decided to come to the 11:15 23 tree
commission meeting for review the tree
commission is to review and provide a
recommendation to Bap of the landscape
plan within the property limits of 2200
East Main Street and the street
improvements in the right of way
immediately adjacent to the property the
tree commission is to review then and
vote on the proposed curb cut off Main
Street for Ordinance
126.0 one which states construction of
an access Drive which requires the
removal of trees within the public
RightWay shall receive the prior
approval of the tree and public gardens
commission which may condition its
approval on the number type size and
location of replacement trees and the
charge if any to the property owner to
compensate the city for the loss of the
tree or trees being
removed
sorry the proposed changes to the Bexley
Square parking lot are not part of the
review at this time the Bexley Community
improvements corporations cic city of
Beckley continental and Edge are in
preliminary discussions regarding the
design and improvements the tree
commission can provide preliminary
feedback if they Desire with the
understanding that a fully developed
design will be submitted to the tpgc for
a formal review in the few in the future
months excuse me mayor are you able to
enlarge the type and that on this on the
screen yeah then then maybe for those
who can't hear they could see from the
back is that better for those of you in
the
back a little work on getting okay thank
you tree removal and canopy coverage a
total of 58 trees will be removed on the
site and in the right of way 39
deciduous and 19 Evergreen C sheet
L1 a total of 128 new trees will be
provided 70 deciduous in 58 Evergreen C
sheet L2
D21 the existing Tre canopy coverage on
the site is 37% including the street
trees and canopy in the Beckley Square
parking lot the coverage is
45% the proposed treat canopy coverage
on the site is 18% increasing to 24% at
full maturity a decrease of 13 to
19% including the street trees and
canaby in the Bexley Square parking lot
the coverage is 27% increasing to 38% at
full maturity a a increase of 7 to
18% it is important to note that the
existing building and pavement coverage
is 50% the proposed building and
pavement coverage is 66% an increase of
16% this is an opportunity to provide
larger shade trees in the in the bed
between the garage entries on the west
elevation of the building facing the
Bexley Square parking lot currently five
Street keeper honey locust and four
seven Sun flower trees are in the bed
between the building and Lawn strip
adjacent to the sidewalk if the lawn
strip were to be removed and the bed
increased larger shade trees could be
planted in this area to increase the
overall canopy coverage it is the
staff's recommendation to remove the
lawn provide a larger bed with larger
shade trees and additional shrubs or
perennials to fit with the overall
design
Street trees 12 London PL Tree Street
trees are requested to be removed given
the change in grade inher in adherence
to the Main Street guidelines the
removal of the trees is necessary
efforts to try and protect the trees in
place such as providing elevated tree
well would not only interfere with the
footprint of the building but the
construction would most likely damage a
significant portion of the roots thereby
effectively killing the trees 10 new
exclamation London plain trees are
proposed at a 30 feet on Center they
will sit in a continuous 10-ft wide
channel of structural soil or the tree
commission's previous request C sheet
l201 there is a break in the row of
trees that identifies the Central Plaza
accessed off the Main Street sidewalk
the street trees are located in planters
edged with granite curbs and filled with
winter creeper limestone is the material
used in the current planners along Main
Street and the material should match the
adjacent conditions the plan does call
for the brick border immediately behind
the curb which will tie into the overall
Main Street design C sheet
l301 while there has been a lot of
debate currently about the use of winter
creeper the plant is currently installed
in the medians along main along Main
Street as well as most of the tree
planters in the sidewalk the tree
commission and City should have a larger
Citywide discussion about the use and
proposed replacement of this material
and develop a plan for its replacement
if desired for visual consistency and
ease of Maintenance Winter creeper is an
appropriate plan it is the staff's
recommendation to change the granite
curbs to Limestone curbs noting that the
size and installation should match the
immediate adjacent tree planter
installations plant selection overall
the pro the proposed plants are
appropriate for the site and like
conditions and offer seasonal interest C
sheet l221 for the plant list cross
referencing the Arboretum tree and shrub
list and considering recent City
projects this project includes six
species not currently listed as part of
bexley's Arboretum they are forus bolor
American Dream swamp white oak butula
plat Fargo correct me if I'm
saying Dakota Pinnacle birch tree
juniperus chinensis caler CER Juniper
seringa myai palaban dwarf Korean lilac
viburnum carisi Korean spice viburnum
juniperus chenis sea green SE green
Juniper irrigation the project will be
irrigated C sheet
l231 the tree Wells along Ming Street
are shown to have drip irrigation the
city does not typically provide
Irrigation in the tree Wells staff
recommends that the city arborus confirm
if irrigation in the tree wells should
be included or
not maintenance plan the project
includes a maintenance plan which
includes lawn care which may or may not
be needed landscape bed care Tree Care
general maintenance and manual watering
guidelines SE sheet
l221 overall the maintenance plan
represents a typical commercial
maintenance contract if the project is
to be irrigated the guideline could be
renamed watering guidelines the street
trees may require the tree Gator bags if
the irrigation system is not installed
in the tree planters at least for the
first year until the trees are
established it is the staff
recommendation to amend the maintenance
PL manual water and guidelines pending
the tree commission's
discussion Planters seven Planters are
proposed along Main Street on the west
end of the South elevation Where the
Sidewalk widens in resp response to
concerns about disproportionate Planters
development guidelines for tenant
improvements was proposed on sheet
l221 this gives guidelines for site
furnishings and lighting including
minimum sizes for Planters and
recommended materials it is the staff
recommendation that a note be included
that all site Furnishing including
Planters benches tables and chairs and
trash receptacles along public streets
and corridors be submitted to the city
of Bexley for staff review and
approval staff recommendations it is the
staff recommendation to recommend
approval of the landscape plan to Bap as
presented with the above comments
Incorporated it is the staff
recommendation to approve the new curb
cut and removal of Street trees in the
RightWay with a condition that the
existing egress curb from the Bexley
Square parking lot be removed and
repaired to match adjacent
conditions thank you um yeah like to
come forward
hi there I'm Ryan Pearson with the edge
group 330 West Spring Street Columbus
Ohio
43215 I'm here representing Continental
um for the landscape portion and with me
tonight's Jason Hawk who's a
representative of
Continental um I guess if if I could
just quickly go through a brief um
summary of the things that have changed
so it's been about two months months
since we were here last um can you
please advance to the next slide is
that um I I just want to walk through
real quick um what has happened across
the site so last time we were here the
the Brighton rad connection was actually
a vehicular connection to the parking
lots um deeper into the site that is now
prohibited the vehicle connection is
prohibited it'll be pedestrian uh bike
path maybe golf cart connections to the
the overall development um another
change that has been made is the
vehicular connection used to connect
through this northeast corner between
the two parking lots which has now been
um closed off with removable ballards to
allow firetruck access to be able to
circulate through the site
um let's see here the a couple of other
changes that have happened in this as
part of that change um there used to be
a secondary garage entrance here that
led to the north that has now been
shifted to the east
facade um there the city trash or city
the um Bexley Square trash dumpsters are
currently over here on the Trinity site
U we found a new home for those over
here on the the Bexley Square parking
lot um and another change has been made
as part of of disconnecting that
vehicular connection across the
Northeast when we were in here last time
we had a a short section of the Western
access drive that was Southern oneway
only that has now been um changed back
to the two-way motion so that people can
get in and out of this parking lot
um architecture I don't know who else
been following any of the ARB meetings
but we've had several meetings uh in the
last couple of months um just really
quick because the architecture does
change what has happened on the site um
some of the changes that have been made
the big move was was really this um
entry Plaza into the building that is
Midway through the the facade of the
East Main Street Corridor and with that
it actually shifted portions of the
building to the north this Courtyard got
a little bit smaller this Courtyard
remained the same size um another change
that was made is a six-story has been
added to this portion of the building um
along the East Main Street facade or or
Frontage um with that change there the
Lobby to the apartments used to be in
the Southeast corner so that if you can
imagine that would have been a Lobby
space we had mail and and An Elevator
Shaft in it that has been centrally
located now to the the entry Plaza
that's in the middle of the building um
with that there is now retail that
anchors that Southeast Corner that'll
help
engage um the outdoor public the pocket
park that's being proposed in that
Southeast Corner um let's see here the
the other change with the um with this
new entry Plaza is the Hudson 29 we used
to have the patio along the streetscape
that has been relocated into that more
private setting of The Patio or the
plaza area um which further expands the
the corridor through here for the public
pedestrian uh Street
skate um I briefly mentioned the the
pocket park so as part of those ARB
meetings in you all brought it up as
well to introduce more green space along
the East Main Street Corridor this if
you remember this was a a b basically a
little linear connection and then we had
a sidewalk that came down um that
engaged with the
streetcape this has been expanded and we
have some renderings and it it's still
in a conceptual form as the staff report
pointed out that we have not worked
through any of the details on that that
pocket park if you will um with Bexley
Square the cic so that will be
forthcoming
um the other thing that has changed is
the Bexley Square parking
lot the the original concept had
basically head in parking that pushed um
the tree island over about 10 feet that
has been relooked at to where now it is
a oneway motion to the north we're
proposing at this point on the concept
parallel parking but that is all in an
effort to save the tree island in that
parking lot and the trees that are there
with that as the staff report pointed
out it it pushes this Western curb to
the east a little bit so that there is a
larger territory there that maybe there
is an opportunity there to do more
canopy or sha trees um versus what we
have in the current
plan um let's see
here I guess the other piece that has
been added so with The Pedestrian
connection that is is a linkage from
brighten down to the pocket park um we
are showing an 8 foot sidewalk along the
curb here and about Midway down there is
an elevator Lobby to the apartments
above that we've we've broken up that
linear path connection with another
little sitting area and um entry Plaza
into the the residential as
well um one last thing to point out on
the architecture we're considering it so
with that sixth story there is a a an
opportunity for some Terraces up here at
the fifth Story there's also the
clubhouse sits on the the third floor in
this location so above the Hudson 29
above some office there is another
potential to do an outdoor amenity
Terrace off the clubhouse um and then
the Architects have notched the building
here on the north east and Northwest
Corners to where it's a two-story
element and then um three stories above
that that that are The Notches um in an
effort to reduce that
massing
um if we can go to the next slide I
think I can go through a few things so
another piece that was added um when I
was here last time we had the London
Plane trees along the street at a 44 on
44 feet on Center spacing which is
consistent with what is happening here
in front of the Gateway it's also
consistent with what was done in front
of the GI eagle
um that spacing was basically so that
every other parallel parking space you
would have a street tree um the code
does require one tree per 30 linear feet
of Frontage therefore we have 300 feet
of Frontage that would be the 10 trees
what we've shown here is we've placed
those trees in more of a 20 foot on
Center spacing which is a little bit
different than what the staff report
said um and we've done that in an effort
to coordinate with the massing but also
to put a little more importance on that
Central Corridor or Courtyard in Plaza
um to open that that area up just a
little bit
and it it could potentially allow a
little bit more sunlight into that um
Courtyard as
well um the other thing that we've added
is so there's a dash line back here and
if you look at the planting plans deeper
into the set we've actually highlighted
it in green uh structural soils for the
grouping of um trees on both the East
and the west of that Central Plaza area
um we've added that into the
plans um let's see here
so if we can advance a couple slides
I'll get into um the tree
replacement um we we've
also so so sorry yeah yeah yeah can you
go back a couple and I just want to go
through this Western um planting I think
we we talked about this a little bit
that first time but essentially what we
have is we have a 10- foot Green Space
that runs the entire length of the
property line currently the Alexander
building back here sits about five feet
off of that property line however
there's a curb that overlaps the
property line so if you're out in the
field the curb is actually off it
straddles the property line um with that
said the the intention here is to
continue a hedge so imagine that there's
a 10ft mound in here currently that will
all be reduced or cut and hauled off
site to where the this drive aisle and
the parking lot to the West will be
about the same elevation with that said
the idea is that we would still have a
bit of a mound in here let's say it
might be two to three feet in some areas
um as you get further to the north
there's an existing retaining wall where
that mountain might actually climb back
up to 5 feet off of the uh
the drive Isles elevation that's we
don't have those exact details just yet
um however the idea is to incorporate a
hedge along that property line and then
to basically line that hedge along the
back of curb so there will not be any
lawn area with Gro sumac and um some
prayer drop seed to help soften it as it
gets closer to the curb and then step up
to the Hedge and then on the back side
there's already Grillo Zac and and we're
envisioning that that will
be preserved or replaced in kind as it's
leading up on the back side of the the
buffer then we have um some zova that
line that street that help provide more
of a vertical buffer if you will between
the property to the west and the
proposed
development um please Advance this
slide and there were a couple sections
that were before this that would show
what's happening with those grades that
was just another view looking to the
South
um the elevations we can talk about if
anybody has any questions please Advance
um yeah and so this view right here is
showing that um A View From the Rusty
Bucket and the Gateway parking lot
looking back to the west and you can see
currently that hedge might sit up in
this elevation that mound has been cut
down therefore the Hedge would be
lowered I just interrupt you for a
second just um so our rules say we have
give applicants 10 minutes um but we we
can extend that time I think we're at 10
minutes about how much longer do you
think I'm very close I mean so can we
move to extend it for three more minutes
sure yes some moved any
opposition you have three appreciate U
please
Advance um the northern property line is
still very similar to what we talked
about uh the previous meeting the only
difference being that we we did replace
the arbor vies that were shown along
that fence with the Kettler ey junipers
and I know that the tree um ellena's
staff report mentioned that that there
areund I think it was like 135 trees are
being replaced around 50 or 55 of those
trees are is that hedge so I don't know
that those should be counted as the tree
replacement because it's really it's
it's a hedge to try to minim minimalize
the um the wall effect that that 8 foot
fence that we're proposing there um next
slide a shadow study has been provided
um more for background information and
knowledge than anything um next
slide um these were the latest
architectural renderings that we had at
the time I know they are being changed
right now so um I think they will be
very slight adjustments to the Western
facade and and a little bit on the
Northern facade I think that's and
that's why we felt comfortable coming in
here today is we think we're down to a
few minor adjustments next
slide
um again just we can come back to these
if you have any questions next
slide um this was the tree survey that
showed the trees that are being removed
and next slide and this was us trying to
take a stab at some sort of a tree
canopy replacement um tree replacement
canopy meeting the the city's canopy
goals of the 40% and trying to figure
out what does it all tell us and if if
we suggested that a an average shade
tree might be a 50 foot diameter spread
at maturity that'd be about 2,000 square
feet of canopy coverage and so we we
basically use that because that is about
the size of the the red Dash circles
that we're showing on our mature size to
get full credit for a canopy um if we
were to use that based on our
calculations um down here on the bottom
we think there's 8 to 10 trees that we
would be short if we used 50 foot spread
trees where you got full canopy coverage
in the middle of a lawn let's say um and
what we've shown over here in the blue
that are off of the property I think
there's an opportunity to do around nine
trees in the city the Bexley Square
parking lot and so um the the eight
trees would be replacement on site the
10 trees would be for the canopy that we
lost by removing the trees that are on
the property line where their canopies
actually overhanging the city's parking
lot so that's where we're you know 8 to
10 trees we're showing nine I think
there's an opportunity um to use those
as canopy coverage and help meet the
city's
goals and with that
[Music]
um oh I just want to point out so after
this there's a more planting plan
construction documents set we can go
through any of the details or pages that
you have questions on and then at the
very back there were some color images
that we used as inspirational images um
that are really more pointed towards the
pocket park than anything but there are
some Pavements some bike pad or bike
racks and ballards in there that we can
point to if if there's any conversation
that goes that way with that I will turn
it over thank you thank
you um we only have one uh resident
signed up to speak um
uh Kathy skolnick um speaking in
opposition
hi
I'm Kathy skolik and I live at the
Alexander I've lived in Bexley my entire
life and I love Bexley and I want to
stay there but because of this project I
have been looking
elsewhere mainly because I live on this
second floor on the east side of
Alexander which it faces the west side
of the proposed
building last week's Architectural
Review
meeting uh The Architects admitted that
our east side of the building will not
see any sun or any
daylight at all because they
building so close to us so when you look
at the West Side elevation if you could
put that up again please
mayor you can see that the building has
complete
Shadow not that one because that tells
nothing um next one please yeah you is
that the west elevation it's the blue
carard that's the west elevation think
right there you see all that shade I
don't know how all those trees and
shrubs are going to grow they're going
to be living in
shade and don't they need sunlight to
grow and that's my main
point and I would think that there would
be a way that they can move the building
a few feet further away from us and that
would certainly make a lot of people
happy they could had their building and
we could have our
daylight and I don't think that's too
much to
ask thank
you um as there anyone else that wants
to speak in opposition
to I don't have a question my name is
Sue Rose and I live in the Alexander um
the renderings H how long will it take
for the renderings to how long will it
take the trees to look like the
renderings we'll we'll get an answer to
your question when we turn it back over
but just in our process uh we will get
an answer to your question but we don't
engage in a dialogue between the
applicant and those that speak in okay
so uh you can answer the question
whenever you want with any dialogue
whenever but um those trees are going to
take a very long time before they
develop a hedge or any kind of boundary
and I think it's it's deceptive for you
to be showing the greens that you have
and you talk about full development of
the trees well uh just look at the
Alexander we have 15 year old trees that
you all planted four of them are dead
three of them are puny and one has
survived and nothing has been done about
them so I say that this whole Green
Space needs a lot more attention and you
should be responsible for the citizens
that have to live here to have this
green space and I have one other I have
one other comment I know that density is
a bad word here but this project is
directly related to to density with
losing trees and I don't I would like
someone on this board to explain to me
why you can't use the word density when
you're cutting down 50 some trees the
project is too big for the lot the
project needs to be smaller so the
density is smaller so we have
compatibility with the neighbors thank
you any other
yeah
my name is Ru V Branson I live at one of
the Brownstones on 530 South Park View
um first of all I was encouraged two
months ago that rather than looking at
quantity of trees being cut down and
trees replaced you're using other
measures of diameter of a tree and also
the canopy uh I completely agree with
Sue in regards to how long is this going
to take before we will actually see some
of this beautiful landscape that is uh
presented to us and then finally
um the trees on Main Street the London
pain trees the number one stop on the
central Bexley uh Arbor rum tour where
there is a will there is a way to save
those trees so just listening well it is
NE necessary for the development and it
is necessary for the Main
Street overall strategic plan um
architecture with trees keeping those
trees and maybe setting the building
further back maybe do something with a
water feature but saving those trees
will make a big difference in regards to
the character of Bexley when we go down
on Main Street so when I have to go to
Hamilton and sometimes run down on Main
Street uh and I come to whiteall you see
all these lovely new trees it will
completely alter the character of Backle
when we do exactly the same thing here
by taking all those trees down on Main
Street thank you for your
consideration thank
you um is there anyone that wants to
speak in favor of the
project not would the applicant like to
respond sure I guess the the first
response would be to the the shadow
study um I I do think these are getting
into architectural amassing concerns
maybe more so than than what we're all
here to talk about tonight however
um if you look at the
study at the top is April the bottom is
December December is the shortest
December 21st actually is the the
shortest day of the year so that would
be a worst case condition of a shadow
that is the intent of the study is to
you try to show the full
range um on the left hand side the left
column is 10:00 a.m. in the morning to
noon to 2 P.M to 4 pm trying to give a
full range of the the sun across the day
um if you look at let's say
August 21st and you get to the noon
column you can see the shadow of our
building which is basically at the base
or the the ground of the Alexander that
would be the piece that would tell you
that there would not their their entire
facade would not be covered with with
Shadow by that time of the day so that's
that's how you read the shadow study um
the other thing is is I think if people
are concerned about the amount of shade
that might be cast onto the West um it
would be it would be morning
shade right and if we're showing those
Street trees down through there would
you
rather I would ask the question um would
you not like to have those trees because
they're going to cast shadows as well
onto the Western property line I I don't
know um but I don't think we ever
admitted that the the Western elevation
will be in full Shadow the entire time
um when it comes to cutting down the
trees I I guess my rebuttal for
consideration would be that this is my
understanding this this property will be
developed at some level um I do think
that this the city codes and the the the
comprehensive plan or the um the
Southwest area strategic plan I think it
was called they're all calling for
building this in a certain lot coverage
development pattern I would say and
therefore most if not all the trees
similar to what we're showing um will be
removed from the site for the
Redevelopment um moving forward so I I
don't think it's as easy as to say that
it's either save the trees or or the
development because I think the next
proposal if there if if this proposal
does not move forward would be a very
similar development pattern and approach
basically because of the codes that are
out there today um and I think that
would be it for me thank you thank
you no our that's not our
process the Commissioners will have an
opportunity to ask the applicant
questions um and I thought
process the process is we hear from the
applicant we hear from opponents and
proponents we then hear again from the
applicant then members of the commission
have the opportunity to ask questions
and I'd remind members of the commission
we're going to start with asking
questions then we'll move to our own
discussion but we'll delineate between
the two so that we don't mix discussion
with questions
so uh is um I can assure uh Mrs gross
that her question will be asked um but
we do have a process and
if he could have chosen to answer it in
his response but now we've moved on but
your question will be answered and we're
we are not going to engage in discussion
we are we are the excuse me we are the
commission that the city has appointed
here you are not you have had the
opportunity to speak and if you disrupt
the proceedings our rules require an
adjournment and removal of individuals
that do not respect our rules this is a
process intended to make it fair for
everyone so I would ask that you respect
our rules so that we can move forward I
understand that this is an emotional
issue for everyone involved but the only
way that we can honor bexley's
ordinances and the role that we've been
appointed to is to follow our process
so are there members of the commission
have questions for the applicant or
staff yes Celeste thank you uh I I'm
curious thank you why you chose a
smaller question why you chose go from
an arbor to a juniper
please I I personally think that either
one would be fine um I did hear an
opposition to the arbor that prelimin
Ary meeting uh the junipers they're
bulletproof um I think they're going to
establish just as quick maybe even
quicker than the arbor body would and um
they tend to have a stronger central
leader I think than say the arbor body
when they get a little bit of age on
them and maybe some ice damage and then
uh mayor who is doing this um
illustration
10.1 illustrative site plan if we could
go to that please schematic design
I can't I have my glasses but I can't
read what number the color site
plan 10.1 is that the one you want to
it's probably the first slide actually
or
10.01.01
there getting
close Okay well we can use this one in
the upper top here there we go so talk
my what I'm going to address is the uh
um the degree of percentage of how many
plants are coming back on site and my La
last time I was asking if most of your
much of your canopy
was uh planned for the inside of some of
these um uh Courtyards yes and so
therefore making up a lot of the account
for that my point is I'm sorry my point
is
I'm not an agreement with using trees
out here in the city parking lot to
accommodate for your loss of tree canopy
I'd like for your plan to be for you to
be held responsible not you personally
but the the plan itself be responsible
for maintaining the tree Canam aty count
and not using the city
and and therefore I don't know how you
can do it other than it's from you for
you to figure out but I don't think that
there's space for that all right well
right now we're just doing questions yep
oh I'm sorry questions pardon do you
have any other questions no not not at
this point I will I do have another one
but it's a off subject a little
bit Sheila do you have
questions um my um question just so that
I understand it well is the area where
it's the walkable on Riden or to Briden
that is going to be pedestrian no cars
is that correct that's correct okay we
we have not had approvals from the fire
department I can't promise it we won't
have to um create a away with removable
ballards or something of that nature to
get a fire truck or emergency vehicles
um thank youtennis pedestrian and bike
and maybe golf
cart I have a couple of questions um I
noticed that those changes to the Bexley
Square uh it talked about being reviewed
later uh at another point and I know
that um the the you're losing parking
spaces in the Beckley Square because
you're going to parallel instead of to
in parking and you also lose the exit uh
part out of the Bexley Square lot
um see and also it's always been a
problem you show a lot of nice trees
that what they'll be perhaps at maturity
but we want to see what it looks like
now and what is your time frame for
maturity um and also since you're
changing the parking lot size uh bed
will you guarantee the trees that are
there as far as replacement to their
existing size because they're getting a
little more mature um what will affect
uh the planting in
that so I think there's couple questions
in there I think the first question that
I at least registered was um what is the
length of time to maturity and the
planning size re I think the planning
size is in your
plans and are they all 2inch calber
trees um I I believe they're 2 in maybe
let me verify that um 2 and a half inch
caliper trees there are some that we
specified by height multi- stem or
because that's how you and will you
provide a a rendition of what rendering
of what the trees that you're putting in
look like now because when you they so
are you asking me to provide a rendering
that shows what two and a half inch
trees will look like day one right
because they always prettier I mean I
think I think we could do that
I just don't know what it really does
for anybody um when we do planting plans
we're doing planting plans for maturity
maybe a few years before full maturity
right um I would say on a commercial
property like this like with the spacing
of the the hedges and the shrubs we
might be putting those in a little bit
more dense than you would normally put
on a single family residence or an
estate if you will just because we want
to get that established a little bit
quicker given the scale of the building
and and its importance on East Main
Street um I would say that the
renderings that we are showing if you go
to Huntington ballpark or or Nationwide
you can Envision the London Plane trees
along that Corridor th those were
installed I think Huntington ballpark
would have been around 15 years ago U
maybe in front of um the URS building or
I think aom now um that would have been
about 20 years ago so I I think it would
give you a good idea of of the size of
like a London plane in 15 to 20 years in
a street Tree application um the rest of
these trees as we're showing them on the
elevations I would have to go through
the elevation to answer each one of them
but I think we are showing them not at
full maturity but in that that middle
range maybe a 15 to 20 year if I had to
guess um
wow if they're growing well but
hopefully everybody's sitting on exactly
and we are showing irrigation which is
going to help that situation um that
East that Western property line that's a
10-ft plant bed plus if you look at um
there's a little bit of additional space
for roots to cross the property line um
it it it's not like we're planting those
like the London plain trees along East
Main Street those will be that's why
we're doing structural soils we are
showing Irrigation in that area I think
that's something we can talk about if
the city does not want that um but those
are the the large 10 foot um Tree Lawn
if you will on the west property line um
I think the the large Plant bed on the
east side of the building those are
areas where tree roots actually have a
chance to grow um to get their oxygen I
they will grow a little bit more like a
laundry that's all I can say it it will
not be um in the middle of a Botanical
Garden let's say or or um so will you
you'll guarantee replacement of any
material and how long a guarantee will
that be a year two years to replace
material that
dies well I think that's something that
can be discussed um I think by the city
having these tree these planting plans
submitted and approved um that gives the
city the right to go back with code
enforcement and do an audit and call out
okay you have 10 dead shrubs in this
area and I think uh there's probably
some code language in the cities um
bylaws that say you have to replace it
after the
um the question as far as the
guaranteeing the trees in the Bexley
Square parking lot because you were
changing the size of the of
the uh location you guarantee those as
far as
replacement I think that would be maybe
a to be determined on ownership and how
that would all work as far as um I think
it probably gets into a little bit of
legal language on who's responsible for
what in the city the Bexley Square
parking
lot
M yes I think you should address Vice
chair Mr Wilson Wilson if I
may clarify as as just representing the
conversations to date I think there's
some confusion the the islands here are
not moving so the trees are staying the
same trees that are there now would
remain under the plan uh that you're
looking at so how are they losing
parking on the right on the in in uh
place to go in there uh so that's
actually at our request um we have seen
multiple different parking options this
option maintains the existing trees that
are becoming more mature by the year um
it also provides the uh that parallel
parking Arrangement as you're going into
we felt it had a much better like Urban
condition to it for the shops along
Bexley Square so both the cic as well as
the city prer that over the angled end
knowing that we're leveraging a public
parking garage right next door so we
have full access to the full parking
garage and and we chose a lower density
parking which would provide for more
green space and a better parking lot
experience for Bexley square and City
Hall over cramming as many parking
spaces into the plan as we could um so
it was just a it's a Phil philosophical
decision in the city and the cic's part
but you are losing spaces parking spaces
we're losing some yeah but we chose that
over gaining spaces you know and and and
the green space that we would be able to
gain along with that lower density
partner but just to be clear today we
don't have a plan submitted to us for
this area Okay um we're still honing it
for sure so well what we can when we get
to discussion we can address how we can
handle the the issue of not having a
plan when these are so interl but I
think unless you have other questions
Linda we can
and just can I clarify one piece of that
so on our plans where we're showing the
nine trees potentially located in the
the Bexley Square parking lot um there
are some new islands that are expanded
or created with this concept if you will
so like this entire triangle here would
be a new area that provide opportunities
maybe for some canopy over that parking
lot Barry questions uh
uh um I have one question uh is there
going to be on-site Property Management
that will take care of the
landscaping and is it a regular you know
crew that's going to be there
or I mean typically on a development
like this you're going to have an
on-site maintenance manager let's say um
I'm guessing it might be a couple of
different shifts that will be on site um
so they're they're going around policing
the area picking up trash you know
typically they're cleaning around the uh
we don't have an off or an outboard
compact or anything on this site um but
I meant with regard to the
plantings the plantings most likely will
be through um a contract with a local
landscape maintenance company that's
generally how it happens um and you can
see in in the um development text on oh
it was under our maintenance plan we
tried to put some language in there
about manicuring The Lawns pruning you
know certain things that give you some
assurances um that you can come back on
well my only concern is that I see
things planted and they don't get
watered and given the fact that as we
know climate isn't quite like it used to
be um summers are hotter and you you
know it takes two years of watering
consistently to establish a tree you're
planting a lot of trees so that's why I
was and with this plan we do have an
irrigation diagram it's not a full we
don't have the head or sprinkler
coverage shown on it but it is a diagram
that shows what will be irrigated um
okay um so I took a look at some of
these trees that you were wanting to
plant and um you do have quite a variety
I was happy to see a few natives I'd
like to see more um I was just curious
how you selected um just as an example
the swamp white oak um swamp is kind of
an indicator of where you might find
that kind of tree so I'm just wondering
um the Dawn Redwood another one that is
a massive tree beautiful um but just
wondering what it how it'll Thrive or
survive next to a building considering
that it could get anywhere from um 65
feet to 165 feet which I doubt it would
in that particular environment over
there height yes um even those those
green vase um what do you call those uh
zovas zovas yeah you're wanting to plant
them um over on the other side of the
property right um in that drive yes and
they require full sun so that's six to
eight hours a day um I don't I don't
don't get how you think these trees are
going to be able to thrive when there's
going to be the shadows and I saw your
your uh solar photos there and I
struggled to really figure out how you
can tell what's in the shade and what's
not but I mean you're not going to have
you know the sun obviously moves so I
don't see how we're going to have enough
sunlight in that Corridor to support the
these trees that you want to put in I'm
wondering if maybe you should consider
trees that thrive better in the
shade so an understory type of tree yeah
versus small trees yeah because like a z
or zova it could get to 6 like the Dawn
Redwood um that swamp white oak is a is
a little bit of a tighter spread than
just your standard swamp white oak um
General species um but it needs water
you know it needs a lot of water it does
but I think those trees are all proven
to be good Urban um trees they're used
in urban environments all over the place
so I I would counter that I think they
will be fine in the locations that we're
showing those um and as we look at
Shadows along the western property line
so the bulk of the sunlight if you look
at the shadow studies these these will
be full
sun 6 to8 hours yeah I would say so I
mean the sun the Sun hits this line
somewhere around 10 o'clock to noon in
the in the daytime and then you have the
afternoon sun
um well I okay I mean I'm just saying
based on what I'm seeing and thinking I
no expert I admit it I hear you but I
would suggest that most trees probably
need full sun I mean because they're
canopy and you know then you get into
understory trees and they're generally
smaller ornamental understory type trees
right
um and then oh I'm sorry so uh the lace
bark Elm is sometimes considered
invasive um it's low wind resistance
it's weedy it self if you don't want the
lace spark Elm we can change it out oh
okay um I I can tell you that there are
beautiful lacebark Elms out on the site
today so I was kind of playing homage
homage back to what is out there today
and I mean they are beautiful trees okay
well and then the other issue is of
course the winter creeper and how many
um containers of winter creeper you you
suggested you would be buying and I am a
huge opponent
596 winter creeper plants going in and
I'm sorry but it's invasive I can take
you down the street to the woods I
talked Ellen about this in particular
that you know we typically do not
specify purple or not purple but winter
creeper on this case um however the
existing um tree Wells along the East
Main Street already have the winter
creeper so we were just trying to do
what is consistent along your city
streetcape
um we're open to suggestions if you want
to change those out okay won't make
suggestions no I won't but I will ask if
you would consider um going with a more
native planting um again consider that
yes because I've seen you know lot of to
be consistent with the streetscape
standards that are in place and keeping
a consistent streetcape do we have to
have a consistent streetcape or can we
that's that's that's up for us to decide
another time all right thank you that's
all I have thank
you Susan H yes so um my questions are
centered around the environmental
consequences of more coverage on the lot
and um we talked a little bit about this
when you're were here in September to
see if uh you have addressed any of the
um the results of taking down the trees
and more coverage through some sort of
storm water runoff
mitigation we have not and we don't have
full-blown engineering and storm water
um calcul or anything prepared to date
um we we realize that we need to meet
storm water requirements and and so you
will be addressing those is that what I
hear yes we will have to address storm
Water Management Systems um as part of
the approval process through the state
and the EPA okay and um again I talked
about heat Islands last time and in your
parking areas here the heat Islands I I
guess are contiguous with the the
surround they're not with they're not
set out as Islands they're isolated
within the parking lots is that
correct so or is my is it my question
too hard to understand all the parking
we're providing on our site except for
these 50 spaces to the north yeah will
be under the the building itself right
but but within the 50 to the north the
50 to the
north right so we have we do have
islands that interrupt those spaces and
they are compact parking spaces so
they're
roughly 11 spaces this is showing 16
across the north here so when need comp
compact cars for compact cars yes 30 and
a half foot wide spaces instead of nine
foot right okay more efficient and so so
again the the islands are are on the
outside not on the inside
right I don't know exactly I mean we
have planting plan we have planting beds
all along the perimeter of the this
parking lot we also have Islands right
here and here that interrupt that
service that okay interrupt those spaces
we have an island at the corner we have
an island here um Corner condition
that okay so I did have a chance to talk
to Ellena this afternoon and she had
suggested that we inquire a little bit
more about the conditions and the
connector between Brien and the north
parking lot that um she didn't feel that
that had been flushed out enough to
really you know suggest what would be
done there and so I thought maybe you
could you could tell us a little bit
more in detail how you see that planted
and let's just say is there uh since
it's a pedestrian way is there a chance
to put pavers or something in there to
again mitigate perhaps storm water
runoff and create you know some sort of
uh transition and Hardscape material I
think the current plan is to keep the
pavement section maybe approximately as
wide as it is right now I think it might
be in the 12 foot range um a typical
bike path might be 10 feet so the idea
is to keep that in that same
cross-section and then clean it up with
repaving it but it will be asphalt
paving um we might we will need um
ballards at the North End to control
traffic we did not show that on our
plans we can add that to our plans um
and then as far as it goes with canopy
and adding vegetation in that area if
you go out there today most of that
canopy is coming from neighboring
properties overhanging and um if you go
back to the free replacement diagrams it
it shows on the North End it it pretty
much covers that area 100% are we able
to go to that yeah yes thank
you so in this
area if you're out there today it's
very covered with mature canopy um we
have shown some additional shrubs along
this the the bottom of the wall on that
east side of the drive well the bike
path if you will or pedestrian path um
just to help soften that
wall right now it's just grass it's it's
long
and well again I might suggest that if
you could look at a different you know
material than
asphalt that might again might help the
storm water run off might might just you
know take the place of the lawn that is
going away for the for the coverage um
let's see here what else did we have so
you know uh being that we can't um
conclude that there will be a space for
the nine trees on the in the this Square
parking lot um have you considered if
that doesn't work how we can um mitigate
the canop loss of canopy
coverage with with some sort of a tree
replacement or fing L of or planting
elsewhere in other any of those would
you bring any of those forward when I
talked to Mr Cass in September about the
loss of canopy coverage um he had
suggested that uh trees could be planted
in other areas of the city to make up
for the canopy loss he would be the one
that would have to answer that one well
maybe that would be a question that I
think it's all been considered okay well
considered is different than um than a a
an an actual uh you know we're taking
that on as a responsibility so so it if
I hear you right if if we can't do the
nine trees in the city parking lot then
we can commit to doing those nine trees
or 10 trees elsewhere in the city well I
would S I would suggest that there there
be a mitigation for the loss of tree
canopy so if one doesn't happen then
there's a commitment that it'll happen
somewhere else yeah I think are you okay
with that we'd be okay with
that and um
see I think we did ask the question
about the west side and yeah I have some
some follow up that okay all right then
that concludes my qu oh yes I think that
it was I wanted to ask why you chose the
exclamation London Plane instead of the
blood good Grant haven't we haven't
we've been planting the blood good
London
Plane no we've been planting the
exclamation have we yeah is it is it
have a different tolerance for urban
life than the blood good it does it has
less of the uh
um anthros anos yeah okay right thank
you that concludes my questions
um I have a few questions um maybe the
starting point would be I think Ellena
in her staff recommendation suggested
removing some of the
lawn um and if I'm correct that's on the
east side that she's talking about
correct she I think she called it the
west elevation but it's the east side of
our building and um do you have any
reaction to that recommendation no and I
talked to Ellena about that and I think
it is an opportunity um that we can get
we can pull the trees away from the face
of the building um if if we could go to
the elevation that East
Elevation
um um it would have been up a a few more
yeah five more
maybe there's a lot of slides that this
one here
so I think there are a couple of trees
that we might request that we can keep
as upright around that that kind of
Central Plaza space where we have the
Sevon out here in the plaza um
but these two trees I think could be
pulled out towards the parking lot and
be a broader canopy more of a street
tree or shade tree if you will um I
think there's an opportunity back here
to get both of these or this tree here
to be a little bit more like a a shade
tree and remove the lawn we would be
okay with
that um no then maybe if we could go
back to the shade
study
um and um I do appreciate that you
you've done this
um I'm just trying to make sure that we
all understand the shade study um and
aren't you know ju just sort of looking
at the
optimal time period me so if I'm looking
at it correctly like at noon throughout
the year the east side of the access
road is shaded is that am I reading that
correctly of this Western Road yeah yes
and
in you can see right here you can
see sorry you're fine um this would be
the limits of the Shadow at that time
during that month or that that day of
the year
okay um so um maybe if you could back
that
there um and then I guess
um there is sunlight other than sort of
late in the year on the east side is
that right um the east side of of the
access road on the on the east side of
the access road so on the
basically if you look at noon the access
road is pretty covered is shaved by the
building keep in mind there's still
ambient light out there right it's not
just that it's G to be pitch black at
night um but by the time you get to 2 PM
it's it's in full
sun by the time you get to 4m the
Alexander and The Gateway start to cast
Shadows across that
drive um and I guess Grant I don't know
if you've had a chance to form any
opinions about the the trees on either
side of that access road whether they're
the species would get sufficient light
um yeah I experienc with the zelkova and
we planted them when The Old City Hall
was here they did great in that in that
situation so with similar light
okay I I have a question about the study
did you is this based on an existing
height of the buildings
versus a first story
building yes this is this is based on
the latest concept that we've received
from the architect the height six-story
piece into it okay and it's neighboring
and same with the Alexander on the
Gateway we have as built drawings that
show the height of those two buildings
thank you yes um and then um I guess
um the other question I had is um sorry
I lost my train of thought for a second
but hopefully it'll come back
um oh do you I mean Elena's report
contained her calculations of the loss
of canopy do I mean do you agree with
her
calculations yes
okay
um I think that's all the questions that
well I at this point is there any I if
the cic or the owner of the city parking
lot um doesn't agree to your plans is
there is their backup
plan I mean for one thing you're one of
the things we have to decide um is
allowing a new access point and the sort
of quid pro quo for that is the removal
of an access point but as we sit here
today we don't have approval from the
property owner for that to happen it may
very well happen but um you
know what are we to do if we if for some
reason we approve the new access point
and then the S the plan for the for the
city parking lot
changes and I would have to defer maybe
to a legal counsel on that but um I
don't know if there's a way you can make
it a condition as part of a
recommendation I don't
know do you know when you expect to have
an agreement with the city
on the city lot I personally do
not Jason do
you uh Jason hawks. on real estate um
we're actively trying to schedule a
meeting with the cic uh we originally
had one scheduled for M this past Monday
uh but for whatever reason that wasn't
able to be scheduled so I think um our
intent is to have one early well maybe
as soon as right after Thanksgiving or
that week after so it's just a matter of
getting the timeline I mean I know we've
actively been in communication with them
sharing
drawings uh and working through the
process for the overall concept and I
mean I I might be speaking a little out
of term but I feel like we're pretty
close it's just a matter of ironing out
some final
details thank you if it pleases you Mr
Wilson because I I can provide more
insight if you'd like well um the
reality though is that we don't have an
application for that piece of the
property today and so we've got to if
we're going to move forward we have to
find a solution that protects us but I
that's what that's I'd like to answer
your question because we we have guided
the applicant as it pertains to that
curb cut very actively from the
beginning um we gave them guidance that
we wish to abandon that curb cut that
you're referring to um we we believe
it's a safety concern um traffic often
goes through that turn without looking
for pedestrians and so we felt it was
important both to gain the public Civic
space there as well as to streamline the
traffic flow and prect pedestrians so
from a safety perspective it's been kind
of a non-negotiable for us not to
abandon that that curb cut Bap is is
full fully aware of that uh there was
some discussion with the RB of wanting
to keep that turn and and we have
explained to the applicant that it is
not our desire to see that turn maintain
that we want to get rid of it for those
safety reasons we we
expressed um and the cic is well aware
of it um City council's been kept brief
but you're right we don't have the the
formal agreement in place and you could
certainly make a conditional approval Mr
Wilson can ask a question okay and this
would be a question for the mayor so
mayor who has the who has the authority
to make that
decision well it's a funny uh
combination of things uh
the specific to the curb cut correct um
there are you know it's the ultimately
the city us I believe as staff have to
provide uh permission subject to the Bap
as well but Al it's not it's not a cic
question because it has to do with
connection to the writer way and access
um it's you know it's ultimately piece
of the Bap approval um and also the city
has a lot of discretion in terms of
access to the right of boy as long as
access is maintained in total we can we
can have you know access abandoned so I
guess the point is uh through the Visa
process ideally but if for some reason
that
goes I'm I'm I'm kind of spinning my
circles because there's a a zoning
approval piece of it but there's also
the the rideway you know management
piece of it which is an administrative
function okay thank you I'm not sure if
that answer well it's well it's better
than no
information all right any other
questions for the applicant or staff
before we discussion I do uh it's come
to my attention after looking at what
you wrote that we've received uh for
your recent proposal I just want to make
sure when you were talking about
structural soils which is what you have
planed to do are you thinking about
using the soil
cells also or what kind of plan do you
have for that maybe you're not that bar
into that yet for the London for the
trees out by the right now the plan is
just to use structural soils and not
using any sort of sver cells or yeah
soil cells uh it seems to me from what
I've ex uh been told that that those are
really the most
guarantee Avenue to make sure that trees
are growing and are healthy and they are
very long lasting I'd like you to
consider that please that with the um
soil cells that would be really great
we'll consider it thank
you can I answer that question please so
we have a standard uh that we have
provided them and it's been working well
for us for all along Main Street so
great thank you
grant any other
questions get the chance to discuss in a
moment but any other
question thank you thank
you
discussion maybe it' be helpful for me
to try to frame what I think um ourt or
I think we're actually acting under two
different ordinances here we have um and
I think this is reflected in Ellen's
report as well under uh
12621 M we have to make the decision
about the access road curb cut so that
little space from the essentially from
the property line to uh Main Street um
we have the approval over that with
respect to the rest of this
project um our role here is to make a
recommendation to Bap which will
consider our recommendation in its
overall approval along with um the
recommendation that ARB eventually makes
um you know the it's a little bit
complicated in that um as I understand
that the applicant is Seeking a special
permit to go above three stories and so
there um you can at least interpret the
ordinance as saying one of the things we
can comment upon is whether we see the
uh landscape design as extraordinary
because special permits require
extraordinary design and architecture
I'm not sure that we've run into that
issue very often um but that as we
consider the issue might be one of the
things that we want to contemplate
whether we want to comment Beyond
approval or disapproval of the design
design I assume if we disapprove it's
probably not a comment that it's
extraordinary um but if we approve we
might want to provide our input to Bap
on whether we consider the landscape
plan uh extraordinary design um set so
we have clarity as to what we're trying
to wrestle with here
Celeste Nas outline
of of a plan no what what I'm saying is
that the main stream guideline
Provisions in the code say that they
that they can go above three stories
which is a permitted height they don't
have to seek any special permission for
up to five stories as I understand it if
the Bap considers a number of factors
amongst them whether the design is
extraordinary the design and
architecture we're not Architects or at
least I'm not so we have no room to
comment on the architecture but we can
um as we consider the plan decide to
comment one way or another on whether uh
Beyond approval we consider the
Landscaping extraordinary does that
answer your
question and so would you suggest that
we take each of these separately then I
I would
um speak for myself I think you know as
some of my questions suggested one one
common issue here is um that you know
and I'm not blaming the applicant at all
um but we we have a lot of contingencies
because that we don't have an
application that we can consider at the
same time for the city parking lot so um
unless we want to wait for that to come
to us I think what we have to do is in
effect make anything contingent upon
that um you know I think we've heard
from at least an individual that will
have a loud voice in how that is
resolved that it's likely that the curb
cut is going to be extremely likely the
curb cut is going to be removed um but
um we will have to you know we'll also
as I understand it get the Landscaping
plan for the additional plantings of
trees but that will be a different
applicant than this applicant so that it
makes it more complicated doesn't mean
we can't act it just makes it more
complicated so do folks wna do we want
to start with the access road or would
you prefer to start with the broader
issue of the overall Landscaping
plan I think the access Road's pretty
easier okay are there comments about the
access
road well why don't we talk about um
what happens when the access road goes
in I mean that might have gotten lost in
the
conversation I'm not sure what you mean
by what happens okay well I mean the the
reason that we can and that it falls in
our Bailey Wick is because it means the
removal of trees correct okay
so so does everybody understand
that that that's why it comes before
us then is there any conversation for Mr
Wilson any questions about that issue
I just I don't know I I've never I go
out that way a lot and I've never found
out a problem so I no this is the exess
road on the on the West Side the new
Access Road the new access road on the
west side with the blue car mayor you
can pull that up thank you blue car
right blue
car there we go right there that's on
the west side of the building that's
between the the Alexander and
um and the the you know Gateway building
and the new
footprint so there's a tree in the
treeon there and we have to proove the
removal of that for the installation of
an acccess Road well I would say that
the installation of the access road is
going to compact the soil so much that
the tree wouldn't survive regardless so
I mean I don't think there's much of a
choice here I I see that the tree would
wouldn't survive right the choice is
just say you can't have an access road
um sounds good well that's the choice we
want to make if you don't have an access
road then you can't do the construction
right right well it's not just the
construction it's integral to the
overall plan I we're just dealing with
an audity that we're looking at that
under a different standard than the rest
of our
recommendation so is there any any other
discussion Celeste
no Sheila Linda no Mary
J and I'll call for a motion uh I'll
make a motion all right Mr Wilson
um and it per perhaps a little bit
lengthier than normal motions but this
is more complicated than most of the
things that we deal with I would say
that um that with respect to the request
to locate an access Drive West to the
building structure um which we're
evaluating under um section
12620 M of the Bexley ordinances uh we
approve um the and we're again we're
just approving the essentially the curb
cut and the removal of trees in the
right of way that we approve approve
that with the following conditions um
approval of a plan presented by the
owner of the Bexley Square uh parking
lot uh that includes removal of the
existing exit on um the uh western edge
of the parking lot
property um and that um the um applicant
uh present a plan to the tree commission
or um mitigation of the loss of the two
trees beyond the existing plan presented
as I as I see it they were actually
losing two London planes there and that
um
subsequently um and I would say within
three months the applicant present a
plan to mitigate the loss of those
trees is there a second second okay is
there any discussion are there any
questions okay okay so in order to make
sure that um the motion that we vote
upon is the vot motion that Mr Wilson
stated I would suggest that Mr Wilson
read the motion again for approval so I
move that with respect to the request to
locate an access Drive West of the
building structure that we act pursuant
to section 12
6201 M of the Bexley ordinances to uh
Grant approval to uh create a curb cut
for that access road on the following
conditions approval of a plan presented
by the owner of Bexley Square parking
lot uh that includes removal of the
existing uh curb cut on the western edge
of the parking lot and uh presentation
within three months by the applicant of
a proposal to mitigate the loss of the
two City trees um where the access road
would be created beyond the plannings
contained in the overall plan presented
all those in favor say I I I all those
same sign any abstaining motion
carries so now we can move on to the to
the to the bigger picture I just I would
just point out that I think it is
536 and we do have another
applicant tonight all right so our
choices are to table this application
and bring it back uh we could bring back
at a special meeting between now and our
regular meeting on December 18th
um continue our discussion or we can
continue our discussion and ask Miss nme
to come back at another
time or we can
um call it quits right now so uh Mr
Wilson as Vice chair would you have a
recommendation um I W I guess I'm would
be interested I know that we've already
heard from the applic but what are the
what what is your schedule in terms of
approvals when are you going before
beap to to the best of your knowledge I
know it's a moving we're scheduled for
the 29th and 30th of both ARB and
Bap um so the week after Thanksgiving um
I certainly would be receptive to a
special meeting post that I'm assuming
Monday or Tuesday is probably not going
to be a
great we won't be able to react I don't
think it's fair to say to update the
drawings based on some of the plant
questions between now and then but the
27th that's the that's mon a week I mean
next Monday is the 20th and then the
Monday after Thanksgiving is the 27th I
think we have a meeting on that
Wednesday which I believe is the 29th
and then that's the ARB and then the
30th is Bap and so would and it it be uh
better if we met after
that I mean I'm receptive to a Monday or
Tuesday meeting I think that there were
uh some scheduling issues as I recall
from the ARB meeting on that 27th and
28th 28th council's using Chambers at 6
but um this the facility is freed any
time on Monday and anytime before six on
Tuesday would would the tree commission
members be available on Monday the 27th
at four
o'clock I am thank you Mr
Wilson 45 4 to
5:30 yeah I can do yeah you can do that
Linda
Mary
Monette
Grant city councilwoman Miss
Bible and Celeste
yes so I move that we um adjourn this or
postpone this discussion to a special
meeting to be held did we say at four
o'clock on November 27th um here in City
coun council chambers okay with the sole
applicant with the sole app that would
be our sole item of business and we can
consult with the city attorney ideally
we could just resume the discussion
where we are rather than start over but
we can find out whether we can do that
legally okay is there second to the
motion second is there any
discussion okay motion has been made
seconded that we call a special meeting
of the tree and public gardens
commission for Monday November 27th from
4 to 5:30 to reconvene our discussion on
the planting landscape plan for 2200
East Main Street all those in favor say
I all those oppose same sign are there
any exstension motion carries all right
thank you m chair how much time should
put on the calar 4 to
5:30 we're
wordy
okay thank you that's a compliment Mr
Wilson will you bring the second
application yeah we have second
application for 481 North drexal unless
folks feel the need for me to re reread
our process I think we can proceed um
Monette do you have the staff
recommendations
for 481 North
TRX this landscape installation to
screen a wood fence was originally
reviewed at the 1116
2022 tpg meeting it was approved with
the following conditions project is
approved with the following conditions
homeowner to add Evergreens at the East
End of the fence in front of the
climbing hydrangeas designed to be
approved by staff two homeowner
understands that if the Magnolia fail
they will either need to be replaced or
returned to the tree and public garden
commissions with a revised plan for the
area where the Magnolias are located the
landscape was installed but not per the
approved plan and conditions David hard
Lia code enforcement officer sent Angela
near Meer a letter stating two options
for compliance the options for
compliance are as follows one install
the missing landscape plans from the
approved plan reviewed on
11622 by the tri and public gardens
commission the missing plants include
three hydrangea pedis Climbing Hydrangea
on the east and west ends of the fence
and evergreen shrubs in front of the two
Climbing Hydrangea on the East End the
landscape staff recommendation is to add
a minimum of five boxwood 3 gallon
installation size to match the nearby
existing boxwood there is not a need to
remove the additional three Magnolia
Grand Flora brackens Brown Beauty only
five were proposed in the original proof
plan it is acceptable to have the eight
trees in that
area option two is to revise the plan to
match what has been installed and return
to the tree commission to explain the
changes and seek approval for the
revisions the the homeowner chose to
return to the tree commission with a
revised plan that has eight brackens
Brown magnolia trees evenly spaced in
front of the fence the reasons stated
for the change are that the purchased
evergreen bushes did not look
aesthetically pleasing and that three
additional larger 8 foot than larger
than proposed eight versus the five to
six foot trees were available the
brackens brown Beauty southern magnolia
will grow to be 20 to 30 ft tall by 15
to 25 ft wide it has a large white
blooms in May junee and can live in full
sun to part shade the tree placement is
appropriate for the light conditions as
well as placed far enough away from the
fence to allow growth into the full
mature size it is an evergreen tree so
will provide year- round interest and
eventually screen the majority of the
fence the repetition of the same tree is
an aesthetic choice that fits with the
overall design of the home and
homeowners desire for more modern
appearance in the side yard associated
with the pool with the city's goal to
increase the overall treat canopy cut
coverage having eight trees instead of
five is a benefit to the community the
staff recommendation is to approve the
revised plan as presented thank you uh
would the applicant like to
present Angela could you Angela could
you sign that um did they take it she
just needs to give her address in the
okay all right Angela no signing in
necessary Jim says just your your name
and address Angela nire 481 North Exel
yeah just bring it closer to you all the
way down that's perfect thank
you um I mean I don't know where to
start I I sent in a picture of the
changes but I don't see it yeah I'm
trying to find it
um my landscaper we bought the the um
boxwoods and we placed them out and just
it it didn't look right
so he just said that the three were
available to match the five that I had
already purchased so I bought them
instead any anything further
nope um I don't believe there's anyone
in the audience that wants to speak to
the plan um
questions
no I appreciate that you're back and you
the site is beautiful and your trees oh
thank you really nice appreciate it
looks better this way then I mean I
planted the boxwoods are my backyard so
it's I just have one um gift for you oh
you may want to take this home and read
it because your trees are definitely
volcano mulched and you want them to
live so I thought you might find that a
benefit for your
Landscaping are there other
questions um well I have a question so
one of the one of the reasons that um
the tree commission I think decided to S
to endorse your original plan which had
the climbing highy ranges and the
Evergreens and and uh the Magnolias was
because a layered plan in front of a
fence seems to be a softer look than you
know kind of eight soldiers in a row so
in the you know in the interest in
trying to have something that softens
the fence in a gradual way instead of
the the regimented size I think that's
why the commission probably felt that
the original plan was better than this
plan and I would like the commission
members to consider that original
discussion as as you review um the
current planting versus the formerly
proposed
planting and Mr Wilson do you have some
comments well I guess I'd like to give
the applicant a chance to explain why
you didn't come back to staff or the
commission when you changed your plan is
as I understand it the city had to reach
out to you through the inspector yes I
just thought I mean it looked hodge
podge and it didn't like the look so
this was a better choice sorry you
didn't I gu my question though is goes
to why you felt no obligation to come
back when we spent our time approving a
plan and only when the city inspected
realize I needed to come back
back well for clarity in the future
whenever this commission approves a plan
you're bound to follow that plan unless
you come back and see could change in
the plan I think that was fairly clear
in the meeting we had a year ago when we
approved the
plan yeah thank you yes that's true I
mean it's not it's not that okay the
plan's been approved but now I can do
whatever I want so there is some some
sense that um the approval process was
not met okay and but then I'd also like
the tree commission members to um talk
about the the look of a regimented plan
in front of a fence versus a layered
look of multi- heights different
textures and what what is the the
overall look that is the most you know
creates the most Community Pleasant
look thank thank you Angela for coming
um I think the fact that the fence line
is so it's a large piece and it's
certainly a very visual to the street so
I believe that the plan that originally
was approved would be the ideal look for
that fence and that span of
space um and that's my comment of
consideration so thank you thank you
Celeste I I agree with M Sheila is
saying U to have a field of it's not a
field a succession of trees that almost
becomes another fence because it's one
is a more of a Hardscape and then you
have the soft scape and if you have the
other parts pieces to it it would soften
it and make it create less of a a visual
obstruction if you understand what I'm
saying it' be more enjoyable Pleasant to
look at versus a reflection of what's
behind it structurally
Linda um did not the staff report say
that that would be okay I
mean I recommendation that's her
recommendation that's her
recommendation yeah I would have
preferred some variety okay
Mary uh I I was not involved with the
original uh decision on the plan however
that being said I would also agree that
it would be a softer look with the
additional plantings and perhaps um
maybe reconsider consider using you know
instead of boxwood something else that
might look more appealing to
you Mr Wilson um yeah I I mean I think I
was the one that suggested last year
some variation um I don't think we're
locked into in fact I think the previous
recommendation allowed you to change the
the shrub that went there and so my
suggestion would be that you come back
with a plan um that this spring plants
something between the
Magnolias okay so is that a motion yes I
would move that we
um um that
we reject the application to uh modify
the plan previously approved and ask the
applicant no later than our March
meeting of next year to come back with a
plan that creates variety um between the
plannings is there a second a second
okay okay is there any discussion
they'll grow
together well to be clear about my
motion I I think you can space the
plantings in a way that the Magnolias
don't overcome the Shrubbery
um maybe a hydrangea or something you
know to give it okay so we have they
told me I could have that because it was
an
evergreen so we have a motion on the
floor yes I I do have a suggest I don't
understand what I what you're asking me
what we're asking is that you come back
with a plan that in between each of
those Magnolias can plants some sort of
lower growing planting to create variety
uh you can space it as you think is
aesthetically pleasing but um the mere
fact
that the Magnolia
eventually I don't know 10 years from
now will grow together um right now in
cander it doesn't provide screening for
your fence and it we need more variety
and if the original proposal didn't work
then come back with a different form of
Shrubbery between your between your
Magnolia that is aesthetically
pleasing but in that last you didn't
have anything between the Magnolia it
was just on the ends so now I have to go
between them is what as youve planted
the magnas that's what makes sense to me
um the bottom line is I think you need
to come back with a plan that's not just
the
Magnolias if you want to if you want to
come back with a plan that creates
Variety in some other way we'll look at
that we were I was trying to offer you a
suggestion for something that you could
get approved because historically what
has happened here is you got a variance
from the law to build this fence and
we're now two years down the road from
when you put that fence in and you still
haven't complied with the requirement to
build a six-foot
fence we have do a four- foot fence then
I don't have to go through this is that
what you're tear your fence down and be
and abandon the variance I believe okay
is it four
foot in onard right okay uh motions on
the floor and has been seconded is there
any further
discussion my my other dis piece of
discussion or information is that
boxwood I think you said you had planted
boxwood and they failed is that what you
said well on the other side of the fence
that did no we laid them out to plant
them and it just it well my point is
that boxwood are having a disease
problem at this point we wouldn't want
to we're we're just we're only talking
now about coming back okay so is on the
floor to reject the um the current
planting and request that the applicant
come back in at the March tree
commission meeting with a plan that
reflects a variety of plant material and
a layered effect all those in favor say
I I all those opposed same sign any
exstension motion
carries okay is there anything else to
come before the court thank you
Angela that we should talk about
ASAP
um re really quickly yes Mr Wilson um so
we are making progress on updating tree
plotter um and um hopefully we'll soon
have more functionality we have the
utilities in there and we're trying to
overcome some hurdles to get the
property lines in there
um we're working on the ordinance
revision um but it probably won't come
to you under your Christmas tree um and
or holiday treat sorry work so far by
the way um and we one thing that Susan
and I discovered in the looking at the
ordinances is that we are supposed to
have a um tree planting and maintenance
plan for the city so Susan and I have
had some convers for the entire city for
the entire city but only can do with
trees and we have some see we have some
pieces Grant point out the other day
that we have the we have our Tre City
USA application which has a lot of
information but I think Susan and I's
view is that we should form a small
group to sort of take the information we
have fill in what we have and then
figure out the gaps and come back to the
commission with a fullsome plan um so if
anyone's interested in working on that
um let us
know okay um mayor
Kesler Madam chair would you have any
updates on you know some of your
favorite subjects like the budget City
budget process I do um so we we have
begun our city budget
process I'm GNA talk really slowly so
the school board can't enter the room
until
6:55 just kidding um I presented our
initial draft to council last night and
I've prepared a couple slides to talk to
you guys about tree commission
adjacent um objectives in the budget
you can go to your packet and you can
see this it will have some background
that I'm not going to go through right
now because we're tied on time um and as
it pertains to tree commission currently
proposed in the budget is to maintain a
$7,500 line item which the tree
commission has access to for um design
professional support um holiday party
just kidding it's not for that nice try
yeah what happened to the inflation what
is it
um we're it's still at $7,500 so uh if
you need an inflationary adjustment then
let me know we'll have to make the case
to 10% um additional tree because here's
why we have to make the case because we
have proposed in our budget um an
additional tree crew so right now the
city runs with uh one prime two primary
tree crew one ah I was like I thought it
was one one tree crew with this would
this would double our tree cruise to two
um and J and and and and to that also
there would be capital budget for an
additional uh tree chipper and truck in
order to enable that um that will help
us um not only catch up with the backlog
that we have in terms of work orders uh
stump grinding etc etc but take a more
proactive stance in our uh tree
maintenance and management program
because you guys keep on planting so
many trees so
uh so it's one crew two people a Cher
actually as well for grounds maintenance
which assists
um with that and also um you know our
year the parks projects the AR arum walk
all the additional kind of areas to
maintain all that winter creeper to trim
every year uh sorry Mary that was that
was a low blow it's all right it wasn't
it wasn't take a walk in Jeffrey we will
um additional uh building department
resources were proposing a new position
actually it's bringing back an old
position for building department
assistant but with a new um job
description that would essentially have
that individual be
the dispatcher SL main organizer for the
code enforcement department to make sure
that um when it's time to tickle a uh
you know
7-Day 7-Day review of whether or not
works occurred that the code enforcement
officer is getting dispatched
appropriately and not getting you
know sidelined by the latest uh thing
that's on
fire perb speaking sometimes actually
things are on fire that would but uh you
know just to provide additional I think
really administrative support is really
needed in that in that position I think
I agree with that the reason I um yeah
the reason I bring that up is I know
that tree commission has you know
observed uh the difficulty in in
bringing a code enforcement complaint to
you know
a satisfactory resolution I will remind
us that everyone's human and sometimes
um the human factor of Code Enforcement
gets pretty sticky pretty quickly I'm
not talking about Job performance I'm
talking about reasons that people have
issues with code and that sort of thing
um I think we're immediately aware of
that exactly
uh um invasive species removal at
Jeffrey woods and Native habitat
restoration um we have placed um
placeholders in our capital budget for
that based upon some rough figures uh we
expect those to be part of the Jeffrey
um master plan
so those are sort of the tree commission
specific items that came to my mind when
I thought about uh and then we have some
other strategic priorities and some
information about how we're saving money
and and putting it away into big uh
capital and infrastructure funds as we
continue to work on all those so and so
we can um see this yeah this is uh on
the folder um that attached toach to our
agenda y okay it's called budget
presentation okay so my question would
be um $6,000 out of our
$7500 is now been um kind of allocated
to tree plotter is that being absorbed
by the city so we won't have to use our
our line item to pay for
that I believe that that was a one time
time but you're understanding was that I
mean not I understand it's recurring but
the onetime use of your funds was this
right I don't think we're expecting it
to come out of tree commission alth it's
a great idea I'm sure our software
budget would thank
you if you're offering if your budget
could could be balanced by6 5050 I mean
you brought an idea to my head that I
didn't even have right
well grant real quickly do you have
anything okay
lauan and we love our service guys
they're they're amazing and I just want
you to note that when you're in other
communities I want you to watch what
other service people are
doing they are not doing what our guys
are doing they are standing watching
each other these guys are doing
I witnessed it in a in a in a local in a
in a very close neighboring
community no yes yes mayor Kesler did
you have a final thing um I know you
have not had enough time in this room so
tomorrow evening at 5:30 we are going to
have our city strategic plan uh public
workshop for our draft plan love to have
you here it's a session uh you can leave
early if you want to um but it'll be at
5:30 and uh it will be in throwley I was
going to work on it just now but I
wasn't able to laser focused person the
bestley Bloomers lunch and is scheduled
for December 7th at noon I don't know if
the mayor and the solicitor are having
any holiday party this year sorry we are
December 14 always be the second third
day okay all right I always announce dat
prior if you weren't there and you
didn't write it down what was you what
was you all
right okay all right um do I have a
motion
forj is there a second motion is made in
seconded that we adourn this meeting all
those in favor say I I I all those oppos
same sign any abstentions motion carries
there we
go
yes which question was it didn't
we can't