Title
Public Hearing to recommend that the City Council approve an amendment to Alameda Municipal Code Section 13-21 to increase protection of historic/heritage trees, including adding a requirement for certified arborist review, establishing review standards, clarifying protected trees, and other miscellaneous administrative and clarifying amendments. The proposed amendment is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15061(b)(3) and 15308.
Body
To: Honorable Chair and
Members of the Historical Advisory Board
From: Allen Tai,
Secretary to the Historical Advisory Board
BACKGROUND
On January 3, 2017, the City Council approved a Referral directing staff to review and update City ordinances "to increase protection of historic/heritage trees, including adding arborist peer review" (Exhibit 1).
Currently, the City of Alameda regulates the removal of Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia) trees citywide and other tree species at specific locations. These other tree species include certain trees at "Christmas Tree Lane" on Thompson Avenue, plane trees that flank Central Avenue, and palm trees on Burbank Street. The regulations reside in the Historic Preservation Ordinance in Section 13-21 of the Alameda Municipal Code (AMC). At the direction of the City Council, staff reviewed the City's current tree regulations and examined ways to strengthen Alameda's tree regulations following industry best practices, as further discussed below.
ANALYSIS
Alameda currently requires a Historical Advisory Board (Board) Certificate of Approval before a protected tree can be removed. This process was last examined by the Board in 2012, when the Board passed a resolution that added specific criteria for reviewing tree removal requests (Exhibit 2). Staff proposes codifying provisions in that Board resolution as part of the AMC.
Under the current process, the City requires an arborist report a...
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