City Council Meeting - May 22, 2024

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Meeting Summary

1)
CALL TO ORDER 📄
Chair Jeffery Luxenberg called the Sausalito Planning Commission meeting to order at 📄. Director Phipps welcomed everyone, outlined the meeting format (in-person and Zoom access), and conducted roll call. Commissioners Merlot and Junius were present; Commissioner Feller was absent; Vice Chair Saad and Chair Luxenberg were present, establishing a quorum 📄.
5
Communications 📄
Director Phipps suggested aiming for July. David Marlatt acknowledged they were slipping already but noted people were organizing thoughts and interacting, calling it healthy for the city 📄. Jeffery Luxenberg thanked Commissioner Marlott and encouraged staying on a tight schedule for housing element zoning amendments, hoping to get a finalized amendment by year-end 📄. No formal action was taken.
6
PUBLIC HEARING 📄
Mr. Rainey, the applicant, requested approval to remove two trees on his property at Liberty Ship Properties, citing safety concerns from falling limbs and loss of usable storage space. Arborists in 2018 and April recommended removal. He is amenable to planting two replacement pepper trees along the adjacent pedestrian/bike path. Commissioners discussed the location of the replacement trees on the south side of the fence and whether the property line extends there. Staff expressed support for the tree-planting alternative 📄. No public comments were made.
Motion
Vice Chair Saad moved 📄 to approve Tree Removal Permit TRP 2024-0025 with a condition to plant two white pepper trees along the pedestrian walkway in lieu of paying the tree replacement fund fee, subject to final staff approval. After attorney clarification, the motion was restated as requiring the applicant to plant two pepper trees on the south side of the fence, with staff discretion. Motion passed unanimously 📄.

Meeting Transcript

Time Speaker Text
00:00:48.58 Jeffery Luxenberg I'm going to call to order the Sausalito Planning Commission meeting for May 22, 2024. Welcome, everybody. Director Phipps, if you can call to order, please.
00:00:58.54 Director Phipps Yep, thank you, Chair. Good evening to you, Vice Chair Saad, Planning Commissioner, staff, and members of the public. This evening's meeting is being held at City of Sausalito Council Chambers at 420 Litho Street and is open to members of the public. Members of the public may also access this meeting and provide public comment through Zoom. With that, I'll move to call roll. Commissioner Merlot. Present. Commissioner Junius. Present. Commissioner Feller. Please let the record show. Commissioner Feller is not present this evening. Vice Chair Saad. Present. Chair Luxenberg. Present. Okay, we have quorum. Back to you, Chair.
00:01:24.98 Nastassya Saad THE PRESIDENT.
00:01:29.08 Jeffery Luxenberg Thank you very much. I'm looking for approval of the agenda. Can I have a motion?

So moved.

Second. Any discussion?

Seeing none, Director Phipps, please call the roll.
00:01:38.78 Director Phipps Commissioner Merlot. Yes. Commissioner Junius. Yes. Vice Chair Saad. Yes. Chair Luxenberg.
00:01:42.98 Jeffery Luxenberg Yes.
00:01:44.44 Director Phipps Yes motion passes
00:01:45.79 Jeffery Luxenberg Next item is public comments for items not in the agenda. Director Phipps, if you can give instructions, please.
00:01:51.02 Director Phipps Yep, happy to. This is the time for the Planning Commission to hear from citizens regarding matters that are not on the agenda. Except in very limited situations, state law precludes the Planning Commission from taking action on or engaging in discussions concerning items of business that are not on the agenda. However, the Commission may refer matters not on the agenda to staff or direct the subject to be agendized at a future meeting. Video or audio public comment participation is limited to three minutes per speaker. If you'd like to make a comment, please submit a speaker card to me and or my colleagues to my right, Adam Blair and Maria Hernandez. If you'd like to make a comment in the Zoom application, please raise your hand and you will be called upon when it is your time to speak. To raise your hand from a phone, press star 9. Each speaker will be notified when their time has elapsed. And Chair, I am looking to the chamber for any raised hands, seeing none. Looking to the or submitted speaker cards, we have none. And looking to the Zoom application for raised hands, also seeing none at this time. So I'll give it back to you.
00:02:50.59 Jeffery Luxenberg you very much next item on the agenda is planning commission minutes for uh let's see the uh five five eight 24 and look for a motion
00:03:00.56 Nastassya Saad So moved.
00:03:01.03 David Marlatt Thank you.

Second.
00:03:02.57 Jeffery Luxenberg Thank you. I would like to correct page three, line 12. I indicated at that meeting that due to the state statute that I needed to recuse being within a thousand feet of my home. However, I think I might have said a hundred feet, which is what got recorded in the minutes, but I'd like to correct the minutes if possible.
00:03:29.38 Nastassya Saad accept that?
00:03:31.46 Jeffery Luxenberg The person second, second. Yes, second. Thank you very much. Director Phipps, please take roll, please.
00:03:32.62 Unknown So,
00:03:32.69 Director Phipps Thank you.
00:03:32.84 Unknown it's a great day.
00:03:32.91 Nastassya Saad Thank you.
00:03:32.94 Director Phipps Thank you.
00:03:33.20 Nastassya Saad Thank you.
00:03:33.25 Director Phipps Thank you.
00:03:33.33 Mr. Rainey that.
00:03:39.59 Director Phipps Yeah, and I was going to just speak to this during the communications section of our agenda, but I am seeing Attorney Klein joining us on video at the moment, and I'd just like to offer him up the opportunity to provide any comment in connection with that last comment from Chair.
00:04:02.05 Attorney Klein Hi everyone. Pleased to be here. I appreciate the opportunity to represent the city as staff to the planning commission. It's a little loud where I'm at. I've got two little kids girls under the age of six. Can you repeat that question?
00:04:25.66 Director Phipps The question was simply if you had any comments, and the reason I was asking the question was because you turned your video on. Previous attorneys, when they would like to say something at these meetings, generally turn their video on, so I was responding to that indication. If that was not the intention, Attorney Klein, we will move forward.
00:04:44.04 Attorney Klein Well, my comment really is delighted to be here and transparently I'm here if you need me, of course.
00:04:52.68 Director Phipps Very good. Thanks very much.
00:04:54.95 Jeffery Luxenberg Director Phipps, if you could take roll, please.
00:04:57.12 Director Phipps Yes. Commissioner Merlot. Yes. Commissioner Junius. Yes. Vice Chair Saad. Yes. Chair Luxenberg. Yes. Motion passes.
00:05:01.38 Jeffery Luxenberg Yes.
00:05:05.37 Jeffery Luxenberg Next item on the agenda is communications. We'll look first for Director Phipps to give an update from CDD.
00:05:12.50 Director Phipps Yeah, thank you, Chair. A couple communication items from staff this evening. The first, we have kind of informally already alluded to. You may see a different attorney on this call. You previously worked with Annie, Attorney Branham from BBK. We are displeased to see her go, but very pleased to hear that she's going to be moving to another public jurisdiction, I believe as legal counsel to the city of Vacaville. So congratulations to Annie. I personally will miss having her at these meetings. However, I've had an opportunity to meet Attorney Klein here, and he is a very informed member of BBK's legal counsel, and I think that we're very lucky to have him at these planning commission meetings. So I just want to say welcome to Attorney Klein and that we look forward to working with you. And as Attorney Klein has indicated, he is here as we need him. So thank you, Attorney Klein. I'm not sure, yeah, I think that you've said your piece. If you'd like to say anything else, let us know. I will move on to my second communication item. We had our second meeting of the odds peer review group today. Commissioner Merlatt was present at that meeting. Thank you, Commissioner, for your input, as always. I think what I'll say just at a high level is that we're moving through the process. The peer review group is reviewing the odds, and they are beginning to focus in on particular areas of focus based on council direction and there will be some satellite subcommittee meetings that occur outside of the regular meeting schedule for specialized directional items such as objective standards for historic resource preservation and public and private view standards. And I will continue to keep the group updated on progress. And of course, happy to hear any other updates from Commissioner Merlot as he sees fit, but I will end my communication items there tonight. Thank you.
00:05:55.37 Unknown Mad.
00:07:13.72 Jeffery Luxenberg Mr. Moreland, any comments?
00:07:15.59 David Marlatt Yes, thank you, Brandon. So, yes, I attended the second peer group meeting. Nothing too specific. It was a much more lively and engaged discussion. I think the peer group members are starting to focus a bit more on their respective special interest areas, historic preservation, view protection, architectural standards, and so forth. and as Brandon mentioned it's organizing itself into view protection, architectural standards, and so forth. And as Brandon mentioned, it's organizing itself into subcommittees, subgroups, according to these areas of interest, who are committed. We'll see if this works. Meeting, I think, weekly, that's what I understood, and then reporting back to the peer review group as a whole. I believe between now and August, or end of August, is the intended last peer group meeting.

Something.

Yeah.
00:08:06.74 Director Phipps Thank you.

I think we'd like to shoot for July.
00:08:10.22 David Marlatt Thank you.
00:08:10.23 Director Phipps Thank you.
00:08:10.25 David Marlatt If possible.
00:08:10.37 Director Phipps POP.

Thank you.
00:08:10.87 David Marlatt Okay. We're slipping already. Okay. But it was very good. People starting to organize their thoughts and interact. I think it's very healthy for the city.
00:08:21.50 Jeffery Luxenberg Thank you, Commissioner Marlotta. I'm pleased to see that we are moving along. I would strongly encourage you and Director Phipps to make sure that we stay on as tight a schedule as possible and see if we can, I think the original plan way back was to get zoning amendments regarding housing element by the end of the year. So the sooner you can get this reviewed and in the subcommittee process that you have and finalized and so we can get to a actual amendment that will come before us that would be appreciated so other comments on this or any other items from the other Commissioners no all right seeing none we will move on to item six at this point we'll have declarations regarding public contacts for any items this evening. Commissioner Junius.
00:09:12.08 Mr. Rainey Nothing to declare?
00:09:13.16 Jeffery Luxenberg Commissioner Merlot.
00:09:14.46 Mr. Rainey Thank you.
00:09:14.48 Jeffery Luxenberg Nothing to declare. Vice Chair, I'm sorry.
00:09:14.59 Mr. Rainey to declare?
00:09:16.70 Nastassya Saad nothing to declare.
00:09:17.41 Jeffery Luxenberg And I also have nothing to declare. With that, we'll go to 66A, which is 85 Liberty Ship Way, number 205. The applicant, Michael Rainey, on behalf of the owner, Liberty Ship Way 2 Joint Venture, is requesting a tree removal permit to remove two heritage trees at 85 Liberty Shipway number 205. And again, we have Adam and welcome back Adam and I will let you do a presentation.
00:09:30.66 Unknown Thank you.
00:09:48.73 Adam Blair Thank you, Chair Luxenberg, and as always, good evening, commissioners, members of the audience. It's a pleasure to present for you all this evening. I'm Adam Blair, assistant planner with the Community Development Department. And the item before you tonight is a tree removal permit requesting the removal of two red iron bark eucalyptus heritage trees at 85 Liberty Shipway, number 205. Next slide, please.

So you can see the location of the map of the parcel on the left. It's identified by APN 063-080-06. And I just wanted to note that this parcel is not an addressed parcel in the Marin County GIS system Marin map. It's identified by that APN, but the address 85 Liberty Shipway number 205 was listed under the owner address. So that's the address that we're going with for when referring to this parcel. As you can see in the second diagram on the right, we got the parcel outlined in yellow and trees, the trees are identified along the southwesterly property line. Tree number one is the lower tree and then tree number two is located adjacent to it.

The property zoning is split, so part of it is in the, industrial land use designation within the Marin ship overlay district. And then the other part half is in the waterfront land use designation and the parcel is located within the Marin ship waterfront per Sausalito's general plan. Next slide.

So a brief project summary so applicant Michael Rainey on behalf of owner Liberty ship way to joint venture is requesting a tree removal permit for the removal of two red iron bark heritage trees.

You can see tree number one on the top right of the slide. The tree measures 31.5 inches diameter breast height. And then tree number two, which is the photo just below it, consists of four trunks. Trunk number one measures 9.5 inches diameter breast height. Trunk number two is 10.5 inches diameter breast height.

Trunk number three is 17 inches diameter breast height. And then trunk number four is 35 inches diameter breast height.

The request was brought forth due to concerns about the tree's health their locations adjacent to existing equipment and boat storage and history of tree limb failures. And then just to briefly touch on the historical aspect of this application, this tree removal permit was originally pursued as part of design review permit 2017-00285, which proposed more significant redevelopment of the property. I believe that application went through a public hearing with the planning commission and then it was ultimately withdrawn and this tree removal permit was picked back up just recently this year. Next slide please.

All right, so tree number one, red ironbark. The arborist, Sadie Julin, with Arbor Science LLC, noted that it has two trunks that fork about seven feet above grade. They are joined at an acute angle, and then they cross each other. And they noted in the arborist report that that was a serious structural defect. A decay cavity at the base of the trunk, sparse upper tree canopy, and multiple spots indicating limb failures were all noted in the report. You can see the decay cavity in the photo.

on the left hand side at the bottom.

The arborist reported that these structural defects cannot be corrected through pruning, and large limb failures are likely to continue in or occur in normal weather conditions, and they recommended that the tree be removed.

Next slide.

Tree number two, also red iron bark, consists of four intertwined trunks. The photo at the top kind of shows it a little more clearly. You can see they all cross each other. A large canker at the base of the tree, decayed limbs, and broken limbs were all reported. Similar to tree number one, the twisting of the trunks and the joining at acute angles are deemed a serious structural defect. The arborist said that they cannot be corrected through pruning, and large limb failures are likely to occur in normal weather conditions, and recommended that the tree also be removed.

Next slide.

All right, here are some photos from my visit to the site. There's a public walking path adjacent to a wire fence along the property, and so I did not enter.

beyond the fence of the property, but I took some photos of the two trees from just outside the fence. You can see in the photo on the far left-hand side, you can see kind of towards the right, the branch, there's a branch that kind of takes a heavy lean and the canopy is a little more sparse in that area of the tree. The second photo you could see there's significant growth coming out of like the center of the tree. It kind of like wraps around one of the trunks towards the middle. And then tree number two is noted in the far or growth coming out of the center of the tree. It kind of wraps around one of the trunks towards the middle. And then tree number two is noted in the far right photo, just showing its location right next to some equipment and boat storage. Next slide.

So staff recommends the Planning Commission approve application 2024 dash 00 025 for 85 Liberty Shipway number 205 and adopt the attached draft resolution approving the tree removal permit.

Staff finds the proposed project is in conformance with the criteria listed in Sausalito Municipal Code 11.12.030, subsection B1 through 3, and fails to meet the findings, which are grounds for denial, listed in Sausalito Municipal Code 11.12.030, subsection B3A through E.

That's it for my presentation. Thank you all for listening.

Happy to answer any questions you may have.
00:15:16.92 Jeffery Luxenberg Thank you very much. At this point, we will have questions from commissioners. Any questions? No. No.

At this point, Mr. Rainey, you can come up. You have 15 minutes if you need to do a presentation and you can come to the podium, please.
00:15:28.11 Unknown You have
00:15:38.26 Mr. Rainey evening chief luxenberg vice chair sod and commissioners i thank you for your time in this request as adam had mentioned the property was the subject of a development plan a year or so ago which has been withdrawn so my goal is to kind of take the property and utilize it for what it's been for my 35 years there, which is boat storage, containerized storage. The trees pose an unsafe condition for tenants in that area. They also take away about 2,500 square feet of space that we would like to be able to store items in that is just not feasible right now because of the damage from the limbs. We've had two arborists. We had an arborist in 2018 and the one in April. Both have given their opinions that the trees could come down. Pruning the trees most likely would lead to the tree's demise at some point in the future anyway. so I am just here to try to answer any questions and see if you can agree with that request.
00:16:50.74 Jeffery Luxenberg Thank you very much. Before I turn it over to the other commissioners, quick question, those trees do provide some shade to the pedestrian bike path. Your property includes the pedestrian and bike class next to the marsh. And there are a range of trees along that path, but right near these trees, which do provide some shade, there's a gap of, there's like two areas where there's a gap. Would you consider or have you considered possibly instead of submitting to a tree fund, just placing two new trees along that path, which would be outside your fence, so it won't affect your square footage for the boat storage?
00:17:34.46 Mr. Rainey I'm not opposed to it. It's a little confusing back there. Liberty Ship Properties ends right about where the trees are. There's a fence line there. So where Liberty Ship Properties are, we're fenced on the east side. Well, we're fenced on all sides. But beyond that fence is what I call the tall building property which i believe is harrison holdings so the two spots that take you into that parking lot is not our property our property starts about where the trees are and i believe we have pepper trees that have been planted from that property line all the way up to the beach so property south of that line of pepper trees is not my property
00:18:24.18 Jeffery Luxenberg Okay, so I'm a little confused because the last time we had, when 84 Liberty Ship was before us, supposedly that is part of that property where the boat storage is because they were going to do improvements and they had rights to that and there's agreements and all sorts of other stuff about maintenance. But my understanding that it is part of the property. The whole path is part of the property.
00:18:47.97 Mr. Rainey THE WHOLE PEOPLE.

I can try to point it out if you can bring the slide up. I think one aerial shot might show that
00:18:53.24 Jeffery Luxenberg Thank you.
00:18:53.34 Unknown Thank you.
00:18:58.72 Jeffery Luxenberg There was a yellow line on Adam's in Adam's presentation.
00:19:11.08 Jeffery Luxenberg Okay. Can I approach that? Yes, you may approach that and.
00:19:13.66 Mr. Rainey Oh, yeah.

All right.
00:19:18.65 Mr. Rainey So two openings are in this area. I think there's public parking here. The third delivery ship building is here. Two trees are very, very close to the property line. And I believe our pepper tree run starts right at that line. I can see them here and here. I can look to see if there's
00:19:43.10 Jeffery Luxenberg laser pointer, yeah, he wants you to go back to the mic.
00:19:45.67 Nastassya Saad Unfortunately, too, we need you at the mic only so we can hear you, if we can get him
00:19:51.95 Director Phipps Yeah, excuse me, Mr. Rainey. The only reason we're being a little bit formal here is so we can ensure that the record is accurate. Thank you for...

your willingness.
00:20:06.29 Jeffery Luxenberg So you're saying from where the red trees are going towards the marsh, that area is all, that area from there off is all-
00:20:18.78 Mr. Rainey From there down is not my property.
00:20:21.43 Jeffery Luxenberg No.

from their eyes.
00:20:22.57 Mr. Rainey is your property.
00:20:22.73 Jeffery Luxenberg There, Alcaz.

Right along the path on the other side of the fence.
00:20:23.96 Mr. Rainey Thank you.
00:20:27.28 Jeffery Luxenberg Right. There's a couple gaps in those trees. So I'm suggesting filling those gaps with a couple more trees.
00:20:36.09 Mr. Rainey Would you allow to put the same pepper tree in? Yes. I have no problem. No problems with that.
00:20:39.26 Jeffery Luxenberg Yes.

No problems with that. Yeah, not at all. I mean, I will have to see what other commissioners are talking about, but I just wondered if you'd be amenable to that.
00:20:50.06 Mr. Rainey Thank you.
00:20:50.08 Unknown I would.
00:20:50.43 Nastassya Saad May we kindly ask you just to speak into the microphone so we can catch it on the record? Thank you.
00:20:53.07 Mr. Rainey I'm sorry. So, Yeah, so I would have no problem filling those gaps with two additional, I think they're California peppers.
00:20:55.46 Nastassya Saad Yeah.

I would have no problem.

I didn't.
00:21:02.63 Jeffery Luxenberg Thank you. With that, I'll turn it over to other commissioners, vice chair, Saad.
00:21:03.58 Mr. Rainey of course.
00:21:03.97 Unknown Thank you.
00:21:04.88 David Marlatt in a row.
00:21:07.63 Jeffery Luxenberg Thank you.
00:21:07.71 Nastassya Saad I don't have any questions.
00:21:08.41 Jeffery Luxenberg Commissioner Junius, Commissioner Merlin.
00:21:08.46 Nastassya Saad and that's what we're doing.
00:21:12.02 David Marlatt Just following up on the recommendation of replacement trees, was there a reason, because the arborist report recommended replacement trees, but staff recommends a fee. Was there some reasoning behind that that we should be aware of? I have no strong opinion about which way we go.
00:21:25.97 Mr. Rainey I think- My assumption was that we would not have room for additional trees so I Quite frankly thought that property line ended and I thought when we did the original peppers We started there if there's room for the two additional trees. I'm not opposed to putting those in
00:21:34.07 Unknown Okay.
00:21:47.51 Mr. Rainey And if there's not, I'm not opposed to funding the tree fund, so however you want me to make that determination.
00:21:47.76 Unknown There's a lot of people.
00:21:52.13 Director Phipps I'll be too.

And if I may, I'll just express the staff is supportive of that alternative.
00:22:00.16 Mr. Rainey Thank you.
00:22:00.18 David Marlatt Okay.
00:22:00.63 Director Phipps Thank you.
00:22:00.90 Jeffery Luxenberg you Other questions from commissioners?

Okay, thank you very much. At this point in time, we'll open it up for public comment. Thank you for your time. Director Phipps, if you could explain public comment, please.
00:22:08.57 Mr. Rainey Thank you for your time.
00:22:15.42 Director Phipps Sure, if you'd like to make public comment in the Zoom application, please raise your hand from the Zoom application. If you'd like to raise your hand but you're on a phone, press star 9.
00:22:29.68 Director Phipps Chair, seeing none, back to you.
00:22:31.57 Jeffery Luxenberg Thank you.

At this point, I'll be looking for, bring it back up to the dais, any discussion before we look for a motion? No. Looking for a motion to, would somebody like to make a motion?
00:22:46.21 Nastassya Saad I'll make the motion to approve Project ID Tree Removal Permit 2024-0025, as is with respect to the chair, with a condition to add two of the white pepper trees along the path with the existing trees on the mono-marsh side.
00:23:11.19 Jeffery Luxenberg in lieu of that would become general condition one says they'll pay the amount to the tree fund. So it'd be instead of.
00:23:18.97 Nastassya Saad In lieu of the paying to the tree fund, correct, if you're agreeable.
00:23:19.98 David Marlatt Thank you.
00:23:20.05 Jeffery Luxenberg you
00:23:23.80 David Marlatt And that would be subject to the property line being verified, that there is, in fact, space for that. So if it turns out there's no room to plant those trees, then they would pay to the tree fund.
00:23:29.13 Nastassya Saad Thank you.
00:23:33.79 Nastassya Saad but,
00:23:34.04 Jeffery Luxenberg Thank you.
00:23:34.46 Nastassya Saad Correct.
00:23:34.56 David Marlatt Thank you.

Sure.
00:23:36.32 Nastassya Saad Okay. Do we want to run that by our new attorney?
00:23:38.12 Jeffery Luxenberg you were too.
00:23:38.49 David Marlatt Thank you.
00:23:39.35 Jeffery Luxenberg Mr. Klein, do we need to restate that motion?
00:23:46.63 Attorney Klein Yes.
00:23:47.35 Jeffery Luxenberg No.
00:23:47.44 Attorney Klein Yeah.
00:23:47.66 Jeffery Luxenberg you
00:23:47.72 Attorney Klein you
00:23:47.79 Jeffery Luxenberg Okay.
00:23:48.62 Attorney Klein word for word
00:23:50.26 Jeffery Luxenberg Thank you.

Oh.
00:23:51.32 Attorney Klein I heard from you.
00:23:51.92 Nastassya Saad Okay, I'd like to move to approve project ID, tree removal permit, TRP 2024-00025, with the condition to replace the two trees for removal with two of the white pepper trees along the adjacent side of the fence if there is in fact room for them barring room for those trees subject to staff's approval they can place funds in the tree replacement fund
00:24:36.98 Jeffery Luxenberg If I could amend the subject, they shall pay $1,000 and $1,250 as specified in City Council Resolution Number 613 into the Sausalito treatment.
00:24:39.48 Nastassya Saad Amen.
00:24:40.07 Unknown Thank you.
00:24:52.24 Nastassya Saad Thank you.
00:24:53.27 Jeffery Luxenberg And that revision is all going into condition number one.
00:24:58.85 Attorney Klein if I may it might help to just give the director the ability to make a change if necessary with the understanding that the direction of the planning commission that the trees be planted in lieu of the fee being paid to the tree fund, if that makes sense. What I'm suggesting is you would say in lieu of a fee being paid to the tree fund, subject to the final approval of the economic community director, Mr. Phipps.
00:25:40.16 Jeffery Luxenberg I'm not sure what you're saying. I think we either want the trees or the replacement trees or we want the money into the tree fund. I'm not sure what this question is.
00:25:49.90 Nastassya Saad I believe he's saying to the discretion of the community development director to follow through if there is room and barring there's none. Director Phipps will discuss the tree replacement amount.
00:26:08.34 Attorney Klein Yeah, I mean, ultimately what I'm saying is we need to give the director the discretion or to make sure that we're not back at the planning commission if necessary, just so that he can make it happen. He can ensure that the planning commission's direction is being carried out essentially.
00:26:32.88 Jeffery Luxenberg I'm, what wording, why don't you give you the, restate the wording you're requesting because the amount of the tree fund is defined by statute. So he doesn't have any discretion in that regard.
00:26:47.26 Attorney Klein Right. If you can just give us about three to five minutes, we'll give you some perfect language. I just want to make sure I'm talking to Brandon to make sure we can get this right.
00:27:00.10 Jeffery Luxenberg Okay, I guess.

Go ahead. We'll take a two-minute recess. Thank you, Sipun.
00:27:07.40 Unknown Thank you.
00:27:07.42 Attorney Klein Thank you so much.
00:27:07.88 Unknown Thank you.

Thank you.
00:27:08.10 Jeffery Luxenberg Thank you.
00:27:08.11 Unknown Thank you.
00:28:22.82 Jeffery Luxenberg Okay, two minutes is up. Mr. Klein, do we have wording that you're suggesting?
00:28:32.51 Attorney Klein Yeah, so the warning that I would suggest is in lieu of paying the fee to the tree fund, applicants shall plant two replacement trees subject to the final approval of staff. And this allows you to be able to plan them wherever they need to be, and staff will make sure that it's's in the proper place because it's a little too ambiguous otherwise as to where they're supposed to be planted and what exactly would be acceptable to the city.
00:29:08.35 Jeffery Luxenberg This is general condition number one, because I think there's some more words you need there.
00:29:17.12 Jeffery Luxenberg What words are you suggesting, Chair? Well, general condition 1 says the property owner shall pay $1,200 as specified in city council resolution number 613 into the Sausalito tree fund. And then you're starting the sentence in lieu of, assuming that it already is on the books. So if this was already approved and we were gonna do in lieu of, I understand, but the statement is the property owner shall pay this. And then you could add a sentence that says in lieu of this, you could do the following. But we need to establish they need to do it in the first place.
00:29:17.29 Attorney Klein Thank you.
00:29:17.33 Director Phipps What words are you suggesting, Sheriff?
00:30:00.20 Attorney Klein Okay, so in lieu of, I would replace it with notwithstanding any other conditions.

And that's going to be your controlling condition. So if they set, they can, that's the condition that you want is not withstanding any other condition, property owner may plant two replacement trees subject to the final approval of staff.

No.
00:30:25.97 Jeffery Luxenberg If the staff had recommended this in the first place, the condition would start with we wanna do this and then say if that's not possible, we could do the alternative as we worded it. I understand you're trying to get out some ambiguity, but it doesn't make sense to me, I'm sorry. Can you look at the attachment number two? Because that's where this is gonna come.
00:30:55.62 Attorney Klein Yeah.

Thank you.
00:30:56.05 Unknown Thank you.
00:30:58.74 Attorney Klein Yeah, I'm looking at it.
00:30:59.27 Jeffery Luxenberg Thank you.

Thank you.

you know, Thank you.
00:31:00.75 Attorney Klein Thank you.
00:31:00.80 Jeffery Luxenberg Thank you.
00:31:00.92 Attorney Klein and
00:31:01.19 Jeffery Luxenberg So we want to rewrite condition number one, because this has never been approved. This was just a draft. And we want to have this condition basically state that we would like replacement trees, as Vice Chair Saad indicated, installed along the pedestrian bicycle walkway. and that if that's not possible, then the property owner shall pay for the amounts that are indicated. And then whatever language you need with regard to the CD directive, okay. But we have to start with this is the condition from the get-go. I mean, not that we're going to chain it.

We're not changing something already on the record, this was just a draft.
00:31:49.51 Attorney Klein Mm-hmm.

And I would ask if staff feels like they have enough direction based off of those statements put together.
00:32:00.49 Director Phipps I feel that the intent of the commission is clear to me. Okay. That we'd like to replace condition one as written in the draft with the condition that states that the applicant shall replace the trees requested to be removed with two pepper trees along the pedestrian walkway on the south side of the fence.
00:32:05.65 Attorney Klein Okay.
00:32:05.97 Mr. Rainey Thank you.
00:32:11.21 Unknown where,
00:32:23.63 Director Phipps That's certainly clear enough to me. Subject to staff final approval.
00:32:27.81 Attorney Klein Thank you.
00:32:27.83 Jeffery Luxenberg Yeah.
00:32:28.03 Attorney Klein I think that's perfect.
00:32:28.33 Jeffery Luxenberg I think that's been a good thing.

Thank you.

Okay, thanks.

So that's the motion.
00:32:33.03 Nastassya Saad That's the motion, I'm not going to repeat it.
00:32:34.21 Jeffery Luxenberg Thank you.

And there's a second, and that's, okay.
00:32:38.51 David Marlatt I'll second that motion and not repeat it.
00:32:41.12 Jeffery Luxenberg All right, and the staff is clear and make sure the wording goes improperly. And with that, Director Pips, can you take the role?
00:32:47.56 Director Phipps Thank you.
00:32:47.91 Jeffery Luxenberg you
00:32:47.98 Director Phipps Certainly. Thank you, Chair. Commissioner Merlot. Yes. Commissioner Genius. Yes. Vice Chair Saad. Yes. Chair Luxenberg. Yes. Motion passes.
00:32:53.28 Jeffery Luxenberg Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay, next item on the agenda. I'm not sure why it's on the agenda, but the next item is new business.
00:33:05.07 Director Phipps No items of new business, so I think that, Chair, you can close this item and move to the next.
00:33:10.91 Jeffery Luxenberg Okay, thank you. Do I need to take public comment on this side
00:33:14.74 Director Phipps Yes.
00:33:15.41 Jeffery Luxenberg Yes. Is there any public comment on new business? Seeing none. I'll move to adjournment. Item 8.
00:33:19.18 Unknown Thank you.
00:33:19.23 Attorney Klein Thank you.
00:33:20.12 Unknown to the...

the
00:33:20.71 Attorney Klein Look at that.
00:33:21.07 Unknown I'll be back.

Thank you.
00:33:23.24 Attorney Klein Thank you.
00:33:23.26 Unknown Thank you.

Thank you.
00:33:24.07 Jeffery Luxenberg Thank you.
00:33:25.94 Attorney Klein Um, Yeah, I so typically we'd want to do public comment after every item.

including the tree removal from you have to open public comment and then close it.
00:33:40.74 Jeffery Luxenberg That's what I did. I said, is there any public comment? And I said, seeing none, we'll move on to the next item.

Thank you.
00:33:46.95 Attorney Klein Okay, yeah, perfect.
00:33:46.97 Jeffery Luxenberg Okay.

to be able to get a
00:33:49.94 Director Phipps Are you suggesting, Attorney Klein, that we did not provide an opportunity for public comment as a part of the public hearing?
00:33:58.18 Attorney Klein I did not hear it, but I might have missed it.
00:33:58.24 Jeffery Luxenberg I did not hear.
00:33:58.87 Unknown Thank you.
00:34:02.55 Jeffery Luxenberg We did it.

We open it up to public comment and then we close public comment.
00:34:08.39 Director Phipps Yep, I believe we did.
00:34:10.80 Jeffery Luxenberg to the Okay, well we have public comment on the public here. We have public comment on new business. And now we have adjournment. All those in favor.

Bye. Thank you.
00:34:22.38 Unknown Thank you.
00:34:22.39 Director Phipps I...

Thank you, Commissioners. Thank you, Attorney Klein. We'll see you at the next Planning Commission meeting.
00:34:25.67 Jeffery Luxenberg Thank you.