CITY'S TREASURES; PLANNERS WANT TO PROTECT OLDER TREES.Byline: Lisa Mascaro Staff Writer If a tree falls at a development site, city officials just might hear it. Under a proposal going before the Planning Commission Noun 1. planning commission - a commission delegated to propose plans for future activities and developments commission, committee - a special group delegated to consider some matter; "a committee is a group that keeps minutes and loses hours" - Milton Berle tonight, city planners are calling for a toughened-up ordinance A law, statute, or regulation enacted by a Municipal Corporation. An ordinance is a law passed by a municipal government. A municipality, such as a city, town, village, or borough, is a political subdivision of a state within which a municipal corporation has been to protect some of the area's older, more stately trees. ``It's been an ever-increasing interest in preserving mature trees . . . rather than cutting them down and planting replacement trees,'' said associate city planner Lauren Funaiole. ``A project is much more attractive when you look in and see a few existing large trees in there than many small trees.'' City staff has no estimate on how many of the towering trees exist in the city, but it aims to protect as many as possible. The ordinance includes the range of trees found across the city, from sycamores to oaks, and defined as mature for most species as those that are at least 9-1/2 inches in diameter and at least 4-1/2 feet tall. The new ordinance would encourage developers to relocate older trees - either within the project or on city property such as parks, street parkways or medians - rather than simply chopping chop 1 v. chopped, chop·ping, chops v.tr. 1. a. To cut by striking with a heavy sharp tool, such as an ax: chop wood. b. them down and planting new ones. The proposal requires that tree reports already submitted with a development proposal be expanded to include the feasibility of relocating the trees and detailing potential costs or locations. The proposal also would beef up penalties for violators - those who chop down Verb 1. chop down - cut down; "George chopped down the cherry tree" fell, strike down, cut down, drop - cause to fall by or as if by delivering a blow; "strike down a tree"; "Lightning struck down the hikers" a mature tree without notifying the city. The misdemeanor misdemeanor, in law, a minor crime, in contrast to a felony. At common law a misdemeanor was a crime other than treason or a felony. Although it might be a grave offense, it did not affect the feudal bond or take away the offender's property. By the 19th cent. also would carry a provision that the violating developer must replant re·plant v. To reattach an organ, limb, or other body part surgically to the original site. n. An organ, limb, or body part that has been replanted. double the number of replacement trees. ``Basically, we are (changing) the ordinance to make it a little bit stronger,'' Funaiole said of the law, which has been on the books for more than a decade. She points to examples of projects where tree relocations have taken root, creating an aesthetically pleasing development - such as at the intersection of Cochran Street and Madera Road where handfuls of coastal live oaks were taken from one part of the property and preserved on another. And she adds that relocating a tree offers an alternative to growing one anew a·new adv. 1. Once more; again. 2. In a new and different way, form, or manner. [Middle English : a, of (from Old English of; see of) + new . ``It's very hard to replace them,'' she said. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1--Color in Simi Edition only) City planners in Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. want to preserve mature trees, such as these at the intersection of Cochran Street and Madera Road that were relocated. (2--Ran in Conejo Edition only) The coastal live oaks at Cochran and Madera were moved from another part of the property. Lilly Barrett/Special to the Daily News |
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