The Cupertino Courier

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New fee for taking out a tree is talked over by city

Commission discusses change in managing, removing trees

By HUGH BIGGAR

Several residents, an arborist and a tree care professional stayed past midnight Sept. 26 to help the Cupertino Planning Commission discuss ways to prune the city's tree ordinance.

At the moment, the city has experienced the loss of many trees due to confusion about permits and what trees are protected. As result, the city council directed the planning commission to hold public discussions on possible changes to the city's tree ordinance.

Topics of discussion at the Sept. 26 hearing included the cost of the permit needed to remove trees, criteria needed to define dangerous trees and protected trees, the importance of tree canopies on Cupertino's skyline and possible deterrents to illegal tree removal.

"Drop the price down," said James Welch, who operates a tree care business, of the city's permit cost of roughly $2,500. "When I first heard [the price], I thought it was a joke because it was so far out of line," Welch said, noting neighboring cities such as San Jose and Mountain View do not charge for a removal permit.

Barrie Coate, Cupertino's consulting arborist, also suggested charging more when fining those for taking out a tree without a permit.

"The biggest deterrent is regulations that prohibit tree removal and [imposing fines] fines," he said. Coate also suggested a brochure about the tree ordinance be given to homeowners or contractors to help educate them about Cupertino's tree policies.

Sid Jacobson, who works for a church, also suggested more public education might be useful. "Provide guidelines to what is considered a dangerous tree," he said while discussing a potentially dangerous Colter pine on his employer's property. "There need to be guidelines other than a person's opinion on whether it's dangerous," he said.

Commissioner Gilbert Wong also said he would like to see more specific criteria about what trees are included for protection and what trees are considered dangerous.

Lastly, Marty Miller, the commission chair, asked for further evaluation of the city's fees.

"We don't want to discourage people from filing an application but do want to discourage people from removing trees," he said.

Cupertino's planning department is now expected to work on these issues and tentatively bring it back to the planning commission for more discussion Oct. 24.