05/18/2015 Planning Commission Minutes

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING Monday,May 18,2015 6:30 o'clock p.m. Lot 6 contains an existing home and will be accessed via the private road. Lot 7 will also access off of the driveway in Outlot F. Stickney reiterated that every effort is being made to preserve as many trees as possible, and in the event a tree needs to be removed, it will be replaced at a 2:1 ratio. Stickney indicated Frank Svoboda will address the Conservation Design. Frank Svoboda, Svoboda Ecological Resources, stated he has been doing wetland and wildlife work for Mn/Dot and private entities for a significant number of years. Svoboda indicated he performed the wetland delineation on this particular property. Svoboda noted there were a couple of areas that turned out to be non-wetland, a pond that was dug by Mr. Dayton, and some other wetlands that had been enhanced by excavation at some point in the past. Svoboda pointed out two areas of the prairie. Svoboda stated historically those areas had been agricultural land, and in the mid-1980s it was enrolled in conservation preserve for ten years. After the conservation preserve program expired, it was in conventional agriculture for a few years, and then in 2006, those fields were planted by Prairie Restorations to become a native prairie community. Svoboda noted there was a question earlier by one of the Planning Commissions about what constitutes a Big Woods. Svoboda indicated he had one of his staff people out to examine the woods. In addition, Mark Gronberg's firm performed a comprehensive tree survey and documented the diameter the significant trees as well as the species. The City's Natural Resources Inventory was also reviewed which was completed by Bonestroo back in 2006. Svoboda stated these woods were classified as a maple- basswood community of good condition. Svoboda indicated he also looked at the Field Guide to Native Plant Communities in Minnesota,which is utilized by the MN Department of Natural Resources. According to that guide,this particular area is in the eastern broadleaf forest and has been classified as a sugar maple forest. Svoboda stated in order to gain some understanding of this forest, he looked at a 1937 aerial photo, because when he looked at the distribution of the size of the trees and the inventory that was completed by Mark Gronberg, the trees ranged in size from 8 to 24 inches. Svoboda stated on some of the lots that will have some impact to the trees, those trees were 8 to 18 inches in diameter, which indicates that they are fairly young trees. Some of the other trees were 22 to 24 inches in diameter, indicating they were older trees. Svoboda stated in looking at the 1937 aerial photograph, he observed in the vicinity of the lot to the left of the cul-de-sac a gap in the canopy that showed there was some type of timber management or timber removal at some point in time, which was fairly common in wooded areas. Svoboda stated another thing he noticed in reviewing the property is that there was not much history of grazing, particularly if the area has been left abandoned. Svoboda noted there is some fencing around the property but nothing to indicate that there was any heavy grazing that took place. Svoboda noted the 8 to 24-inch trees seem to be kind of randomly distributed throughout the wooded area. The Field Guide to Native Plant Communities has a description for three different age categories for a maple-basswood forest. Young forests are 0 to 35 years of age,transition forests are 35 to 75 years of age, and mature forests, which are 75 years of age and older. Svoboda stated this forest appears to fall into all three age categories, which is verification of the fact that there had been some selective tree removal in past years. Page 13 of 37