DATE: April 22, 2003
TO: Mayor Cushing / Homer City Council
FROM: Walt Wrede
SUBJECT: CIRI Land / Tree Cutting
I spoke with Kirk McGee several times over the past week regarding the recent tree cutting activity on CIRI land. First, I informed him that the Council had deleted the tree protection section from the Large Retail Store Task Force report that was about to be submitted to the Planning Commission for review. He was very happy to hear that and he went on to reiterate CIRI’s position on that section of the report. I would be happy to go into more detail about this discussion if you would like. In short, CIRI felt like it was under pressure to act quickly because the City had “a gun to its head.” I told him I thought that was ironic because the City felt the same way. Hopefully, this will open the door for some meaningful discussions.
Kirk also stated that CIRI would be willing to stop the cutting of trees until the Fred Meyer and town square issues could be resolved if the City would “grandfather” it from the tree protection provisions in the Task Force report and future ordinances that contained limitations on tree cutting. He made the same statement to the Mayor in a separate conversation. In addition to one section of the Task Force Report, this request could conceivably include a grading and clearing ordinance if one were passed and possibly the gateway overlay. Kirk understands that CIRI would still be subject to all other relevant Federal, State, and local regulations regarding non-point pollution, wetlands, etc. Kirk felt that it was fair to make this request since CIRI was prepared to legally clearcut its land and voluntarily ceased the operation at the request of the Mayor. In other words, CIRI had every right to clear its land and it does not want to be punished later because it stopped cutting. Kirk said he was prepared to leave the remaining trees so that they could be used for buffering and landscaping if needed.
I informed Kirk that this request went quite a bit beyond what the Council discussed at the last meeting. You will recall that at the last meeting, the Council voted to eliminate section I, the tree protection provisions, from the Task Force Report that went to the PC. Kirk said he understood that whether or not to “grandfather” CIRI would be a Council decision.
I briefed Gordon on this situation. His first reaction was that this could be a very slippery slope. He also reminded me that this type of agreement would be unenforceable because the Council cannot bind future Councils on a legislative action. It may be that we will have to work with CIRI to find a less formal solution to this issue.
RECOMMENDATION: Continue to work with CIRI on finding a less onerous way to solve this issue that is beneficial to all. Grandfathering CIRI in the traditional sense may have unanticipated and far reaching implications. It may also be unenforceable. CIRI is very interested in participating in the town square process and this may open new avenues for meaningful discussion.