A Profoundly Frustrating Development
trees planted without permit by the north homeowner
3/12/2023 UPDATE
We heard back from a helpful SDOT reviewer who cleared up the confusion around the information we were sent last week before the work party. He is also currently reviewing our Landscape Plan and offering helpful questions and suggestions. Working with him feels like we might be able to make a fresh start on a collaborative working relationship with SDOT. Here’s the gist of our conversation …
In a fall meeting we explained to SDOT’s Urban Forester that the trees to be thinned were planted without permits by homeowners past and present on the public streetend.
Apparently this fact was forgotten. The latest word from the SDOT reviewer is that unpermitted trees do NOT need the homeowner’s permission before removal or thinning. However we will need to apply for a tree removal permit which we were not advised to do in November and did not learn about until last Friday.
Once issued, there is a two week period we need to wait before proceeding. During that time if anyone files an appeal, it will require an additional ten day period for SDOT to respond.
3/9/2023 ORIGINAL POST
Dear Friends of Hidden Beach,
We have endeavored for two years to work collaboratively with SDOT in an effort to preserve and protect Hidden Beach from private encroachment. We have not shared all of the ups and downs this has entailed, but have preferred to focus on our movement forward. We had a productive meeting with Jackson Keenan-Koch at SDOT who had helpful questions and suggestions regarding our permit application.
This week, however, we had a surprise that we want to share with you. It involves the unpermitted trees on the north edge of the streetend. In the fall, Arborist Daniel Collins, Libby and Omar from SDOT met the SDOT urban forester, Stephanie, to consider the trees and their thinning and/or removal. We fully expected to put volunteers to work this weekend to complete this small task. We were never advised to obtain an Urban Forestry permit or anything else.
After three months of no responses we received the following letter yesterday from Stephanie Helms. Out of the blue comes the requirement to more or less start over the entire process of removing these trees: permits, landscape plan, permission from adjacent homeowner — yes, that's right. We now must obtain the permission of the homeowner to the north (who illegally planted the tress) to work on these trees on public property.
The letter to us, and the letter from us, are below.
This is just the latest in a long line of delays, missteps, confusion and misinformation that have characterized our efforts our work with SDOT to date, with the exception of last week's meeting with the reviewer.
Libby Sinclair
Steward, East Harrison SSE
Hidden Beach
From Stephanie Helms, Urban Forestry /SDOT
"I am looking in the system and am not seeing an accompanying Urban Forestry permit related to this project or address, which is required as part of the construction use permit and SIP lite permit in order to move forward – so unfortunately, I cannot authorize any tree work for the upcoming volunteer event. We’ll need the urban forestry permit to be issued concurrently with the construction use permit, which has not been issued yet.Please submit an SDOT urban forestry permit and include a landscape plan with location, species, and size of trees to be removed, along with the location, species, and size of trees to be replanted. We’ll need a letter of authorization from the adjacent property owner as well. Additional info on submitting an SDOT permit application can be found here.
SDOT urban forestry permits do not have any fees associated with them, and should take roughly 15 min to complete. When you have submitted the application, go ahead and email me here so I can keep an eye out for it. I saw in your previous email that you have tagged the trees, please post them for 10 business days with the removal notice found in PDF form at the bottom of this page.
Lastly, please confirm which construction use permit is active: I am seeing SUCONST0004094 and SUCONST0001878, and need to know which one to link the upcoming urban forestry permit to in the system.
I have cc’d my colleague, urban forester Ben Roberts, who I work with on larger projects like these. He is working on the SIP lite associated with this project and should be kept in the loop. Please let me know if anyone has any questions!
Thanks so much,
Stephanie
Letter from Libby and Friends of Hidden Beach: March 9, 2023
Dear Stephanie,
I am completely mystified by this turn of events. I wonder if it is possible that our information was somehow misplaced or confused with another?
You may recall meeting in November at the East Harrison streetend with Daniel Collins, Arborist, Omar and me. We examined the unpermitted trees which Daniel included in his extensive and very specific Arborist's report on the entire streetend (it can be found on our website).
At that time we observed that the trees in that cluster (about 14 + evergreens in a very small space) were planted "under the radar" at the request of a previous homeowner as a screen. I have the name of the employee who did the planting if needed. The trees were illegally planted at that time as a screen, and additional unpermitted evergreens have continued to appear with the arrival of the newest homeowners.
As was noted during our site visit in November, not only are all 14-16 trees unpermitted, but they are so overplanted that several are already dying or dead, or will be soon. The recommendations for thinning and removal and possibly even transplanting of a few was discussed in detail at our meeting and in Daniel's report. He subsequently informed the community that thinning would take place, identified and marked the trees and invited public comment.
At the conclusion of our meeting with you we had the impression that you would need to check a few things, but that we could likely proceed. We recruited volunteers to assist Daniel in this effort and planned ahead scheduling a work party for two days from now on March 11.
In the intervening three months since our meeting, we received no further information. Daniel did not receive responses to emails inquiring about it. It is only this week, two days ago, that we learned from you that not only do we have to start over - it would seem - but that SDOT requires that we obtain permission from the adjacent private homeowner to deal with unpermitted trees in the public Right of Way.
How could a straightforward violation by adjacent private homeowners past and present have become so complicated? That was a dizzying set of new requirements you sent out just yesterday. Capping it all, permission from homeowners required... Are you seriously requiring us to obtain permission to remove these illegal trees from the very people who had them planted there? How likely do you think that is? And in any case, why would they be empowered to determine what happens in the public right-of-way?
Our community of volunteers donates time and energy to care for this limited public resource. We have spent two years trying to work with SDOT to protect the ROW from private encroachments. We would very much like to be partners with SDOT. Removing some of the trees as we discussed should have been an opportunity to re-establish trust and renew a sense of collaboration with SDOT. Instead, we find ourselves taken by surprise, mystified, wondering how we got here, rug pulled out from under us yet again. You'd think that we were the enemy.
This is so disappointing and discouraging. On behalf of Friends of Hidden Beach we would like some answers.
Thank you,
Libby Sinclair,
Steward East Harrison SSE
