City wants to change church plan to avoid suit
Deirdre Newman
The city does not want to be liable for any damages, claims or legal
actions involving the ficus trees planted by the Prince of Peace
church along Baker Street or Mesa Verde Drive.
Therefore, the Planning Commission will consider adding conditions
to the church’s master plan that would hold the city blameless for
any damage caused by the trees.
Tonight, the commission will consider this and two other changes
to the church’s master plan, in the number of students and in the use
of the walkway next to the Baker Street driveway.
Church officials did not return calls for comment on the
condition, but some nearby residents say it doesn’t go far enough.
They want to see the ficus trees removed.
“If I trip and fall on their property, and I break my hip, and I’m
in the hospital or I’m incapacitated, I don’t want money,” Gordon
Pate said. “I want the quality of life that I have today.”
The Planning Commission first considered these changes to the
church’s master plan on Oct. 27. Commissioners opted to continue the
item to allow church and school officials to have more time to work
with the city attorney’s office on the language of the condition. The
condition has been changed so it is amenable to both parties,
according to planning staff members.
The condition is the result of a lengthy effort by the city to
deal with the ficus trees, which were planted without city approval.
City officials first made an effort to get the trees removed
voluntarily and then sent a formal letter to Pastor Mark Rogers on
July 25, 2002, asking the church to remove them and replace them with
other trees. The letter, sent by Assistant Development Services
Director Perry Valantine, stated that ficus trees can have shallow or
surface rooting and pose a danger to city sidewalks.
As a matter of public safety, Valantine required that all ficus
trees within eight feet of the public sidewalk along Mesa Verde Drive
East and Baker Street should be removed and that new city-approved
trees should be planted on Baker Street. The letter threatened that
failure to comply would mean a public hearing to consider revoking
the permit for the modular buildings.
But subsequent conversations with the planning staff and the city
attorney’s office resulted in softer rhetoric and a rescinding of the
ultimatum. City officials found that the planting of the trees was
done without criminal intent, the trees weren’t causing any damage to
public property and the planning staff had the authority to approve
the ficus trees, even though they’re not on the recommended list.
Root barriers have since been implemented.
The other two changes to the master plan the commission will
consider are allowing a maximum number of 315 students on site at any
one time, without limiting the number of preschool versus elementary
school students, and allowing use of the walkway next to the Baker
Street driveway. Some neighbors are concerned that the walkway is too
dangerous because the street is a main thoroughfare and doesn’t
contain any pedestrian markings to connect the school to the off-site
parking.
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