Okay, so an owner wants to cut down a decorative flowering cherry tree on the HOA's property. He thinks its burl would look great in a woodworking project. A different owner was concerned about the ageing tree, and wanted to replace it. I had noticed it wasn't fully flowering anymore.
Well, we live in a city, and there are rules.
The city has a website, but some parts are broken.
The request to cut came by text from a different owner. I let the rest of the board know what was up, and began perusing the city's rules.
That tree appears to be "protected." This means one cannot cut the tree without hopping through a hoop or two, unless it's in danger of uprooting, or in some other way is an imminent threat.
To worms, maybe, in a hurricane. It's pretty short.
Now, the usual tree cutting permit is free. However, the rules for a protected tree which has at least an 8" trunk at 4 1/2 feet, as this tree has, are different. They seem to suggest we need a building permit, as every protected tree must be replaced to maintain the number of trees on someone's property, and I suppose this is one way the city can be certain that the tree was actually replaced by another tree, and that it is an approved tree.
Sigh.
The trunk/burl extends beyond 4 1/2 feet, and is just over 8" wide at that point. The whole trunk ends at just under 5', as it branches out there.
Maybe if I mounded a couple of inches of dirt at its base... 🤔 😈
I sent an email to the city asking if we needed a permit. When I told the owner who'd texted me, he said he'd already sent the city a picture, and they had told him yes. So I sent another email to the city, asking if the cutter, or the HOA, is supposed to get the permit.
I'm 100% certain that if it costs the HOA 10 cents, our treasurer will have our heads.
I haven't heard back (that was all on Friday), so tomorrow I'll call them to chat.
Fun fact: the page with the instructions for how to begin the process says to go to a broken URL to get started. 🙄
Once I'd heard about the idea, I sent a link with the city's approved trees to owners nearby the flowering cherry. We'll replace it with something interesting. The list of city-approved trees is quite long.
#Gresham #Oregon
