§ 8178-7.6. Mitigation requirements.

To protect the ecological value and visual quality of protected trees, all appropriate and practicable steps shall be taken to avoid and minimize damage to protected trees consistent with the provisions of this Section 8178-7.6. The following mitigation measures to reduce damage to protected trees shall be undertaken in the following order:

a.

Avoidance. Avoid direct and indirect impacts to protected trees through project siting and design. Adverse impacts to protected trees shall be avoided if there is a feasible alternative with less adverse impacts.

b.

Onsite Mitigation. If damage to protected trees cannot be avoided, mitigation for the removal, alteration, or transplantation of a protected tree shall be in the form of transplanting or planting replacement trees on the same property where the protected trees were impacted.

c.

Off-Site Mitigation. When avoidance or onsite mitigation is infeasible, all or in part, due to crowding or other physical constraints, transplanting or planting replacement trees may be allowed, all or in part, in an off-site location that contains suitable habitat that is sufficient in area to accommodate the numbers and required types of replacement trees. Off-site locations must be within the Ventura County coastal zone and, whenever feasible, within the same watershed in which the protected tree was removed.

d.

In-lieu Fees. In special circumstances, required tree mitigation may be in the form of an in-lieu fee into the Planning Division's Tree Mitigation Fund. Special circumstances shall be limited to situations where no appropriate on- or off-site locations are identified for tree replacement (i.e., on- and off-site mitigation is infeasible), and such circumstances shall be confirmed by documented site characteristics or other evidence. Mitigation measures that include payment of in-lieu fees shall be approved by the Planning Director and administered as follows:

1.

The County's Tree Mitigation Fund shall be the depository for all in-lieu fee payments.

2.

The amount of the in-lieu fee shall be established by the Planning Division using the most current edition of the International Society of Arboriculture's "Guide to Plant Appraisal," which represents the cost to replace and install a tree of the same species and size as the protected tree being removed or encroached upon. The in-lieu fee shall also include an amount to cover the costs to maintain and monitor required replacement trees for a ten-year period.

3.

The County Tree Mitigation Fund shall be used to plant protected trees at suitable sites in the coastal zone of unincorporated Ventura County and, if possible, within the same watershed as the protected tree(s) being removed. Suitable sites shall be limited to land restricted from development (public land, land owned by conservation organizations, or land subject to a conservation easement or equivalent legal instrument). Suitable sites shall also be limited to habitats that support the protected tree. Preference shall be given to sites zoned Coastal Open Space (COS), including but not limited to native tree woodland or savanna habitat areas, properties containing areas designated ESHA, or public parkland. Project funds may only be awarded to public agencies or conservation organizations. Projects selected may provide habitat restoration and shall, at a minimum, result in an equivalent number of as would occur through on-site or off-site mitigation.

4.

No more than seven (7) percent of the in lieu fees collected may be used by the Planning Division to develop and implement appropriate programs for the above-described in-lieu mitigation measures.

(Ord. No. 4492, § 6, 6-21-2016)