The Humboldt County Planning Commission approved two coastal-zone tree-removal permits Sept. 17, revising conditions recommended by county staff as officials prepare broader rules for protecting large trees.
Both permits passed 3-1, with Commissioner Lorna McFarlane voting no on each. The decisions were made during the commission’s Sept. 17 meeting.
For the Call project east of Eureka, the commission kept a condition barring removal of trees that meet the state Forest Practice Rules’ definition of “large old trees.” It removed a proposed limit allowing no more than 25% of redwoods between 40 and 60 inches in diameter to be removed. Instead, the commission required the work to follow Cal Fire’s structure-protection permits and remain under the supervision of a registered professional forester.
The project covers about four acres and involves an estimated 80 trees, according to the staff presentation. The proposed removal would reduce the project area’s estimated density from 58 trees per acre to about 38 trees per acre.
The commission also approved the Maples permit, which covers removal of eight redwoods on a 0.76-acre residential parcel near Pigeon Point Road. Commissioners removed a staff condition requiring retention of tree No. 5, described during the hearing as a second-growth redwood about 64 inches in diameter and 162 years old.
County staff had recommended retaining the tree because of its size, even though it did not meet both state criteria for a protected large-old tree. The applicants and their consultant argued that the tree posed safety and sunlight concerns near the home; a registered professional forester said the project was being carried out under a Cal Fire structure-protection exemption.
In both decisions, commissioners added findings that the applications were submitted before county discussions of a proposed tree-preservation ordinance and a moratorium on large-tree removal. The findings say the approvals should not be treated as precedent for those future rules.
Planning Director John Ford told commissioners that the Board of Supervisors had directed staff to develop an ordinance focused primarily on old-growth trees and potentially other large trees. Staff said the board was expected to consider the proposed moratorium Oct. 6. The scope of any future protections, including how “large” trees would be defined, remained under development.
The commission’s action resolves the two permits but does not settle the county’s broader tree-protection debate. Final signed resolutions and complete permit conditions were not available in the reviewed materials.
