HomeMy WebLinkAboutExceptional Tree Site Visit Protocols (2023)Exceptional Tree Site Visit Protocols
(Produced by Honolulu AAC 2023)
General
The Exceptional Tree (ET) Nomination Permitted Interaction Group will be established at a full committee meeting and the scope of the investigation will be set.
The ET Nomination Permitted Interaction Group will organize documents in the Exceptional Trees Nominations Google Drive folder
Please be careful of editing as this is a documentation resource that is only intended for official Arborist Advisory Committee (AAC) use
Please use the ET Master Nomination List for the current Permitted Interaction Group to track information:
The date the property owner was reached out to
AAC Point of Contact
Confirmed date and time of viewing
Recommendations to accept as ET
Reasoning for recommendations and inspection notes
Communication about Permitted Interaction Group matters should only take place with members of the Permitted Interaction Group, not the whole AAC.
Contacting the Property Owner
The ET Nomination Permitted Interaction Group will review the nominations and determine which trees can be viewed on/from public property and which trees are on private property and
require coordinating access with the property owners.
Identify one member of the Permitted Interaction Group to be the point of contact (POC) for the property owners of the ET Nominations
The POC will directly communicate with the homeowner and relay information back to the other Permitted Interaction Group members
Preference for communication via email.
If there is no response after 7 days, follow up with a phone call
The POC will reach out directly to the property owners with their available dates and times to inspect the necessary trees on private property.
Please determine at least two dates that the homeowner will be available
The POC will correspond and confirm meeting times and conduct inspections accordingly.
If the date/time of the meeting needs to change, contact the property owners at least 24 hours in advance.
Site Visits
As a safety measure, there shall be at least two Permitted Interaction Group members at any site visit
Private property viewings:
It is highly advised that there is always an initial in-person meeting with the property owner to discuss the ET nomination and share educational resources
Tree health and maintenance, benefits, ET map, encourage future nominations, etc.
Advise homeowner of pruning permit and tax deduction for the state law, ET status will be passed on with the title of the house, process of AAC meeting timeline, let the property owner
know that the ordinance will be updated once a year in the springtime
Additional viewings
If not all member(s) can make the initial meeting with the homeowner, the member(s) can view the tree if visible from public property
OR
Please let all other Permitted Interaction Group members and the property owner know if there will be more than one viewing of the tree at a different date/time than agreed upon by the
Permitted Interaction Group.
Publicly owned trees:
If a tree is in a neighborhood area, the Permitted Interaction Group can conduct outreach to neighborhood boards, nearby homeowners, and community groups to inform them of the nomination
and program.
On-site:
Photographs shall be taken that represent the tree’s health, condition, and exceptional tree criteria where applicable (Historic or Cultural Value, Age, Rarity, Location, Size, Esthetic
Quality, and/or Endemic Status).
Please upload photographs into the corresponding “TO BE PROCESSED” folder for each tree.
Post-Site Visit
Once ready, the ET Nomination Permitted Interaction Group will then present its findings and recommendations to the full committee at a second meeting.
This gives the public the opportunity to be informed of the ET Nomination Permitted Interaction Group’s findings and recommendations and can submit testimony on it so that the board
can then discuss, deliberate, and decide on the ET Nomination Permitted Interaction Group’s conclusions and recommendations.
At the third meeting, the AAC will vote on each complete ET nomination application to accept or deny trees into a draft ordinance.