By Ariel Carmona Jr. Walnut – The Walnut City Council held their regular meeting this past week. After hearing a testimony from a developer and from neighbors opposing a proposed land subdivision, the council voted 5-0 to send the item back to city staff and for the city planning commission to review proposed amendments on the subdivision of the existing property totaling more than five acres. The bulk of the city council’s latest meeting on Dec. 11 was dedicated to a public hearing on the appeal of the planning commission’s approval of a recent request to subdivide two existing lots into six on a property located west of Silver Valley Trail and southeast of Cantel Place within the rural overlay zoning districts of the City. Key to neighboring property owners’ opposition to the proposed subdivision is the preservation of the woodlands, the protection of existing Black Oak trees, and alleged insufficient buffering between the new street and the existing residential properties on Cofer Court. According to data provided by the City, it was noted by the Planning Commission at their Nov. 6 meeting that all of the proposed lots would be accessed from a newly constructed street (Sunny Brook Trail) that would run perpendicular to Silver Valley Trail. Resident Carol Coy, a 27-year resident whose property lies adjacent to the proposed subdivision, said she believed the community development department erred in recommending approval and the City Planning Commission. She said the commission should not have approved the tentative tract map. “The developer was supposed to be required to demonstrate that it was legally feasible to build on the proposed sub-devised sites before approval and this was not done,” said Coy, adding that the City of Walnut, oak and walnut tree preservation ordinance, and city code require the preservation of all healthy oak and walnut trees, unless compelling reasons exist justifying the removal of the trees. Coy said the ordinance was adopted in order to preserve Walnut’s remaining heritage trees. Neighbors said the subdivision includes at least three walnut trees, including 10 Southern Californian Oak trees subject to the ordinance. “By its design, it cannot be built without removing or relocating some and maybe most of these trees, trees must be removed due to the current access road location, grading and driveway design,” said Coy. “The developer did not provide any reason for this design,” she added. Coy also said other developers in Walnut were required to provide adequate and appropriate buffers between their projects and existing zones. “If a Trail or other buffer is not added along the south boundary, the wall included by the planning commission would be acceptable.” Walnut resident Richard Worth told the council he retained the services of an Alhambra based engineer to propose amendments to the proposal from developer Handaja Harijanto. Hariajanto said he believed at least one of the trees was damaged by recent fires and said he was frustrated by the ongoing process, urging the council to approve the Planning Commission’s decision. “We have so many options, we’ve been discussing for many years,” said Harijanto, who was praised by the council for making many existing concessions to appease residents’ concerns. “It takes at least 80 years to grow a mature Black Walnut tree and only four foot and under saplings transplant well. These are mature trees, since our city was named after Walnut trees, the developer should be required to incorporate the trees into the development plan, not just mow over them,” said resident Linda Wolford. City Attorney Michael Montgomery said the council had little choice but to send the issue back to the planning commission due to state regulations. “You gotta send it back. These are not minor adjustments, these are grade elevations, changes to the street, prohibition against tree removals, these are major, and staff has to look at it first. We don’t even know of the proposed amendments are legal under our code.” “The state legislature said the planning commission has the primary responsibility to approve subdivisions, the only reason the council is involved is if there’s a right to appeal, but the decision making body is the planning commission,” said Montgomery. In other council actions, the council approved an emergency ordinance to amend its municipal code dealing with its building codes so that they would comply with county and state mandated updates, and they approved a 1.33 percent rate increase for solid waste collection effective in the new year. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Walnut City Council is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 8 at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers at 21201 La Puente Road.
