By
Cathy Locke - Bee Staff Writer
Developers and landscapers wondering what plants would pass muster with Placerville officials soon may be able to consult a plant palette.
A week after the City Council denied In-N-Out Burger's appeal to keep two palm trees at its Forni Road restaurant, in part because they did not reflect the city's foothill character, the Planning Commission received a report from an ad hoc committee charged with developing a list of plants it would and would not want to see in landscaping plans for commercial projects.
Commission member Carol Anne Ogdin last month presented fellow panel members with a proposed plant list. Ogdin was chairwoman of the ad hoc committee, which included an arborist, an ecologist and members of the University of California Cooperative Extension's master gardener program.
The draft list "is a living document," she said. "It's not cast in concrete. It is a good kick-start to an ongoing process."
The goal, Ogdin said, is to make the information available on the city's Web site not only for commercial developers, but also for residents who want to know what plants grow best in certain environments.
Plants, she said, are listed in five categories: trees, shrubs, ferns, grasses and forbs, or broad-leafed herbaceous plants.
Ogdin said she envisions providing information on "plant communities" so someone who wants to plant a certain type of tree can easily find other plants that are compatible.
The list also identifies invasive plants that should be avoided.
In addition, "I would like to explore the concept of signature trees," Ogdin said, explaining that these likely would be native trees that help give the foothill community its identity and sense of place.
Since 1999, Ogdin said, the city has had a policy of requiring at least 25 percent of plants included in landscaping for commercial developments to be native species.
Commission Chairman Michael Frenn, who helped develop the policy, said the difficulty in enforcing it has been the lack of a list of native plants.
"Where
I got hung up personally was on the definition of 'native,' " he said,
explaining that plants native to Placerville seemed too narrow, and those
native to California seemed too broad."
He suggested identifying plants native to geographic zones, with a secondary list of those native to California.
Identifying plants strictly by geographic zone is a problem because it doesn't take into consideration altitude, Ogdin said. The effort in Placerville is further complicated by microclimates within the city, she said.
Commission member Les Russell said the concept of signature trees is an important feature. But he said, "I strongly recommend that you add trees with spring colors and fall colors."
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