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Members of the Northwest District Association are appealing a project to get clarification on how the Historic Land Commission views historic trees on properties.

Earlier this year, a proposal to build two apartment complexes on Northwest 19^th Avenue and Johnson Street was approved by the commission. As part of the project, four 125-year-old elm trees will be knocked down.

The neighborhood association initially fought the project to save the trees but eventually acquiesced after created a mitigation plan. Construction is expected to start on the complexes in November.

But association members are still confused as to why the project was approved. They say the commission broke a code 鈥� Portland City Code 33.445.320 鈥� that requires consideration as to how projects will affect historic districts as a whole. The committee failed to incorporate the trees, which are a significant part of the district, said John Bradley, the association’s land-use chair.

鈥淓ven though it’s an appeal, we’re actually going to the council for advice. It’s not adversarial at all,鈥� Bradley said. 鈥淲e just want to know if (the trees) aren’t going to be considered as part of the historic design process, then what is?鈥�

The appeal will be heard on Wednesday by Portland City Council.