INVERNESS - The County Commission approved a watered-down tree ordinance Tuesday, concluding a two-year struggle between environmentalists and the building community about how to avoid clear-cutting on new residential developments.
By a 4-1 vote, the commission passed a law requiring builders to preserve two trees on lots that are 10,000 square feet or smaller. For lots greater than 10,000 square feet, builders will have to preserve one tree for every 3,000 square feet, or the equivalent of 15 trees per acre.
The new law reflects concessions made to the Citrus County Builders Association, which viewed tree preservation and protection as an added expense. A previous draft of the ordinance required builders to preserve one tree per 2,000 square feet, or 22 trees per acre.
The final version is a simplified version of previous drafts. Builders, residents and county staff members had complained that the current law is too complicated and difficult to enforce.
The new version also puts a cap on the total number of trees a developer must preserve or plant. That upper limit, 35 trees for the entire property, reflects a request by attorney Clark Stillwell, representing the builders association, who asked the commission to approve an ordinance similar to Hernando County's.
Hernando County has a cap on the number of trees builders have to preserve.
In a nearly two-hour debate, commissioners argued about the necessity of having an ordinance in a county where clear-cutting hasn't exactly been epidemic.
Commission Chairman Jim Fowler, who cast the dissenting vote, called the ordinance "intrusive," punishing all builders when only a few had engaged in rampant clear-cutting.
"I think it's a big to-do about nothing," he said. "It's too damn complicated. It doesn't accomplish anything."
Other commissioners disagreed, saying community standards are needed for tree preservation because housing construction in Citrus County is booming.
Commissioners wanted to impose a penalty for not complying with the ordinance, and it came in the form of fines if builders removed trees without obtaining a $30 tree removal permit.
"I don't think the penalties we had before had any teeth to them," said Chuck Dixon, the county's community development director.
Now, if builders remove trees without a permit, they would have to pay a fine of $125 for every 1,000 square feet of the entire building site. These fines would be paid into a landscape enhancement fund maintained by the county.
Although they have been pushing for a stronger tree ordinance, environmentalists were curiously absent Tuesday.
