Having lost a battle to halt a state tree-chopping attack on the disease, homeowners seek a court ruling that could lead to greater compensation.
By Associated Press
Published February 26, 2004
FORT LAUDERDALE - Opponents of Florida's program to eliminate citrus canker want to force the state to pay as much money as possible for destroying their backyard orange and grapefruit trees.
A Florida Supreme Court ruling two weeks ago vindicated the citrus canker program, which allows state workers to chop down any citrus tree within 1,900 feet of a canker outbreak. The contagious bacterial disease threatens the state's $9-billion citrus industry.
But the decision hinted that the court could find that the trees have value, and the attorney for the program's opponents asked the court on Tuesday to reconsider how homeowners should be compensated if the state destroys their trees.
Andrew Meyers, chief appellate counsel for Broward County, said residents who lose their trees should be able to have a court hearing to determine their financial loss before the trees are destroyed. His court motion argues that backyard trees are "hundreds of miles" from commercial citrus groves and do not pose an imminent threat to the citrus industry.
"Our Constitution requires the state to pay full compensation when it takes private property," Meyers said.
He estimated the bill for the chopped-down trees could be $1-billion.
The Florida Department of Agriculture, which runs the eradication program, maintains that citrus trees within 1,900 feet of infected ones are worthless because they will eventually become diseased.
"We're going to let the compensation issue work its way through the courts," Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Liz Compton said. "... We understand people have emotional attachment to their trees."
Citrus canker blemishes fruit and can cause a tree to drop fruit prematurely and eventually die.
The state has chopped down and burned more than 2-million trees since canker was detected in Miami-Dade County seven years ago. Compton said workers need to cut down at least another 170,000 trees in Broward County, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.
