Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Saving trees a necessity and not an eccentricity

By A TIMES EDITORIAL
Published March 21, 2007

Land developers may choose to call Tarpon Springs "eccentric" because of its tough tree ordinance, but the city's determination to protect its tree canopy is laudable.

Last summer the Tarpon Springs City Commission approved some new rules to protect trees. Commissioners were concerned that as Tarpon Springs became more densely developed, its thinning tree canopy might disappear. A community that valued its historical ambience had to value the tree canopy, too, some officials contended, so they created new rules requiring permits before trees could be cut down and specifying in great detail how trees must be protected during building construction.

Now, the new rules have accomplished just what was intended. The city has found what it contends was the illegal destruction of trees and has levied stiff fines to punish the alleged lawbreakers and send a message to other developers.

After a resident complained about downed trees, city inspectors checked out property owned by Daniel J. Comeau at 727 Bayshore Drive and said they found that 55 trees had been illegally cut down.

Comeau said the site had been cleared without his permission, but the city levied a fine of $245,000 for the destruction. The penalty was substantial because the tree ordinance allows levying fines that total four times the permit fee and the cost of a replacement tree.

Credit City Commissioner Peter Dalacos for bringing scrutiny to the second case. Dalacos noticed that a lot of trees were gone from the Meres Boulevard site where Calista Cay townhomes are being developed. The city claimed 45 trees had been cut down without a permit.

Developer Frank Burkett faces a fine of more than $92,000, but he says it is all a mistake and he will fight the fine before the city's Code Enforcement Board.

Burkett said he didn't have such problems with a recent project in Dunedin, but that "Tarpon Springs is a bit more eccentric." Burkett also argued that under his project's landscaping plan, 140 trees being cut down for the townhome project will be replaced with 148.

It's not the same. Replacement trees have to grow for many years to create the shady canopy provided by mature trees. That is one of the reasons to have a tree ordinance that will protect mature or valuable specimens while also requiring replacement trees for those cut down with city approval. The goal is to increase the city's inventory of trees over time.

Tarpon Springs officials talked tough when they passed their tree ordinance last year. It will be up to the city's Code Enforcement Board to make sure the ordinance is properly implemented and that confirmed violators don't wiggle out of appropriate penalties.

With concern about pollution and global warming growing worldwide, every community ought to be taking strong action to protect trees.

[Last modified March 20, 2007, 23:09:28]