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Letter to the editor

A hedge, property rights and city code

By SUE CARLTON
Published October 24, 2007

Consider the conundrum of the property rights case of the feisty St. Petersburg Shanklins.

Not to mention the case involving the mayor. But more on him later.

Jim Shanklin is the kind of guy who on principle waged what must have been one aggravating four-year battle with the city over - well, first over his viburnum hedge, and then over big signs he put up to express his thoughts on this. (When you pick a fight with a guy who works for a sign installation company, get ready.)

The Shanklins, who live on busy 22nd Avenue N not far from Interstate 275, got in hot water over a rule that says hedges on major streets can't be more than 6 feet high.

Precisely because they live on a major street, they grew theirs to about 10 feet. They wanted some privacy and protection from noise, traffic and pollution - not to mention the occasional runaway hubcap.

Shanklin contends there is no health, safety or welfare issue connected to the height of his hedge. "It's ridiculous," he says.

City code begs to differ.

But if you like ridiculous, there's the rest of the story, and how "hedges" ended up becoming "trees."

After years of fighting, the Shanklins gave up the battle, pleaded no contest and paid the fines.

Shanklin then put up a privacy fence and trimmed away the vegetation from the bottoms of his hedges 6 feet up in order to make them "trees" rather than rule-governed hedges.

And viola - what he believes to be compliance. (The city will determine that after 30 days.)

Now it's hard to argue with the spirit of code enforcement in general. Rules that keep you from, say, having to look at an actual toilet set out on a residential curb during your daily commute to work are an undeniably sound idea. (How that toilet finally disappeared from my Tampa neighborhood,I have no clue.)

Ditto overgrown lots that are health hazards or bushes that block stop signs or your view of oncoming traffic.

Rules that seem more to do with aesthetics and less about logic? A whole lot blurrier.

A side note: Did you, like me, laugh a little at the story of St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker being all regular guy by getting into code trouble for having trees too close to the sidewalk and an alley? And the mayor tree trimming his way into compliance?

Score one for equal treatment of a city's citizens, I say.

But back to Shanklin, and his signs.

During the battle, he put up banners across his hedges, including one that said "CENSORED."

Too big, the city said.

Though he pleaded no contest there, too, Shanklin says he plans to fight back with well-known First Amendment lawyer Luke Lirot at his side. He says he'll find a legal way to have protected free speech on his private property.

For the viewing pleasure of the traffic whizzing by these days, the current sign across the fence and below the "trees" reads "YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK."

Ultimately, Shanklin plans a banner featuring no words, just a photo-realistic picture of his former hedge.

Do you love it?

And so goes the age-old story: Rules to govern a civilized society, absurd as they may sometimes seem, and a man willing to fight to do what he wants with what is his own.

[Last modified October 24, 2007, 00:37:07]