Sarasota-area State Sen. Greg Steube, a Republican of course, has filed a bill that, if passed, would do away with local tree ordinances. Typically passed at the city level, these policies govern whether a property owner can remove or trim certain trees, how to mitigate loss of a tree and how to dispose of a downed tree as well as what constitutes a "grand" tree (typically large, old live oak trees that cannot be removed).
Cities like St. Petersburg, Tampa and Sarasota all have such policies in places to help reduce flooding, encourage wildlife, maintain local character, provide shade and offset carbon that cars and trucks release into the air. Local tree ordinances also safeguard cities from developers who would eschew a shaded natural landscape for a sprawling, water-intensive lawn.
They apply to public and private properties, the latter of which apparently being what bugs Steube (and developers).
He told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune that during a recent construction project on his own property, he found the regulations to be "onerous" and wants there to be one policy at the state level governing tree maintenance and removal.
It's yet another effort to strip local autonomy from cities and counties that want to pass regulations that reflect the desires of their constituents, regulations that are typically crafted with careful research as well as respect for property rights in mind. Previous efforts to quash local control in Florida include bills barring cities and counties from passing fertilizer, plastic bag and Styrofoam bans as well as bills making it illegal for them to set a local minimum wage or prohibit guns in public parks.
The Herald-Tribune notes that the Florida League of Cities and the Florida Association of Counties are both likely to fight the legislation.
This article appears in Nov 2-9, 2017.
