On Tuesday, the Tampa Tribune’s editorial page page spanked Mayor Bob Buckhorn upon reports that his committee charged with loosening some of the city’s notorious set of regulations, would go after the it’s tree protection code.
The editorial came after the Tribune’s Christian Wade reported that Tampa’s tree protection code is something that his 18 member committee charged with trying to streamline some of the city’s numerous regulations might be interested in altering.
Wade reported that:
Environmentalists say the protections, some of the toughest in the state, have helped preserve Tampa’s tree canopy, which in turn conserves energy, boosts property values, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and generally makes the city a better place to live.
Builders associations say the regulations are too cumbersome, costly and punitive and have come to epitomize the city’s reputation for being unfriendly to development.
But his story also reported that of some 211 requests to remove grand trees, only six were rejected.
This article appears in Sep 29 – Oct 5, 2011.
