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Editorial: Myths, Misinformation and Propaganda
December 16th, 2008

Editorial: Editorial: Will Park Closure Just Make Things Worse?
November 29th, 2008

Editorial: Editorial: October and November Surprises
October 30th, 2008

Editorial: Is the Sky Falling?
September 24th, 2008

Editorial: Editorial: Who Reads Cedar Key News?
September 19th, 2008

Editorial: The First Hurdle for Every Child
September 3rd, 2008

Editorial: A View of China from Cedar Key
August 18th, 2008

Editorial: Who Killed the Real Estate Market?
August 8th, 2008

Editorial: Editorial: It`s Clamerica!
July 1st, 2008

Editorial: Can the City Commission Limit Noise?
June 6th, 2008

Editorial: Unintended Results Rock the Boat
May 29th, 2008

Editorial: Creeping Gas Prices
May 13th, 2008

Editorial: Cedar Key Election Soon
April 30th, 2008

Editorial: Questions fo the Candidates
April 2nd, 2008

Editorial: Coming Elections: National County and City
March 19th, 2008

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The "Tree Ordinance"

The "Tree Ordinance"

Editorial

Two of Cedar Key`s more prominent citizens were ticketed recently for speeding, a violation of State law. Speeding cases are usually straightforward, unless maternity is about to occur. (Neither case will be able to use that defense.) But some of Cedar Key`s ordinances appear to be harder to enforce than the State's speed law.


Three problem areas: The noise ordinance, the golf cart ordinance and the "tree" ordinance. Measuring air boat noise and determining jurisdiction are being studied by the city`s attorney. Also, as reported weeks ago, Cedar Key`s golf cart armada is on a collision course with Florida law. City Attorney David Coffey is working on the problem. Perhaps less inflammatory, but no less problematic, is the Cedar Key ordinance regarding felling of trees with a trunk diameter of more than eight inches.


The "tree" ordinance says that cutting a tree of more than eight inches in diameter requires a permit. What happens when a tree is cut without a permit? Some people believe that pine trees are exempt. Some people say that the tree ordinance is erratically or selectively enforced. Some people say that the punishment for illegal cutting of a tree is determined by the Cedar Key Garden Club.


A careful reading, or even a cursory reading, of the tree ordinance makes it clear that pine trees are not exempt. If the ordinance is clear it should be enforced, and without selectively doing so. If City officials do not want to enforce the tree ordinance they should take it off the books. Meanwhile, there is a recent case in which four large pine trees on one lot were cut without a permit. This may require a special meeting of the Cedar Key Garden Club. Nevertheless, this case brings the validity of the tree ordinance into question.

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