The "Tree Ordinance"

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.