Tree Ordinance Violations

Editorial

Editor`a Note: The following editorial ran in Cedar Key News two years ago. It is clear that many people are still unaware that a permit is needed to fell trees. To increase public interest in protecting Cedar Key`s trees, and to make the tree ordiance effective, Cedar Key News will start running a new feature, namely "The Stump of the Week."

Ignorance of Cedar Key`s ordinance requiring a permit for felling trees resulted in the felling of a large pine tree Thursday. Langston Tree Service of Chiefland unwittingly cut a sixteen inch pine tree on a lot across the street from the home of City Building official Michael Wieland.

The manager of Langston Tree Service told Cedar Key News that he was sixth generation Levy County and that he never knew that a permit was required. Furthermore, he said that this was a "violation of our rights to cut trees", and that the City of Cedar Key needs to get its act together.

This is a second violation of the tree ordinance in the past three months. Four large pine trees were cut on a lot that was clearcut and bulldozed without a permit on East Point Road a few weeks ago. This makes it clear that the tree ordinance is not known to many firms that do land clearing. Cedar and Palm receive special consideration, but pine and other trees greater than eight inches in diameter are also protected and require a permit to be cut down. The irony of the recent violation is that the tree that was felled would have been a candidate for removal because of its proximity to a building according to the building official.