{"id":44870,"date":"2019-09-27T10:08:58","date_gmt":"2019-09-27T14:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?p=44870"},"modified":"2019-09-27T10:09:22","modified_gmt":"2019-09-27T14:09:22","slug":"no-local-permit-needed-to-then-prune-trim-or-remove-the-tree-replacement-can-no-longer-be-required","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/2019\/09\/no-local-permit-needed-to-then-prune-trim-or-remove-the-tree-replacement-can-no-longer-be-required\/","title":{"rendered":"No local permit needed to then prune, trim or remove the tree; replacement can no longer be required"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A new Florida law says local governments cannot require a\npermit or mitigation for pruning, trimming or removing a tree on residential\nproperty if the property owner obtains specified documentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the new legislation, which went into effect July 1,\nproperty owners must get documentation that the tree presents a danger to\npersons or property from an arborist certified by the International Society of\nArboriculture (ISA) or a Florida licensed landscape architect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lee County government spokesperson Tim Engstrom said the\ncounty cannot require a permit, advanced notice or preclude property owners\nfrom removing a tree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Once the tree is removed, the county cannot require\nthe property owner to replace the tree,” he said. “This only applies\nto trees that have been deemed a danger to persons or property. If the property\nowner does not have the documentation to support the removal or pruning, then they\nwill be subject to the same regulations in place today.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked how the new law would affect Cape Coral\nresidents, city spokesperson Maureen Buice said the law doesn’t affect Cape\nCoral, “as we don’t require permits for trimming or removing trees.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deputy director of natural resources for the city of\nSanibel, Holly Milbrandt, said if a property owner retained a permit, the city\nwould require mitigation to replant the vegetation in another place on the\nproperty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The main reason is to replace the wild food source and\nhabitat that was lost,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new law takes away the permitting requirement and staff\nreview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It’s between them (the property owner) and their\narborist and landscape architect to make a decision on what trees pose a threat\nto the property,” Milbrandt said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Southwest Florida residents shouldn’t fear trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CEO of the Florida Chapter ISA, Norm Easey, says they aren’t\ninherently dangerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“People think they are but it’s a specific defect in\nthe tree that gives trees a bad name,” he said. “Trees fail in storms\nand cause damage and people associate that with the tree but the reality is\nthat it’s a defect in the tree that failed.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the ISA focuses on the\nsafety for the arboriculture industry around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ISA also offers the only internationally recognized and\naccredited personal certification program in the arboriculture industry. It has\nover 33,000 credential holders in 47 countries around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are 1,947 certified arborists in Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ISA does not credential companies. If you find someone\nthat may not be ISA certified, but claims to be, you can check their\ncredentials through the ISA’s “Verify a Credential” tool at www.treesaregood.org\/findanarborist\/verify<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Easey also said performing proper maintenance on trees is\nimportant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And most of the time, when trees have defects in them, they\ncan be mitigated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The detect could be anything from an overextended\nbranch, which are known to fail, or a branch with bark inclusions, which is\nknown to fail,” Easey said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tree could also have decay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“There’s a myriad of things that create defects in\ntrees that are known to lead to failures,” he said. “Most of the time\ndefects can be mitigated by pruning or other things to reduce risk.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find an ISA Certified Arborist: www.isa-arbor.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check an arborist’s credential(s): www.treesaregood.org\/findanarborist\/verify<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new Florida law says local governments cannot require a permit or mitigation for pruning, trimming or removing a tree on residential property if the property owner obtains specified documentation.… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":44871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44870"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}