HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 2012-12 Text Amendment for Tree City/Arbor Code ORDINANCE NO. 2012-12
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE
CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, SEMINOLE COUNTY,
FLORIDA; STREAMLINING THE HISTORIC TREE
APPROVAL PROCESS SET FORTH IN CHAPTER 5 OF
THE CITY CODE TO REQUIRE A RECOMMENDATION
FROM CITY ARBORIST RATHER THAN THE CITY'S
BEAUTIFICATION BOARD; PROVIDING FOR THE
REPEAL OF PRIOR INCONSISTENT ORDINANCES AND
RESOLUTIONS, INCORPORATION INTO THE CODE,
SEVERABILITY, AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, the City is granted the authority, under § 2(b), Art. VIII of the State
Constitution, to exercise any power for municipal purposes, except when expressly prohibited by
law; and
WHEREAS,the City Commission desires to streamline the approval process related to the
designation of historic trees within the City by amending the recommendation requirement to be
given by the City's arborist rather than the City's Beautification Board before an application can
be approved; and
WHEREAS,the City Commission of the City of Winter Springs, Florida,hereby finds this
ordinance to be in the best interests of the public health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of
Winter Springs.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF WINTER
SPRINGS HEREBY ORDAINS, AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Recitals. The foregoing recitals are hereby fully incorporated herein by
reference as legislative findings of the City Commission of Winter Springs.
Section 2. Code Amendment. The City of Winter Springs Code of Ordinances,
Section 5-8 of the City Code is hereby amended as follows (underlined type indicates additions
and strikeout type indicates deletions):
Sec. 5-8. - Specimen or historic trees.
(a) Designation. Certain trees, herein referred to as "specimen" or "historic" trees, are of
especially great concern to the public because of ecological value, of indigenous character, size,
age or historic association. Determination that a tree is a historic tree shall be made by resolution of
the city commission after a recommendation of the city's arborist beautification board of Winter
Springs, and the city arborist shall keep a permanent record of all trees so designated by the city
City of Winter Springs
Ordinance No.2012-12
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commission. Specimen trees are all trees (other than "undesirable trees" identified in Appendix A,
dead trees or diseased trees)which have a DBH of twenty-four(24)inches or more. Designation as
an historic tree may occur in any one of the following ways:
(1) An applicant may request designation of an historic tree as part of any master plan,
preliminary subdivision plat, or site plan application. To do so,the applicant shall submit an expert
evaluation by a landscape architect, horticulturalist, city forester, or other horticultural expert as
part of the application.
(2) A property owner may request such designation at any time. To do so, the property owner
shall submit an expert evaluation by a landscape architect, horticulturalist, city arborist or other
horticultural expert.
(3) The city's arborist may recommend such designation as part of their review of any application
for development, stating in writing their reasons for such designation, or may make such
designation as part of an overall tree protection planning program for the city or portion thereof.
(4) Historic tree designations shall be subject to approval by resolution of the city commission
and the city commission may grant tree replacement credits, upon granting an historic tree
designation.
(b) Removal. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, specimen or historic trees shall
not be removed except for extraordinary circumstances and hardships and only by final permit
approved by the city commission.
Section 3. Repeal of Prior Inconsistent Ordinances and Resolutions. All prior
inconsistent ordinances and resolutions adopted by the City Commission, or parts of prior
ordinances and resolutions in conflict herewith, are hereby repealed to the extent of the conflict.
Section 4. Incorporation Into Code. This Ordinance shall be incorporated into the
Winter Springs City Code and any section or paragraph, number or letter, and any heading may be
changed or modified as necessary to effectuate the foregoing. Grammatical, typographical, and
like errors may be corrected and additions, alterations, and omissions, not affecting the
construction or meaning of this Ordinance and the City Code may be freely made.
Section 5. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, word or
provision of this ordinance is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by any court of
competent jurisdiction,whether for substantive,procedural, or any other reason, such portion shall
be deemed a separate, distinct and independent provision, and such holding shall not affect the
validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance.
Section 6. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall become effective immediately
upon adoption by the City Commission of the City of Winter Springs, Florida, and pursuant to the
City of Winter Springs
Ordinance No.2012-12
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City Charter.
ADOPTED by the City Commission of the City of Winter Springs,Florida, in a regular
meeting assembled on the 10th day of September, 2012.
CE
AT ES,
,/
• • 3A LORENZO-LUACES
C. Clerk
APPROVE I • S TO LEGAL FORM AND SUFFICIENCY
FOR T CI Y OF WINTER SPRINGS ONLY.
wr
ANTHONY A. GARGANESE
City Attorney
First Reading: August 27, 2012
Legal Ad Published: August 30, 2012
Effective Date: See Section 6.
City of Winter Springs
Ordinance No. 2012-12
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