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Landscaping rules may change
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK © St. Petersburg Times, published May 15, 2001 BROOKSVILLE -- Proposed landscaping rules for future development come to the Hernando County Commission today with a decidedly mixed message from the county's Land Development Regulation Commission. Officially, the land development board on Monday found the proposal inconsistent with the county's comprehensive plan. In four hours of debate, however, board members offered several suggestions they said would make the rules consistent. "It's impossible for (commissioners) to look at our recommendations tomorrow," said board member Nick Nicholson, who considered the rules as written an attempt to overregulate. "We're asking for the impossible, and I'm not going to vote for it." Nicholson then moved to have the recommendations written into the ordinance so the land board could reconsider its position in June. That motion passed. It also effectively took the Land Development Regulation Commission out of the debate. "We just move on," said County Commission Chairman Chris Kingsley, who sets the commission's agenda and is the chief advocate of the landscaping ordinance. "That's just their opinion. They are an advisory board. . . . We'll decide if it's consistent or not." The County Commission has angled to stiffen the rules governing the irrigation and vegetation of new developments for almost two years. Some members of the Land Development Regulation Commission have sought the same. "For four years we've said we need to tighten this up," said Al Sevier, who voted Monday in the minority in favor of the ordinance. "Why should we look like every other county?" Changed or unchanged, the proposed ordinance makes significant strides toward protecting the natural environment for years to come, said Mikel Renner, who also supported the ordinance. "There are lots of different ways to grow," Renner said. "We can put in place guidelines for development so 50 to 100 years from now, people will still want to live here. I don't believe this ordinance does any more or less than that. This ordinance is a massive step forward." The rules set standards for the planting and removal of trees at residential and commercial sites, creating a new category called "majestic trees" of 3 feet or greater in diameter that face tough removal hurdles. They also would require that each developed lot have no more than 50 percent of plants that need "high water use." Developers would have to get land-clearing permits before taking down trees. New vegetative buffer requirements would be established. Several members of the Land Development Regulation Commission attacked the ordinance as unneeded. But with changes, it could work, a majority said. Their suggestions included the removal of new landscaping requirements on developers who seek to expand existing projects and the elimination of fees paid to a new landscape enhancement program for people who remove specimen trees from their property and cannot replace them on the same property. Cheering on the opposition in a steady flow of comments were Brooksville development lawyer Joe Mason and Don Lacey of Coastal Engineering Associates, who steered much of the conversation with their views. "You guys need to send the County Commission a message," Mason told the board several times. Board Chairman Anthony Palmieri indulged the comments and repeated them as he suggested the initiative appeared to be on a fast track to the County Commission. Outside the meeting, he said it appeared the County Commission was trying to speed the rule through to adversely affect a possible Wal-Mart store at Spring Hill Drive and U.S. 19 in Spring Hill. Kingsley vehemently denied that insinuation. A public hearing on the ordinance is set for 11 a.m. today.
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