TO: Honorable Mayor & Members of the North Port Commission
FROM: A. Jerome Fletcher II, ICMA-CM, MPA, City Manager
TITLE: An Ordinance of the City of North Port, Florida, Amending the Code of the City of North Port, Florida, Section 2-511, Related to Fines for Tree Protection Violations; Providing for Findings; Providing for Conflicts; Providing for Severability; Providing for Codification; and Providing an Effective Date.
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Recommended Action
The City Commission approve Ordinance No. 2024-17 and continue to second reading on August 6, 2024.
Recommended Action on Second Reading
The City Commission approve Ordinance No. 2024-17.
General Information
City Code, Chapter 2, Article IX., Code Enforcement, Section 2-511.b. addresses increased fines for violation of the City's tree protection regulations. With the repeal of Chapter 45 of the Unified Land Development Code (ULDC), and the adoption of Chapter 6, Natural Resources of the ULDC via Ordinance 2024-13, references to the location of the tree protection regulations as well as the tree fund name change to the environmental protection fund require updating for consistency with the ULDC.
In addition, ULDC Chapter 6, Article VII., Section 6.7.3. Harmful Acts establishes prohibitions on persons to abuse, mutilate, or otherwise damage any tree, including those trees located in the public right-of-way, which addition requires harmful acts to be addressed as a violation under Section 2-522.b. of the City Code. Also, the change in process provided for by the new ULDC (certificate of zoning compliance for tree removal and/or underbrush removal as opposed to a tree removal permit) requires clarifying the penalty for conducting activities requiring authorization per Chapter 2 of the ULDC without first obtaining that authorization.
Finally, at the May 6, 2024, City Commission workshop discussion regarding the draft Chapter 6, Natural Resources of ...
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