Don't they have any kind of local ordinance about that? Around here you need a permit to cut down most kinds of mature trees and you don't always get it for the asking (unless you're a developer, of course).

I don't really know, but since 2004, they have allowed people to take down large trees that would endanger a structure in a storm. Gainesville lost so many trees that year, you'd think they wouldn't want anyone cutting them down, but trust me, we have plenty. Lots and lots of trees here, which is one reason I wanted to move here. I got so sick of palm trees!

In Tampa you don't dare cut down a mature oak unless an arborist can certify that it is either going to come down because it's diseased or that it is doing or has the potential to do damage to property. And then if you do manage to get the OK, you have to replace it with another tree that meets the approval of the city. I know not everyone can live out in the boonies, but since we've moved here away from neighbors we do what we like and we have all the trees we could ever want. And since we can't see the neighbors we can't gripe about anything they do, either.

Last year, some of my neighbors cut down hundreds of mature trees, including 60+ year old oaks, red maples, possibly bald cypress, and I had a discussion with the husband about it. He was saying that the tree roots were getting in his drainage ditch and stopping the flow of water. I tried to persuade him to clear out the roots in the ditch itself but to keep the trees, because they suck up a lot of water. He goes to tell me, "well, that's what I used to think too, but I think these trees actually don't suck up any water and don't prevent flooding" - So, let's just think about this.. He clears out 4+ acres of trees, 90% of which aren't even near the drainage ditch, and he believes those trees dozens or hundreds of feet away are also causing problems... In the long run, I believe that his ignorance is going to make not only his own land suffer but all of his neighbor's lots too, including mine. We're in a really low area already. Apparently, the railroad, city, and county water management is already investigating him for various other things he's done, to stop the natural flow of water from higher lands that would flow through his property, but even if they fined him to the maximum and made him stop or attempt to fix it, the damage to his neighbors has already been done.

ritaweeda, Gainesville is not the boonies. Again, I have no idea what the laws are here, but since she is planting new oaks, I imagine the city is making her. I have no clue. I guess she could say they were a potential danger to her buildings, but they withstood the onslaught in 2004, so I don't know how they could be. It's insane! Someone said that part of this area of town is governed by county laws, not city, so I don't know. She had a licensed tree company doing the work, so I guess if she needed a permit, she got it.

O.K., these are our tree removal regulations. Every one of those trees fell within the requirement for a license. The only way I can figure she got a permit is because they were on the 20' road setback or 20' or less from a building. I wonder if she's going to take down all the large trees, because some are closer than these were to the buildings.

Gainesville Tree Ordinance

xentar, he probably just wanted the money from selling the trees, if he cleared that much. It would be prohibitively expensive to do so otherwise. he must have plans for that piece of land. Maybe he got a building permit to allow him to clear it, but then never built anything. That's been done before. He sounds like an ass.

I considered that he was potentially going to allow someone to move on his property, because he did that before, but he didn't sell the trees. They continuously burned them for about three months. I think they kept/stacked a lot of oak logs, possibly for BBQing or just for burning. He also didn't hire any crew to come take the trees down. It was months of him and one other person with a single chainsaw. Part of his driveway washed away during all of the flooding last year, and he decided that it would be better if he fixed (or attempted to fix) his property and that if his neighbors suffered, he's going to look out for number one. That's the way it's done in rural areas. The local government generally turns a blind eye, unless people complain. Screwing up the natural flow of water for a large chunk of the city is a big complaint though.

If the trees in what you call the set back was in the road right of way, or even in part of the ROW, she did not own those trees. You could get her in trouble for that, but it sounds like she us already going to have lots of complaints and problems in the future. Everyone who has been violated needs to get together and go to the police, better business bureau and anybody else who could help everyone.

Xentar...

"I believe that his ignorance is going to make not only his own land
suffer but all of his neighbor's lots too, including mine."

I'd love to see the look on his face when a 'cane comes in and his bare dirt slides right into his drainage ditch.

The trees were on her property, behind her fence, so probably not in the road setback area. My depth perception is not good, so I really can't judge. She had a licensed tree company doing it, so I don't know why they would do that unless they had a permit. I wish I had gotten the name of the company. It had a huge truck and had to come back three times to get all the debris. She tried to buddy up to me once, called me over to the fence and tried to get information on my ex-maintenance man and my manager, so maybe I could just ask her, tell her my friend needs some trees removed or something.

I did find out that instead of planting more trees on her property, she can have one planted somewhere in the city, at a park or public place. I don't see any new trees going in, so maybe that's what she's doing. That's not part of the ordinance, but it's something the city allows you to do. I guess the ordinance just says you have to replace the tree with one they choose, but it doesn't say where you have to plant it.

I don't understand people who go to that much expense to destroy nature, but then, I'm a literal tree hugger.

Right there with you, Dirty. Of course, for you and me, our involvement with trees and other plants has progressed well beyond the hugging stage!

Michael: if anyone came on my property to do that, they'd get some buckshot in the behind.

In my yard, the buckshot would enter from the front! That's simply disgusting, Michael. Reminds me of numerous tales from the Seattle area where arborists are routinely hired to top Douglas firs and other tall trees for someone's view from on high. I'm not usually filled with hate, but I hate those people, a lot.

Well, I walked by today and she has had the stumps ground out and planted a few baby trees in those spots. She has also put up white poles, the kind that you usually have chains going through to keep people out. I have no idea what that is about. She's one strange woman.

Maybe she is denying squirrels access to her house? I know of a few people who have had limbs removed for this purpose, but not completely removed trees, but I considering other things I have witnessed and heard of, it wouldn't surprise me.

T'is true though-some people seem to go on anti-tree rampages. The house across the street from us, a woman and her kids moved in. She immediately set about having every tree on the property it seems taken down, and she followed that up with every tacky lawn ornament, cheap plastic fence, and stupid rinky-dink landscape lighting there is. Then of course, she lost the house and has been gone for some time now. And all the trees that used to be there? They're all gone too, of course.

Oh my, Tom! People from up north sometimes do not realize how hot it gets here in the summer, and they remove trees to get winter sun, which we don't need. Then the summer comes, and they are in shock at their electric bill for air conditioning because they have no shade. I had a neighbor who did that. She wanted sun for her pool area, so she cut down the oak on the west side that blocked the harsh, afternoon sun. Then she complained about not being able to use the pool in the afternoon because it is too hot. I just smiled and said "You know, I told you not to cut down that tree." She learned the hard way, and was then scrambling trying to find something to block the sun. Settled for a huge trellis full of Blue Sky vine planted WAY too close to the pool cage. You can imagine how upset she was when they started poking holes in the screen. Again, I said "You know, I told you not to plant those vines that close to the cage." She finally moved. I was thrilled! The new owners were snowbirds, and didn't use the pool in the summer, so they tore down the trellis full of unruly vines.

Some people don't understand and some just don't care. You can explain things to them until you are blue in the face, give them all the research backed information you can get your hands on and even get others to back up what you are saying, but in the end, they just scoff, say you don't know what you're talking about and set about doing the very things they shouldn't. And of course, if/when they finally learn the error of their way, they want a quick solution to correct the new, worse problem. That's when, again against advice and wisdom, they do something that will just cause even more problems down the line, like plant the wrong vine or a 'fragile' or invasive plant that won't live up to their expectations. As one guy said when he was asked what about how his choices would affect things 50 yrs down the road, "I'll be dead by then, what do I care?"