It's called a "viewing zone". Such an action supposedly requires a "vegetation management plan" and an appraisal by a Certified Arborist.
A grand jury investigating this tree cutting scandal finished its work in early January, but the findings will remain sealed for a few weeks.
Grand jury finishes work on tree cutting scandal; results remain sealed
A Leon County grand jury investigating how, among other things, a Panhandle billboard company received permits to cut down more than 2,000 state-owned trees without paying required fees, finished its work Thursday, but its finding will remain sealed for at least a few weeks.
“People named in it need to be informed,” State Attorney Willie Meggs said in Tallahassee.
Starting in April 2011, the Times-Union reported that Bill Salter Advertising escaped costly fees when removing 2,094 state-owned trees to make room for its billboards. The company also never submitted a required blueprint for replacing the trees, and was allowed to keep older, or nonconforming, billboards, which was contrary to the Florida Department of Transportation’s established policies.
Emails show that company officials reached out to former state Rep. Greg Evers, R-Crestview, (now a state senator) for help. He later lobbied former Secretary Transportation Stephanie Kopelousos, who is now Clay County manager, on the company’s behalf.
Here is a link to the emails.
January 2009 communications
Here is a January 13 article on this topic from the Northwest Florida Daily New
Grand jury finds no fault in removal of 2,000 trees on I-10
A Leon County grand jury returned no indictments against people involved in removing more than 2,000 trees from along Interstate 10 in Northwest Florida, according to State Attorney Willie Meggs.
A report on the grand jury’s findings in its investigation of Milton-based Bill Salter Outdoor Advertising’s cutting of state-owned trees will be released in a couple weeks, according to Meggs’ office.
There should have been costly fees involved for cutting down so many trees, but not for this company. There were none.
A conservation group had claimed Evers used his influence to coerce the Florida Department of Transportation in 2009 to allow the Salter company to remove the trees without meeting several costly regulatory requirements beforehand.
Bill Salter Outdoor Advertising did not pay mitigation fees or present a plan to replace the trees it cut down so that billboards could be erected, according to reports.
Bill Salter did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Evers in April tried to get a bill passed that would make it even easier for billboard companies to cut down trees.
One of the biggest problems facing the billboard industry is the tree. Trees growing next to highways can get in the industry's business, literally. Sometimes drivers passing by can't see the billboards for the trees.
Right now Florida law says that billboard companies can cut down trees growing on the state's roadsides for up to 500 feet from a billboard — so long as they get a permit from the state, pay money to a fund for planting more trees elsewhere, and tear down a certain number of billboards that don't meet state standards.
State Sen. Greg Evers wants to change all that. Evers, R-Baker, is sponsoring a bill that would let billboard companies decide for themselves whether they want to make up for chopping down trees that belong to taxpayers.
The billboard companies would still need a permit, which would cost no more than $25. But that's all.
That is from the Tampa Bay Times which used to be the St. Pete Times back in April of 2011.
There is an interesting last paragraph about Evers.
So far, Evers' push to cut the regulations on cutting trees has been noncontroversial, according to billboard industry lobbyist Pete Dunbar. The lobbyist said that Evers, a peanut farmer, may be pushing the changes because he advertises along the roadside too "and I think he's had some cross words with the DOT about them taking down his signs."
So in reality the cutting down of 2000 trees that we know about turns out to be nothing but politics, Florida style.
Crossposted at Twitter