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Board fines IH6 Properties $10,000 for removing two protected trees without permits
Summary
Inspectors found two protected trees removed at 209 Nestle Branch Drive without permits. The board ruled the removals were irreversible, fined the property owner $5,000 per tree (total $10,000) and awarded $410 in administrative costs; vote was unanimous 7–0.
The Safety Harbor Code Enforcement Board on March 19 found IH6 Property Florida LP in violation for removing two protected trees at 209 Nestle Branch Drive without the required tree-removal permits and imposed the maximum statutory fines.
City staff and the city arborist presented photographs and testimony documenting the removal of a southern live oak and a southern red cedar. James Ryan, the city arborist, testified that both species are protected and that the removal of mature specimens is “irreparable” because a planted replacement would take decades or longer to reach the same size and canopy effect.
Paul Bushey, the city’s compliance officer, told the board the city received a citizen complaint on Jan. 15 and that the property owner had no permit application on file. Bushey said staff mailed a notice of violation and a notice of hearing and that an affidavit of posting and USPS return-receipt proofs were in the record. City staff recommended the board treat each removed tree as a separate irreversible violation and impose the code-permitted maximum fine for each instance.
Arborist James Ryan, sworn and qualified as an ISA-certified arborist with tree-risk-assessment credentials, told the board that no documentation from an ISA-certified arborist or a Florida-licensed landscape architect justifying removal was received. “You can’t replace a mature tree,” Ryan said, noting that a tree of the removed trees’ size would take many decades to reach similar dimensions.
The board voted unanimously, 7–0, to find IH6 Property Florida LP in violation of Safety Harbor Land Development Code section 153.05(a), impose a $5,000 fine for each tree (total $10,000), and award the city $410 for administrative costs. The city characterized the removals as irreversible and cited Florida Statute section 162.09, which permits higher fines where violations are “irreparable or irreversible.” The city’s order and related evidence will be reduced to writing and mailed to the property owner.
City staff said it had communicated with the property manager’s maintenance company after the complaint and that the company acknowledged it would forward paperwork but did not provide the required permits or risk assessment letters. The board noted that the city had an expedited permitting process for storm-related requests but that no permit application or risk assessment was on file for these removals.
