Special master: multiple site‑clearing cases show residents removed trees without required site development approvals

Several property owners appeared July 15 before Special Master Christian Waugh on allegations of site clearing or tree removal without a required site development plan or permit under the Citrus County Land Development Code. County land development staff and code officers authenticated aerial photos and inspection photographs to support notices of violation.

Alan Jonason, a Citrus County code compliance officer, presented case CE202500757 concerning Tanya Lynn Cox and Timothy Roger Duff at 1099 South Chateau Point in Inverness. Jonason said he found tree removal and grading without a site development order and that no building permit had been issued. Land development director Joanna Coutu corroborated the lack of permit applications. The county requested a $5,000 one‑time fine and administrative costs; Special Master Waugh reduced that to a $2,500 one‑time fine, finding that the owner said they had believed they were preparing the lot for permitted construction and did not appear willful.

Similar site‑clearing matters were handled in separate cases. Julie Wilkinson, the county code officer, presented evidence of cleared lots at 5513 North DeCarlo Drive and adjacent properties in Citrus Springs. Wilkinson and Joanna Coutu told the hearing staff that the properties had been wooded in the county’s aerial records and that no site development orders were in the file. Waugh found violations and generally imposed one‑time fines between $2,000 and $2,500 in those matters after considering representations that the parties were learning new county procedures and attempting to register for online permitting.

County staff consistently relied on LDC 4.002 (site development without a development order or permit) and aerial imagery from the property appraiser’s website to show pre‑clearing conditions. Waugh said some trees removed were larger than the county’s exemption thresholds and therefore required approval. In his rulings he noted that he reserves the higher fines for willful or prior violations and that he would grant limited findings and monetary penalties where the owner’s testimony suggested a lack of willfulness.

The special master’s written orders will state each property’s compliance deadline and the assessed fine; each order will include administrative costs and appeal rights.