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Magistrate denies city request to require stump grinding at 786 SW Grandview Street
Summary
The Special Magistrate denied the city's request to order removal or grinding of a tree stump at 786 Southwest Grandview Street, finding the cited code section (83-8.5) does not clearly require stump removal; the city’s request for a $50-per-day fine beginning after 30 days was denied.
Special Magistrate Stephanie Marchman on May 1 denied the City of Lake City’s request to order the removal or grinding of a tree stump at 786 Southwest Grandview Street, owned by Alberta Umeda.
City staff told the magistrate the property had previously contained fallen trees and debris that had been mostly cleared but that some stumps and remaining elements required further work. The city cited code section 83-8.5 in its notice and asked the magistrate to require removal or grinding of the stumps and to assess a $50-per-day fine beginning on day 31 if the work was not completed; administrative mailing fees were also requested.
Magistrate Marchman said she did not find a requirement in the cited code section that a property owner must grind a stump to ground level and concluded the property owner had otherwise addressed the city’s concerns. “I don’t see how the code prohibits a property owner from having a tree stump,” Marchman said on the record when explaining her decision.
The magistrate denied the city’s request and said she would issue a written order reflecting that denial and will send it to the property address on file. She offered to send the order by regular mail at the request of the person on the record. The city’s request to assess fines or require stump grinding was not granted.
