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Residents call on Escambia commissioners to update tree-protection rules after court ruling and stalled questionnaire
Summary
A public commenter urged county leaders to revisit the county's heritage-tree definition and mitigation rules, saying the earlier tree-protection questionnaire and workshop were not completed and that a 2021 court decision weakened protections.
Judy Diaz (identified in the forum as Judy) told the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners that the county's "tree protection standards" questionnaire and related workshop were started in 2019 but dropped because of COVID-19. Diaz said an appeal over an "85-inch" heritage tree at the A Plus Mini Storage site went to court and that a judge's November 17, 2021 decision had the headline "judge ends tree protection," which she quoted from media coverage she said followed the case.
Diaz criticized what she described as weak ordinance language that allows removal of heritage trees under six enumerated conditions, and she said the county's current definition of a heritage tree — which she stated as a 60-inch trunk diameter threshold in her remarks — excludes many older trees that are functionally large and valuable. She asked the commission, particularly members who are newer to the bench, to review and strengthen the county's tree-protection ordinances and consider relocation or alternative site designs rather than removal for commercial projects such as a Wawa gas station at the intersection of Highway 29 and W Street (6658 Pensacola Boulevard, according to Diaz).
Why it matters: Tree-protection rules affect land development, removal permits and required mitigation funds. Residents and preservation advocates argued that current ordinance language and implementation practices do not adequately protect large trees.
Details and context: Diaz said county arborist Jimmy Jarrett visited a work site and discussed options, and she criticized the size and circumference thresholds that determine protected status. She recommended updated ordinance language and a renewed public workshop to finalize the questionnaire and mitigation-fund allocation.
Next steps: Diaz urged the commission to review the ordinance language and to resume the public workshop process that was paused in 2019; no formal motion or vote was recorded at the forum.
