Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Ordinance Update topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board approves ordinance clarifying tree removal, excavation and grading permits
Summary
The Planning and Zoning Board approved Ordinance 2025-01, updating city code language about land clearing, grubbing and the timing of clearing to align with Florida building code and to reduce confusion for developers.
The Winter Springs Planning and Zoning Board Local Planning Agency on Jan. 2 voted unanimously to recommend Ordinance 2025-01, which updates the city’s code language around tree removal, land clearing (grubbing) and excavation permits.
City staff said the changes are intended to clarify when developers may start land clearing and to bring local code into alignment with the Florida Building Code. Senior planner Nick Topelski introduced the ordinance and said recent confusion among developers about permitted timing for clearing prompted the update.
Board members asked how the city coordinates its permitting with other state or federal approvals such as water management district permits or Florida Fish and Wildlife (FWC) actions related to listed species. Assistant City Attorney Krista Nyck explained that state statute (section 166.033) prevents municipalities from conditioning development-permit issuance on another agency’s permit, but that the city still requires those other permits before it will issue a building permit. Nyck noted the city’s issuance of a local permit does not guarantee an applicant will obtain required state or federal permits.
Board discussion recognized coordination challenges between agencies — for example, developers seeking tortoise relocation permits from FWC may need proof of imminent clearing — and recommended continued interagency coordination and applicant education. After closing public input with no speakers on the ordinance, the board voted aye; the motion passed on a unanimous roll call.
The ordinance revises definitions and timing rules to reduce ambiguity but does not change the city’s obligation to comply with state or federal permitting requirements for wetlands or listed-species impacts.
