Melbourne Beach planning board asks staff to redraft landscaping and tree ordinance after debate over native-plant mandate

The Melbourne Beach Planning & Zoning Board spent most of its Feb. 3 meeting reviewing a proposed landscaping and tree ordinance and voted to ask staff to prepare a revised "version 3" that incorporates changes the board discussed.

The central dispute was whether the ordinance should require native plants or merely encourage them. Board members repeatedly emphasized support for native plants in principle but said mandatory numeric thresholds—specifically a line in the draft that landscaping "shall be comprised of 50% native plants"—would be burdensome and difficult to enforce on the town’s mostly small residential lots. One member summarized the board’s position as preferring to "encourage not require" native plantings.

Interim town planner Lisa Frasier, a certified planner who said she has written codes for 30 years, urged clearer drafting and cautioned the board about embedding operational detail in code. "This is written badly," Frasier said, adding that native species "survive better. They take less water." She suggested the board could consider a lower numeric threshold (for example, 30%) if it wanted a requirement, and recommended staff and the town planner scrub the draft for clarity and statutory consistency.

Several residents and advisory-board members urged a stronger approach. Crystal Kane, representing residents who helped prepare the draft, told the board the group had worked with multiple neighbors and asked the board to consider local initiatives such as Bicentennial Park and the Library Native Garden. "It feels a little antagonistic a lot of times with your board," Kane said, urging the town to treat the work as the product of a town tasking rather than adversarial activism.

Karen Fonati, who identified herself as a member of the Environmental Advisory Board, said municipal ordinances often lag current science and urged the town to restrict invasive species and increase native-plant requirements; she disputed parts of a staff exhibit and said neighboring Satellite Beach enforces a 50% residential requirement. Leslie Maloney, another resident, cited new statewide stormwater rules effective Jan. 1 and named several Florida municipalities and counties that set 50%–100% native-plant standards for new builds, arguing Melbourne Beach should consider similar mandatory measures to protect the Indian River Lagoon and coastal habitat.

Board members also addressed practical and legal limits. One member cited Florida statute 163.04 045 as an exception to replacement requirements when a tree is diseased or hazardous and asked that those statutory exceptions be reflected in the revised draft. Staff advised that fines and fees should be set by separate resolution rather than placed directly into the ordinance, and that monetary incentives tied to ad valorem taxes would not be within the board’s authority (though stormwater-fee credits might be a feasible incentive mechanism).

After discussion, a board member moved, and the board approved, a motion asking staff (Lisa or the town planner) to prepare a cleaned-up "version 3" that incorporates the board’s agreed edits and clarifications; the motion passed with all members voting "Aye." Members asked that staff include authoritative citations and copies of neighboring ordinances so that the board can confirm whether nearby jurisdictions apply residential native-plant requirements or exemptions.

The board indicated it prefers a phased approach: staff will produce a revised ordinance for the board to review and the board may later decide whether a public workshop is needed. The meeting concluded with members thanking staff and a motion to adjourn.