HomeMy WebLinkAboutcocc_ordinance_no_03-2025_20250617I
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ORDINANCE NO. 03-2025
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CAPE
CANAVERAL, FLORIDA; AMENDING THE DEFINITION OF THE
TERM "SPECIMEN TREE" IN SECTION 102-36 OF THE CITY CODE
RELATED TO TREE PROTECTION; PROVIDING FOR THE REPEAL
OF PRIOR INCONSISTENT ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS,
INCORPORATION INTO THE CODE, SEVERABILITY AND AN
EFFECTIVE DATE.
11 WHEREAS, the City is granted the authority, under Section 2(b), Article VIII, of the State
12 Constitution, to exercise any power for municipal purposes, except when expressly prohibited by
13 law; and
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15 WHEREAS, the City Council has adopted a Tree Protection Ordinance which is set forth in
16 Chapter 102, Article II of the City Code, and the Ordinance currently affords greater protection for
17 trees deemed a "specimen tree" with a caliper of 24 inches or more in diameter; and
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19 WHEREAS, the Tree Protection Ordinance also defines desirable species of trees and
20 plants as those that are adaptive to the climate and soil of the City, and more specifically, as all
21 trees and plants listed in the current edition of the Florida Native Plant Society's list of Native
22 Plants, as applicable to the East Central Florida Region; and
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24 WHEREAS, the City Council desires to amend the definition of "specimen tree" to afford
25 greater protection to trees with a caliper of 18 inches or more in diameter, and to clarify a
26 "specimen tree" must be a desirable tree species as that term is defined in the Tree Protection
27 Ordinance; and
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29 WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Cape Canaveral, Florida, hereby finds this
30 ordinance to be in the best interests of the public health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Cape
31 Canaveral.
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33 NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CAPE CANAVERAL HEREBY
34 ORDAINS, AS FOLLOWS:
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36 Section 1. Recitals. The foregoing recitals are hereby fully incorporated herein by this
37 reference as legislative findings and the intent and purpose of the City Council of the City of Cape
38 Canaveral.
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40 Section 2. Amending Section 102-36 of the City Code. The City of Cape Canaveral Code
41 of Ordinances, Section 102-36, is hereby amended as set forth below (underlined type indicates
42 additions and strilEeout type indicates deletions, while *** indicate deletions from this Ordinance
43 of said Section 102-36 of the City Code which shall remain unchanged in the City Code):
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45 Sec. 102-36. -Definitions.
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City of Cape Canaveral
Ordinance No. 03.2025
Page 1 of3
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2 Specimen tree means a tree having a caliper of~ 18 inches or more in diameter. Specimen trees
3 must be a desirable species and shall not include undesirable, dead, hazardous or diseased trees,
4 or trees that are structurally unsound and cannot recover from pruning.
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6 ***
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8 Section 3. Repeal of Prior Inconsistent Ordinances and Resolutions. All prior
9 inconsistent ordinances and resolutions adopted by the City Council, or parts of prior ordinances
10 and resolutions in conflict herewith, are hereby repealed to the extent of the conflict.
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12 Section 4. Incorporation Into Code. This Ordinance shall be incorporated into the Cape
13 Canaveral City Code and any section or paragraph, number or letter and any heading may be
14 changed or modified as necessary to effectuate the foregoing. Grammatical, typographical and
15 like errors may be corrected and additions, alterations, and omissions, not affecting the
16 construction or meaning of this Ordinance and the City Code may be freely made.
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18 Section 5. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, word or
19 provision of this Ordinance is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by any court of
20 competent jurisdiction, whether for substantive, procedural or any other reason, such portion shall
21 be deemed a separate, distinct and independent provision, and such holding shall not affect the
22 validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance.
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Section 6. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall become effective immediately upon
adoption by the City Council of the City of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Cape Canaveral, Florida, this 17th day
of June 2025.
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36 ATTEST:
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39 ____ ---::------:------=------::---""s----
40 City Clerk Esther Coulson M C
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Wes Morrison, Mayor
For Against
Kim Davis I
Mickie Kellum I
Kay Jackson I
Wes Morrison l
Don Willis I
City of Cape Canaveral
Ordinance No._fil-2025
Page2of3
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2 First Reading:
3 Advertisement:
4 Second Reading:
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May 20, 2025
May 28, 2025
June 17 2025
6 Approved as to legal form and sufficiency
7 for the C o ape Canaveral only by:
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9 __ ,__ _______ _
10 Ant
City of Cape Canaveral
Ordinance No. 03 -2025
Page 3 of3
Subpart B -LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE
Chapter 102 -VEGETATION
ARTICLE II. TREE PROTECTION
ARTICLE II. TREE PROTECTION
DIVISION 1. GENERALLY
Secs. 102-26-102-35. Reserved.
DIVISION 2. LAND CLEARJNG 1
Sec. 102-36. Definitions.
The following words, terms and phrases, when used In this division, shall have the meanings ascribed to
them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
Building official. The building official of the city and his or her designee.
Caliper. Measurement of a tree 12 inches from soil level.
Clear trunk means a measurement from the soil line to the point in the canopy where the trunk caliper
begins to taper abruptly. On many palms, this point will lie at the base of the petiole of the third or fourth
youngest but fully expanded leaf.
Crown. The mass of branches, twigs and leaves at the top of a tree, with particular reference to its shape.
Desirable species (trees/plants}. Trees and plants adaptive to the climate and soil of the city and identified in
section 102-52 of this division, as may be amended by the city council by ordinance or rule promulgated pursuant
to section 102-51 of this division.
Diameter at breast height (dbh) means the diameter of a trunk of a tree or the sum of the stems of a
multistemmed tree, measured four and one-half feet above natural or finish grade.
Diseased tree means a tree with a sustained or progressive impairment caused by tree disease which
seriously compromises the viability of the tree in that it is unlikely the tree will remain living and viable for a period
of more than three years or the tree causes other imminent peril to viable trees, existing structures or persons in
the vicinity of the diseased tree. Any claim that a tree is diseased for purposes of obtaining a land-clearing permit
pursuant to the requirements of this division shall be certified in writing by a licensed arborist or other qualified
tree expert deemed acceptable by the city, and shall be considered by the city in issuing any such permit.
Dripline means an imaginary vertical line running through the outermost portion of the tree crown extending
to the ground .
1Editor's note(s)-Ord. No. OS-200S, § 2, adopted April 19, 2005, amended div. 2 in its entirety and enacted similar
provisions as set out herein . The former div. 2 derived from Code 1981, §§ 6S7.01, 657.03, 657.0S, 6S7.07,
6S7.09, 657.11, 657.13, 657.15, ch. 657, app. A; Ord., No. 28-94, §§ 3-S, adopted July 19, 1994; and Ord.
No. 13-98, § 1, adopted March 17, 1998.
Cross reference(s)-Solid waste, ch. 62.
Cape Canaveral, Florida, Code of Ordinances
(Supp. No. 34, Update 1)
Created: 2025-02-11 B:12:19 [EST]
Page 1of3
Hazardous tree means a tree existing on a developed parcel of land, where such parcel is not a
redevelopment site, that is not dead or diseased, but due to its shape, location or growth pattern, which cannot be
corrected by pruning, may cause or reasonably be expected to cause imminent damage to persons or property
and/or presents an imminent potential threat to the health, safety, and welfare of the general public, as
determined by the city arborist.
land clearing means the disturbance or removal of vegetation from any site, parcel or lot using backhoes,
bulldozers, root rakes, or similar mechanical means which may kill or damage roots, branches, or trunks; provided,
however, it does not include routine mowing, sod replacement, planting of landscape material, shrub pruning, and
shrub removal, and tree trimming or pruning, which does not result in grade changes .
land clearing permit shall mean a permit issued by the building official under this division which authorizes
land clearing and/or tree removal activities.
Mangrove means any specimen of the species avicennia germinans (black mangrove), laguncularia racemosa
(white mangrove) or rhizophora mangle (red mangrove).
Native vegetation means plant material indigenous to the city, including all those species listed in but not
limited to those in section 102-52.
Person includes any individual, firm, corporation, partnership, joint venture association, principal, trustee,
government, or any agent or representative thereof.
Protected barrier. A polygon of two inches x four inches wide stakes spaced a maximum of eight feet from
each other at the perimeter of the tree protection zone and which extend out of the ground at least 36 inches,
with the top four inches marked by fluorescent orange paint or tape.
Recognized knowledgeable person means a person recognized by the city as being knowledgeable in the
identification and evaluation of vegetative resources, such as a forester, biologist, ecologist, horticulturalist,
landscape architect, licensed landscape contractor, certified nurseryman or person having similar recognizable
skills and experience.
Silviculture means a process, following acceptable forest-management principles, whereby the crops
constituting forests are tended, harvested and reproduced.
Specimen tree means a tree having a caliper of ~.!~_i nches or more in diameter. Specimen trees must be a
desirable species and shall not include undesirable, dead, hazardous or diseased trees, or trees that are
structurally unsound and cannot recover from pruning.
Transplant means the act of relocating an existing tree upon the same lot.
Tree means a woody or fibrous perennial plant with one or more upright limbs with a minimum dbh of four
inches, or a sum of dbh of four inches for multistemmed trees and an average mature height of at least ten feet.
Tree bank means that account maintained by the city as a repository for any funds collected and distributed
pursuant to this chapter.
Tree removal includes any act which physically removes the tree or its root system from the earth or causes a
tree to die within a period of two years from the time of the act including, but not limited to, by cutting, girdling,
relocating, interfering with the water supply, applying chemicals, regrading around the base of the tree trunk.
Tree protection zone means the area located around the perimeter of the dripline of a tree in which no
activity such as clearing,-filling, excavating, storage of materials, parking of vehicles, or any other activity that in
the opinion of the building official may damage the tree. At the discretion of the building official, the tree
protection zone may be reduced for trees located on small lots in order to reasonably protect the tree and
facilitate construction on said lot.
Created : 2025 -02·1113 :12 :18 [EST)
(Supp. No. 34, Update 1)
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Tree replacement credit means the tree replacement credit offered to a person for replacing trees removed
or destroyed in accordance with this division with desirable species.
Undesirable species means any of the species identified in section 102-53.
Understory means an underlying layer of low native vegetation usually associated with trees. Plants in the
understory consist of a mixture of seedlings and saplings of canopy and palm trees together with understory
shrubs (i.e. cabbage palms, palmettos).
Vegetation means any plant material, including but not limited to trees, shrubs, vines, herbs and grasses .
Viable means having the capacity to live and develop.
(Ord. No. 05-2005, § 2, 4-19-05; Ord. No. 03-2007, § 2, 3-6-07; Ord. No. 12-2009, § 2, 1-5-10; Ord. No. 01-2014, § 2,
1-21-14; Ord. No. 01-2015, § 2, 1-20-15)
Created: 2025-02·11 13:12:18 [EST]
(Supp. No. 34, Update 1)
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