Transcript Potential Effects of County and Municipal Ordinances

Forestry-related Ordinances
in Florida
What are the potential influences of
county and municipal ordinances on
forest land retention and
sustainability?
Southern Forest Resource Assessment
(2002)
 Among forces of change, urbanization will
have the most direct, immediate, and
permanent effects on the extent, condition,
and health of forests.
 12 million acres urbanized between 1992 and
2020
 19 million acres developed between 2020 and
2040. In addition, population growth in rural
areas means that more forests are increasingly
influenced by human presence.
http://www.floridiannature.com/Florida_population_map.png
www.epa.gov/wed/pages/ecoregions/fl_eco.htm
Resource – Municipal Code
Corporation Database
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Multiple code search
Advanced search options
Florida municipalities -- 273 of 450 (61%)
Florida counties – 52 of 66 (79%)
American Legal Publishing database – 13
municipalities
Examiner.com
Methods
Identify and characterize ordinances in
terms of:
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Jurisdiction – county or municipal
Citation and date of enactment
Primary purpose
Provisions as they relate to forestry
Search Method
Keywords entries
• Forest*
• Silviculture* (exclude forest*)
• Timber and harvest*
Number
2290
117
6
not forest* or silvicultur*)
• Tree and protect*
(not forest* or silvicultur*)
389
Other Searches
(excluding forest* and silviculture*)
Term
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Cypress mulch (phrase)
Firewise/Defensible space
Prescribe* burn*/ Prescribe*
fire/ Control* burn*
Number
entries
35
2
16
Search Results
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451ordinances related to forestry
 176 ordinances in 49 counties (52 municode)
 275 ordinances in 123 municipalities (273 municode)
Florida's Silviculture Best
Management Practices
• Minimum standards necessary for protecting
and maintaining the State's water quality as
well as some wildlife habitat values while
conducting forestry activities. They represent
a balance between overall natural resource
protection and use.
• From: http://www.sfrc.ufl.edu/Extension
/florida_forestry_information/forest_manage
ment/bmps.html
Florida's Silvicultural Best
Management Practices
• FL’s BMPS’ were developed in the mid
1970’s response to CWA of 1972 requiring
control of NPS water pollution and revised
in 1993.
• Possible sources of NPS pollution from
forestry operations includes sediment
loading from road building, increased
channel erosion, and siltation.
Right to Farm Act (F.S. Sec. 23.14)
.. a local government may not adopt any
ordinance, regulation, rule, or policy to
prohibit, restrict, regulate, or otherwise limit
an activity of a bona fide farm operation on
land classified as agricultural land pursuant to
s. 193.461, where such activity is regulated
through implemented best management
practices..
F.S. 193.461 Agricultural Lands;
Classification and Assessment (2009)
Only lands which are used primarily for bona
fide agricultural purposes
•"Bona fide agricultural purposes" means
good faith commercial agricultural use of the
land.
•Factors may be taken into consideration:
1.The length of time the land has been so used.
2.Whether the use has been continuous.
3.The purchase price paid.
F.S. 193.461 Agricultural Lands; Classification
and Assessment (2009) (Cont’d)
4. Size, as it relates to specific agricultural
use, but in no event shall a minimum
acreage be required for agricultural
assessment.
5. Whether an indicated effort has been
made to care sufficiently and adequately
for the land in accordance with accepted
commercial agricultural practices,
including, fertilizing, .. reforesting, and
other accepted agricultural practices.
Forestry Relationship With Development
F.S. Section 380.04 Definition of
development:
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The term "development" means the
carrying out of any building activity or
mining operation, the making of any
material change in the use or
appearance of any structure or land, or
the dividing of land into three or more
parcels.
Forestry Relationship With Development
(Cont’d)
(3) The following operations or uses shall
not be taken for the purpose of this
chapter to involve "development" as
defined in this section:
(e) The use of any land for the purpose of
growing plants, crops, trees, and other
agricultural or forestry products;
raising livestock; or for other
agricultural purposes.
Primary focus of ordinances
 Zoning/land
use (104)
 Water related:
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Stormwater management (36)
Wetlands protection (30)
Shoreline protection (14)
Wellfield protection (12)
Floodplain management (10)
Focus of Ordinances (cont’d)
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Tree protection (85)
Prescribed/controlled burns (47)
Timber harvesting (12)
Firewise/defensible space (10)
Land clearing (7)
Cypress mulch (5)
Chemical storage and use (6)
Vegetative hazards (4)
30
25
Percent Enacted
20
15
10
5
0
1960 1980
1981 1985
1986 1990
1991 1995
1996 2000
Period of Enactment
2001 2005
2006 2008
Actions for Exemption
Forestry is exempt (45); except “highly
valued trees” (3)
FL Silvicultural BMP’s (61)
Buffers and/or selective harvests (32)
Harvests permits (15); Notification (5)
Management plans (11)
Regeneration plans (8)
Actions for exemption (cont’d)
 Qualify
as “bonafide agriculture” (33)
 Qualify for agricultural use classification (8)
 Qualify for both of above (9)
 “Silent” (49)– Tree removal prohibitions make no
reference to forestry use.
Actions required
Prescribed burns:
 Comply with state rules (16), local notification (6),
local permit (18)
 Restoration only and conducted by Fire officials (1)
Well field protection:
 Permit forest chemical storage > 50 gallons (5)
Firewise: infrastructure standards (4), def. space (3)
Cypress
• Harvest limited to dry season (2)
• Harvest limited to sawtimber (1)
• Requires mgmt plan that includes steps
to insure no adverse effects (1)
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Use of cypress mulch in landscapes:
Prohibited (9), Discouraged (14)
Potential Influences From Zoning and
Land Use Ordinances
• Protects traditional ag/forestry uses. Limits
development density in ag/forestry/
conservation land use districts. Promote
forestry in urban/rural fringe districts.
• Silviculture not a permitted land use in
some land use districts such as urban/rural
fringe; rural residential; and conservation
areas.
Implications
Without exemptions, forestry from would be
subject to permits; and requirements such
as site surveys, mitigation, restoration, and
environmental assessments.
Most commonly, exemptions require BMP’s,
buffers, “bonafide forestry” and
maintaining ag use assessment.
Future Research Utilizing Ordinance Data
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Website database of Florida ordinances
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Spatial analysis by location and type
Analyze with demographics/population/
forest type