For the purposes of this chapter, certain terms are defined as follows:
(a) “Bona fide agriculture” means a land use to derive income from growing plants or trees on land, including but not limited to land used principally for timber production, and not including land used principally for another use and incidentally for growing trees or plants for income.
(b) “City Forester” means that individual designated by the City as the City Forester or City Coordinator of Natural Resources, or his/her designee.
(c) “Commercial nursery or tree farm” means a plant or tree nursery or farm in relation to those trees planted and growing on the premises, which are planted and growing for sale or intended for sale to commercial establishments or to the general public in the ordinary course of said business.
(d) “Diameter breast height (dbh)” means the diameter in inches of a tree measured at four and one-half feet (4½’) above the existing grade.
(e) “Drip line” means an imaginary, perpendicular line that extends downward from the outermost tips of the tree branches to the ground.
(f) “Grubbing” means the effective removal of understory vegetation such as, but not limited to, palmetto from the site.
(g) “Historic tree” means a tree which has been found by the City Forester, a professional forester, horticulturist, or other professional plantsman, to be of notable historic interest to the City because of its age, type, size or historic association and has been so designated and that designation has been officially made and promulgated as part of the official records of the City.
(h) “Individual homeowner” means an individual or entity who owns not more than three (3) individual residential lots in the City and is not holding the lots solely for sale or development.
(i) “Land clearing stage” means those operations where trees and vegetation are removed and which occurs previous to construction or building; e.g., road right-of-way excavation and paving, lake and drainage system excavation, utility excavation, grubbing, clearing site for a home, building, or other structure, and any other clearing operations.
(j) “No tree verification” means a signed, notarized statement by owner or his agent stating that no trees exist upon the site as further set out in this Chapter 1025.
(k) “Opacity” means the state of being impervious to rays of light measured by observation of any two (2) square yard areas lying between two (2) feet and ten (10) feet from the ground.
(l) “Person” means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity, including the plural as well as the singular, and including all tree removal companies and persons removing trees on behalf of others.
(m) “Protective barrier” means a physical structure limiting access to a protected area, composed of wood or other suitable materials which assures compliance with the intent of this Chapter.
(n) “Remove” or “removal” means the actual removal of a tree by digging up, cutting down, or the effective removal through damage.
(o) “Specimen tree” means a tree which has been determined by the judgment of the City Forester, a professional forester, horticulturist or other professional plantsman to be of high value because of its type, size, age or other professional criteria and has been recorded in the records of the City.
(p) “Transplant” means the digging up by a property owner of a tree from one place on his property and the planting of the same tree in another place.
(q) “Tree” means any self-supporting, woody plant of a species which normally, in the area, grows at maturity to an overall height of a minimum of fifteen feet (15’).
(r) “Tree survey” means a minimum of 1 inch equals 200 feet scale aerial or drawing to scale which provides the following information: location of all trees protected under the provisions of this Chapter, plotted by accurate techniques; common name of all trees; and diameter breast height.
(Ord. 2013-225. Passed 1-6-14.)