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buyers. This ordinance is an extreme reaction to what happened on Jungle Trail. She asked <br />that the Board not respond to that unfortunate situation with another extreme reaction. <br />Mr. DeBlois stressed that this ordinance exempts single family lots under an acre. He <br />explained that efforts would be made to save a specimen tree (24" native tree) if it is <br />identified during a subdivision's platting. If a tree is located in a building's envelope, there <br />would be no obligation to save it. He also explained the government exemptions on rights- <br />of-way and for utility companies and the reasoning used. <br />Rick Hope, 195 20th Avenue, spoke as an individual, property -owner, as president <br />of a local contracting firm, and as chairman of the Indian River County Chapter of the <br />Treasure Coast Builders Association. He urged defeat of the amendment because the old <br />ordinance was doing very satisfactorily. He agreed there should not be an arborist on site <br />which he viewed as punishing the innocent and a removal of civil liberties. <br />Dr. Richard Baker played a "song" from his laptop. It was a 6 -minute narrative on <br />the importance of insects and trees, life in the natural world and the golden rule of nature: <br />"if you don't need it, leave it." He believed the current ordinance was weak He suggested <br />that queen palms should be eliminated because they are not good substitutes for oak trees <br />or palmettos or other native palms. Removal of oaks and other trees is also responsible for <br />the terrible smell in stormwater ponds which have to be aerated due to runoff of fertilizers. <br />Mark Brackett, 1915 34th Avenue, understood the Commission wanted the rewrite <br />of the tree ordinance to be from the enforcement standpoint, but that has not happened. He <br />believed the Board should increase the fines to the maximum allowable but this new version <br />had opened an environmental Pandora's box. He agreed with Rick Hope that a 99.5% <br />success rate (of the existing tree ordinance) indicates a system that has worked. As long as <br />we have stormwater retention requirements, we are going to lose trees. A solution for <br />stormwater is needed. He gave examples of the number of trees that would be required to <br />July 9, 2002 <br />44 <br />