SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – Developers who remove trees and don’t replace them will be fined in Seminole County. But they say the cost of doing business for them is worth it, for the county too, which can now use that money to improve our parks, trails, and green spaces.
What’s called the “Arbor Trust Fund” started in 2001, but thanks to a recent change in the Seminole County land development code, the violation fines can now be used by the county to replant trees elsewhere.
Sarah Harrtung, a natural resource officer in Seminole County, says developers have been asking for this for years.
“They sometimes can’t plant all the trees, and so they’ll ask instead for an additional 50 inches of trees or so, or say ‘can’t I just pay into the fund?’ And, I had to say no,” said Harrtung. “But now we can plant as many trees as possible for the site that makes sense, and then after that, it can be put right into the fund.”
News 6 met Harrtung at Soldiers Creek Park near Longwood to see some of the trees the county has recently planted in the parks.
Harrtung says the county currently has about $172,000 in the Arbor Trust Fund.
“$125 per caliper inch, that’s how we calculate how many trees need to be replaced, how many inches of a tree were removed,” said Harrtung. “So, if a tree is 20 inches in diameter and it’s taken out, then the developer would owe us 20 inches of new trees.”
Harrtung gave an example that shows how this change in code could double the money in the current trust overnight.
“A single development, for example, if they have to replace 200 inches of trees but can only plant 100 inches, 100 times 125, that’s $125,000 for one single project that goes into the fund,” said Harttung.
It’s a new funding source for the county’s Parks and Recreation Department that doesn’t come from taxpayer dollars.
Bill Pando, the greenways & natural lands division manager, says it’s a big help to his budget.
“It’s definitely subsidizing our operating dollars here, so this way taxpayers don’t have to pay as much into our program,” said Pando.
More money would also allow the county to do more projects. This year alone, they’ve already done four projects including planting trees at the Boombah Sports Complex, Red Bug Lake Park, and Soldiers Creek Park.
“All of our parks where you have big, huge tree canopies, that’s where people want to be is underneath the trees,” said Pando.
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