Mike Odom

Staff Reporter

FAIRHOPE, Ala. — A special meeting of the Tree Committee has been called Monday to finalize revisions of an ordinance governing landscaping rules and tree protection laws for the city.

Such a meeting might sound drier than sawdust, but it probably won’t be for residents following several recent incidents regarding the status and enforcement of Fairhope’s “tree ordinance.”

Enforcement of one provision of that ordinance pertaining to activities in state rights of way has been put on hold by Mayor Tim Kant, pending adoption of a revised ordinance, according to some committee members and city staff.

Kant also overruled a $3,000 restitution order imposed by the city horticulturist for an unpermitted tree cutting and relieved the property owner of having to pay that amount.

“After careful review and consideration, it is my decision that no restitution is necessary,” Kant wrote Ed Feltus of Montrose Store-All at 23800 U.S. 98 in a Dec. 21 letter. “However, should other trees or vegetation require trimming in the future, please notify Ms. (Jennifer) Fidler in our Public Works Department immediately.”

A similar issue surfaced last month when the committee sought to have the city enforce an unpermitted tree-cutting further south along U.S. 98.

“At our April 1 meeting, the Tree Committee voted to recommend (Public Works Director and City Horticulturist) Jennifer Fidler request of the mayor, in writing, to find the parties responsible for clearing the right of way buffer at The Shoppes at Fairhope Village and the new Iberia Bank, now under construction,” committee chairman Bobby Green wrote in an April 8 public letter to local residents to clarify some of the issues raised last month about the ordinance and its validity.

“Whether this is done by the Fairhope Police Department, as Mr. Kant suggested (in a Fairhope Courier newspaper article), or Ms. Fidler’s effort, would be beside the point,” he stated. “To be clear, the Alabama Department of Transportation did not issue a permit for the clearing.”

The committee also recommended that Planning Director Jonathan Smith pursue the responsible parties because an agreement involving the planned unit development at that location had been violated, Green stated.

“As far as any violation on the state right of way, it’s the sole responsibility of the state, and if somebody did work on that right of way, then it will be the responsibility of the state to ask who went on the right of way without a permit,” Kant told the Fairhope Courier, after being informed that the committee had voted to send a letter to him seeking to enforce the ordinance.

Kant cited an opinion from the Alabama League of Municipalities as support for his position that the city could not enforce the current tree ordinance provisions in state rights of way.

“Simply because the ALM general counsel has no precedent for a municipality extending its enforcement to rights of way does not mean a municipality cannot act in cooperative efforts with ALDOT or a county government in tree preservation efforts,” Green stated. “This has always been the case in Fairhope — until The Shoppes at Fairhope Village issue.”

An engineer with ALDOT confirmed last month that an unpermitted tree-cutting along U.S. 98 in front of that shopping center anchored by the new Publix Super Market did occur and that his agency would be contacting the adjacent property owners to seek enforcement of state tree protection rules at that location.

A spokesman for Iberia Bank denied it had ordered any tree-cuting in that area. Several phone and e-mail efforts to contact Chris Widmayer of Regency Centers Corp., the developer and owner of the shopping center property, regarding whether that company had ordered any tree-cutting at that location were unsuccessful.

The Fairhope Tree Committee meets at 3 p.m. Monday, May 3, in City Hall.