Next month, Atlantic Beach city commissioners will decide whether to create an environmental committee after public outcry over tree removals.
The Atlantic Beach Preservation Board was around for less than a year when one of its members in January noticed city officials weren’t inspecting trees slated for removal, nor were they requiring contractors to notice the removals, as mandated by law. The fledgling preservation group raised the alarm about illegal tree cutting earlier this year.
“We used to have a citizens’ conservation board. It ran very well for 20 years and that was disbanded in 2010,” said Susanne Barker, the group’s chair.
Barker said, since then, residents began noticing more areas were being clear cut. Upon investigation, the preservation board concluded the city was not adhering to its own tree-removal laws.
The city said budget cuts led to fewer in-person inspections, so, instead, aerial photos and Google Streetview were being consulted.
After the flap, the city is now considering creating an environmental-stewardship committee, with a new tree subcommittee.
Barker said she would’ve preferred re-establishing the citizen tree board, but the new city committee would be a good first step.
“We have a lot of retirees coming now. It’s the baby boomer generation, and they all say that they’ve looked everywhere and that the reason they come to Atlantic Beach is because of our tree canopy,” she said.
The proposal is expected to come before the city commission early next month.
Ryan Benk can be reached at rbenk@wjct.org, 904-358-6319 or on Twitter @RyanMichaelBenk
