by TRC_Admin | Jun 28, 2022 | Codes, Environmental, Trees
Photo: Shown in Fernandina Observer
“Amelia Island’s trees are beloved by its residents, and problems with protecting those trees will go before the Fernandina Beach City Commission at the Commissioners’ workshop in a couple weeks. The issue drew a number of people to this week’s Commission meeting to press their concerns that real damage is ongoing to the tree canopy…
One of the problems is in development.
“You all saw the Amelia Bluff tree protection zones,” Vice Mayor Len Kreger said. “This is a major — I think there’s probably six or seven houses out there — not one of them had a tree protection zone. There was garbage, there was cinder blocks, there was everything.”
It’s crazy, he said, that there are all these tree protections that don’t seem to be carried out because of improper maintenance.
‘We’re out there planting hundreds of trees, we have a tree management plan … 17 pages, there’s like five lines devoted to tree maintenance,’ Kreger said.
He intends to reintroduce a proposal for the city to adopt tree construction procedures from an international arborist standard.
‘We lose more trees during construction — we’ll have to plant a thousand trees,’ Kreger said. ‘Remember, our canopy’s 37%. We’re never going to be able to maintain it.’
It’s a management issue they need to do better on, he added.
The discussion came on the same night as the Commission voted to protect six trees within the city as heritage trees…”
— Wes Wolfe, FloridaPolitics.com, Suanne Z. Thamm, Fernandina Observer
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by TRC_Admin | Jun 2, 2022 | Codes, Legal, Trees, Uncategorized
Photo: Chamber of Commerce showing Key West’s official tree: the royal poinciana.
“…’Your community should be proud to live in a place that makes the planting and care of trees a priority, and you should be proud of a job well done!’ wrote the Tree City team in a letter announcing the recognition.
Karen DeMaria, the City’s Urban Forester, says she’s grateful for the recognition, one that the City has received ten times.
‘Our island’s canopy is vital to the quality of life of our residents and visitors,’ said DeMaria.
Each year on Arbor Day, the City urges property owners to plant a tree.
‘Trees on publicly and privately owned property within the city are economic and aesthetic asset to the citizens,’ says DeMaria, ‘because of their important and meaningful contribution to a healthy and beautiful community.’
Key West achieved Tree City USA recognition by meeting the program’s four requirements: a tree board or department, a tree-care ordinance, an annual community forestry budget of at least $2 per capita and an Arbor Day observance and proclamation.
The Tree City USA program is sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters…”
— Key West Chamber of Commerce
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by TRC_Admin | May 2, 2022 | Codes, Legal
Photo: Mack Male, in Austin Monitor through a Creative Commons license
City wins digital billboard battle at Supreme Court in City of Austin v. Reagan National Advertising
“On a vote of 6-3, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Thursday that the city of Austin’s regulations prohibiting digital billboards and other off-premises digital signs are content-neutral and therefore do not violate the First Amendment.
Reagan National Advertising and Lamar Advertising Company sued the city in a Travis County District Court after attempting to get permission to make some of its billboards digital in 2017. In 2019, Judge Robert Pitman of the U.S. District Court in Austin sided with the city, saying that the on-/off-premises distinction did not depend on the content of the sign. The billboard companies appealed to the 5th Circuit, which reversed Pitman’s ruling. The city then appealed to the Supreme Court.
But the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed, ruling that the distinction between on-premises signs and off-premises signs violated the First Amendment because the building official had to look at the sign in order to determine whether it was on- or off-premises. The opinion was based on the appeals court’s interpretation of a 2015 case, Reed v. Town of Gilbert.
A city spokesperson told the Austin Monitor, ‘The city of Austin is gratified by the Supreme Court’s recognition that the city’s regulation of off-premise signage is a content-neutral measure designed to serve safety and esthetic interests, consistent with thousands of similar regulations nationwide, including the Federal Highway Beautification Act.’
Justice Sonia Sotomayor authored Thursday’s decision. Joining her were Chief Justice John Roberts and justices Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan and Brett Kavanaugh. Justice Samuel Alito filed an opinion concurring on the major issue, but dissenting in part. Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, dissented.
The Supreme Court opinion stated, ‘Reed held that a regulation of speech is content based under the First Amendment if it ‘target[s] speech based on its communicative content,’ i.e., if it ‘applies to particular speech because of the topic discussed or the idea or message expressed.’ … The Court of Appeals’ interpretation of Reed – to mean that a regulation cannot be content neutral if its application requires reading the sign at issue – is too extreme an interpretation of this court’s precedent.’
They ordered the case to be returned to the appeals court for further consideration. That would include considering whether Austin’s regulations violate a lower standard of legal scrutiny.
Reagan spokesman Eric Wetzel told the Monitor via email, ‘This case isn’t over. The Supreme Court simply sent the matter back to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, so that its panel of judges can decide if Austin’s digital-advertising restrictions survive the constitutionality test known as intermediate scrutiny. We believe those restrictions violate the First Amendment, and we look forward to making that argument before the Fifth Circuit.’
Attorney Renea Hicks, who led the city’s legal team on the case, said despite the high court’s language directing the case back to the 5th Circuit, he believes that court will take no further action because Reagan did not raise that issue on appeal. He said District Judge Robert Pitman has already held that Austin’s rules ‘satisfy intermediate scrutiny,’ and that the rules meet the test even if Reagan didn’t bring it up at the appellate court…
Scenic America and its allies filed a friend of the court brief supporting Austin before the case was heard last November.
According to Scenic America President Mark Falzone, the organization was concerned that a win by Reagan would not only jeopardize local regulations but would “chip away at the sacred legacy of the Highway Beautification Act.” The Supreme Court ruling, he said, ‘affirms a city’s right to have a say on what its streetscape looks like.’
— Jo Clifton, Austin Monitor
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by TRC_Admin | Mar 31, 2022 | Codes, Solar Structures, Technology
“A floating solar array on a pond in Orlando. Florida has thousands of lakes and ponds where floating panels could be used”. Photo: Paul Hennessy, SOPA Images, ZUMA Press in WallStreet Journal
SB 1338/HB 1411
State requirement for amendments to local land regulations to promote floating solar panels
Backgrounder: “Where to put solar panels? How about on the water?”
“Floating solar panels are still a small part of the energy mix. But they have some advantages over land-based systems.
As befits its location in the Sunshine State, Orlando International Airport looked at installing solar panels on its property to help it reduce its electricity costs. But ultimately it decided not to commit land for such a purpose.
The airport’s land is too precious to use it for solar development, says Mark Birkebak, director of engineering for the airport.
Its water, however, proved to be a different matter. In December [2020], the Orlando Airport and the city’s main power provider rolled out floating solar panels on one of several ponds on airport property. Now, almost a year in, the water-based array provides energy equal to what 14 homes would consume, and the airport earns credits for the energy it pumps back into the grid.
As an extra flourish, Mr. Birkebak says, the panels are arranged in a stylized ‘O’—the Orlando airport emblem—illuminated at night by LED lighting and visible to passengers on jets and trams.
‘You can add a little artsy-ness to this and still have a great benefit,’ Mr. Birkebak says…
The number of solar-energy installations grew 23% world-wide in 2020, according to an International Energy Agency report, and are expected to keep growing globally through 2022 as power providers continue to fulfill mandates to add renewables to their energy mix. A small but increasing portion of that growth is expected to come from water-based solar arrays.
While land-based panels are the more popular choice for solar by far, largely due to higher installation costs for water-based systems, developers and scientists increasingly agree there are situations in which water-based arrays have advantages.
Continuing to find new places to accommodate solar panels is becoming more of a challenge. In the U.S. and elsewhere, opposition has been voiced by residents in some communities where large solar arrays have been proposed—by farmers who don’t want to convert food-crop land to solar farms, and by conservationists who don’t want forests cleared for panels.”
“Mayor Buddy Dyer walks past a floating solar array at Orlando Airport after a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the installation last December.” Photo: Joe Burbank,Associated Press
“Floating solar arrays, by deploying their panels on man-made reservoirs or lakes that aren’t used for recreation, can alleviate such concerns. The state of Florida, for instance, has thousands of lakes and ponds where floating panels could be used…
In addition to overcoming land-related issues, it is also possible that water, due to its cooling effects, could make solar panels work more efficiently. A study by Brazilian scientists published by IET Renewable Power Generation found that floating arrays generate as much as 12.5% more electricity than ground or rooftop solar installations. The panels can also slow evaporation, protecting essential water sources already affected by increased demand and climate change…
Asia is expected to account for more than 80% of floating solar through 2026, Europe an estimated 7% to 10%, and the U.S. 1% to 2%…
Many of the bodies of water highlighted in the NREL study were in regions with high electricity rates and high land prices. In such areas, floating solar, despite its higher installation costs, could still be the cheaper solar option, in part by removing the need for expensive land purchases.
To be sure, water-based solar does have some disadvantages, such as higher installation costs due to the need for floats, moorings and waterproof electrical components. Such items tend to cancel out any savings that water-based arrays might offer in terms of requiring no earthmoving or vegetation removal, says Evan Riley, chief executive and founder of White Pine Renewables, a company that has installed both floating solar and land-based systems.
Because of its higher installation costs, developers of floating solar tend to target reservoirs that already host hydropower and have connections to the grid in place.
‘For commercial or industrial-size floating solar, access to transmission can easily make or break a project,’ says NREL’s Mr. Macknick.
Another disadvantage for floating panels is their inability—so far—to track the sun’s movement. In the U.S., most ground-mounted solar panels are installed on trackers that allow the panels to turn and absorb the sun’s rays at the most favorable angle throughout the day. This isn’t possible yet for floating solar. So, despite having better efficiency, floating solar panels can’t produce as much energy as trackers allow.
‘We either need a technological innovation so that the panels can track the sun while floating,’ Mr. Riley says, or floating solar will have to ‘take off in markets where it doesn’t have to compete with a ground-mounted tracker.’…
‘We just now have the price of solar panels low enough that the business case is really getting to pick up.’ Mr. Lehner says. ‘It’s just a matter of time that floating solar will conquer many of these markets.'”
— Jackie Snow, WallStreet Journal
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by TRC_Admin | Mar 31, 2022 | Codes, Solar Structures, Technology
“SB 1338 (Diaz) and HB 1411 (Salzman) would require that a floating solar facility be a permitted use in the appropriate land use category in each local government’s comprehensive plan. Each local government would be required to amend its land development regulations to promote the expanded use of floating solar facilities.
Senate referrals: Regulated Industries (approved 2/1); Community Affairs (approved 2/8); Rules (approved 2/15)
House referrals: Tourism, Infrastructure & Energy Subcommittee (approved 1/25); Local Administration & Veterans Affairs Subcommittee (approved 2/7); Commerce Committee (approved 2/17). PASSED HOUSE 2/24 PASSED SENATE 3/2″
From 1000 Friends of Florida
by TRC_Admin | Mar 31, 2022 | Codes, Legal
Photo: Daily News File Photo
“In two separate rulings, one on a motion and the other following a court hearing, Walton County Judge David Green declined to rule on the constitutionality of Florida’s existing customary use doctrine.
His doing so didn’t shock anyone paying attention to the 3 1/2-year legal battle being waged between the county and private beach landowners over control of the white sand of the county’s beaches. Green had succinctly stated his intentions regarding constitutional questions last November.
“This court does not have the authority to rule that the customary use doctrine adopted by the Florida Supreme Court is unconstitutional,” he wrote.
Daytona Beach vs. Tona-Rama is the landmark 1974 Florida Supreme Court case that established a standard of proof for what constitutes customary use. Customary use is a proposition by which Walton County has staked a claim that the dry sand areas of its coastline should be open to the public.
“This came as no surprise to us based on the judge’s prior rulings,” said Kent Safriet, who represented two private beach property owners at the hearing when constitutionality issues were turned aside. “Judge Green believes he is handcuffed. He believes he has to follow the Tona-Rama decision no matter how bad he feels it is.”
In ruling against Safriet’s clients in Walton County vs. Northside Holdings LLC and Lavin Family Development LLC, Green opened the door for the attorney to appeal his constitutionality case to the First District Court of Appeals. That brings it one step closer to the Florida Supreme Court, where Safriet believes “Tona-Rama” must ultimately face scrutiny…”
— Tom McLaughlin, Northwest Florida Daily News
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