The City of Lake Wales joins the list of more than 160 communities in the State of Florida to earn a Tree City USA designation by the National Arbor Day Foundation.
Lake Wales met all criteria to qualify for the designation by operating a tree advisory board, facilitating a tree care ordinance, maintaining a forestry program with an annual budget and observing Arbor Day annually.
“Our tree management program facilitated by staff and our partnerships within the community got us this recognition,” City Manager James Slaton said. “It complements the work we’re achieving in the historic core to become ‘A City in a Garden’.”
Native trees, urban canopies and streetscapes are a big part of the City’s award-winning downtown revitalization pan, Lake Wales Connected.
“This is a prestigious honor for our city,” Kevin Polk, city horticulturist said.
Notable landscape architecture in Lake Wales dates back to the early 1900s with plans to become a ‘garden city,’ a plan originally established by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.
The Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree City USA program is operated in partnership with the National Association of State Foresters and the USDA Forest Service.
The City of Lake Wales has an ordinance in place that regulates the removal and relocation of all defined trees within the city limits.
A permit is required prior to the removal or relocation of any tree meeting the definition of a tree unless specifically exempted.
According to the ordinance, a copy of which was provided to Lake Wales Daily by City of Lake Wales Communications and Engagement Director, Eric Marshall, “A tree is defined for the purposes of this section as a woody, self-supporting plant, having a mainstem or cluster of mainstems and having a diameter at 4½ feet above the ground of four inches; a tree is further defined as a plant which at maturity grows to at least 15 feet high in the Polk County area. Also specifically included are significant stands of oak trees defined as a group of four or more oak trees which may have trunk diameters of less than four inches but which constitute a compact unit or grove covering 50 square feet or more in area.”
Citrus trees are generally exempt, with some exclusions. Trees exempt from the tree removal permit requirement include, but are not limited to, “Broussonetia-papyrifera (Paper mulberry) Castor Bean, Catlainmonosa, Chinese Tallow, Casuarinaceae (Australian pine), Cupaniopsos-anacardioides (Carrotwood), Enterolobium cyclocarpum (Ear tree), Indian Rosewood, Melaleuca leveadenra (Punk tree), Melia azedarach (Chinaberry tree), Schinus terebinthinfolius (Brazilian pepper), and Serrenoa repens (Scrub palmetto).
“Also exempted are trees destroyed or harmed by storm, provided the administrative official is notified at least two days in advance of the removal so that an inspection can be made. If the administrative official or designee determines that the tree is not severely harmed, the tree shall not be removed except through the approval of a tree removal permit application. If the administrative official or designee does not respond within two working days of the request, the request shall be considered approved. The two-day notification period is waived in instances where a damaged tree must be removed in order to make emergency repairs authorized by the building official.”
“Dead trees are exempt from the permit requirements of this section, provided the administrative official is notified at least two days prior to its removal. The administrative official may require removal of a dead tree.”
“Tree trimming for normal maintenance purposes does not require a permit; however, tree trimming which threatens the life of the tree or deforms the natural canopy is prohibited. Each occurrence will be deemed a tree removal and will require tree replacement in accordance with section 23-302.2.”
For additional information regarding tree removal, tree, relocation, permitting, or other questions regarding the ordinance, contact the City of Lake Wales.
