Submitted by Karen Thompson
Features Reporter
July 9, 2014 7:38 p.m.
The old saying “you live and learn” came to mind last week in a big way. A guy knocked on my door early in the morning and informed me that my ugly, dirty pine tree had a disease and for a fee his company would cut it down. And, they would throw in the skinny tree next to it.
I had been contemplating getting these trees cut down for a long time as they are very close to my pergola and the house. So, I said yes, let’s get rid of them if he could provide me with proof of insurance. I received an email from the insurer and work began. One guy and a helper started sawing small branches, then big as I peeked in fear from various windows.
When the trunks reached about ten feet, Michelle Forstrom, Fernandina’s Code Compliance Officer showed up at my front door. Oh- oh! She said I needed a permit to cut down trees on my property, a fact that the tree-trimming company failed to tell me. She looked at the trees and viewed the diseased parts. She said I should take photos and follow her downtown to city hall. It was a blessing that the trees were still standing, minus branches, because I needed proof of disease to show the permit writers.
Let me say that everyone at the city office was helpful and understanding. But, I learned a few important lessons. First, door-to-door solicitation is illegal in Fernandina Beach. Second, you need a permit to cut down a tree in the city. Since my tree was diseased and I could prove it with photos, I did not have to pay for the permit. If both trees had been ground up and in the Advance Disposal truck on their way to someone’s compost pile, I would have had to pay a fine…….I didn’t dare ask how much. Lesson learned.
As long as I was at city hall, I thought it might be a good idea to take this lesson a step further with information for other city dwellers. I talked to Kelly Gibson, Senior Planner. Here is a roundup of other household projects that may need a permit.
*new and replacement fencing
*sheds
*plumbing
*electrical
*AC replacement
*pools and spas
*deck replacements and additions
*new driveways
*PODS
*right-of-way encroachments/uses
*sunroom enclosures
*remodel work
*demolition or partial demolition
*irrigation systems
*pergola or gazebo
*roof replacement
Just about every building project needs a permit. City staff suggest that if you are in doubt, give them a call. They are always ready to help at 310-3135.
Editor’s Note: Karen moved to Fernandina Beach three years ago after working in Chicago as a senior public relations specialist for the Midwestern regional office of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. Prior to that, she was an editor, columnist and writer for a chain of Chicago newspapers , an account executive for several Chicago public relations agencies and proprietor of her own pr/marketing business. She grew up and earned her journalism degree in Wisconsin.
ahhh..the sweet smell of freedom in America. Work hard, pay taxes, and more taxes, and do not dare to do a thing to your property without the permission of the government. What is next, a prepaid permit to mow your lawn? Is this what freedom means? You have to have a license from the government to drive, hunt, fish, fly, boating, and to even get married. You have to register and tell the government what you own as far as vehicles, motorbikes, boats planes and property. You are required to disclose to the government any income you make and then required to pay taxes on it. You must have an assigned number from the government. Really sounds like freedom doesn’t it.
Then the government uses our tax dollars to hire a traitor to freedom to go around and catch this criminal act of tree removal by a home owner, but didn’t catch the company that removed all the trees in front of Harris Teeter.
This is really pitiful for a country founded on freedoms to force it’s people to live under the omnipresent eye of our government.
to quote Thomas Jefferson..
“When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.”
“Does the government fear us? Or do we fear the government? When the people fear the government, tyranny has found victory. The federal government is our servant, not our master!”
“When the people fear the government, that’s tyranny; when the government fears the people, that’s freedom.”
Randy, couldn’t agree with you more about the “sweet smell of America”. Did you ever think of what the sweet smell of Iraq, Iran, Syria, or North Korea was. I would guess it would be the aroma of smoke, hunger, flesh and fear. Good part about living in most of them is there isn’t that petty I.R.S. tracking and taxing them.
As far as those traitors to freedom, and I take it you mean code enforcement, lets do away with them. How free would it be without inspectors? Just think with no inspector’s we would have no codes we had to follow. We could build as we wish, wire our own house, cut down every living tree in sight, even raise chickens and goats in our back yards— freedom at it’s best.
You make a wonderful point about all those licensing requirements by the government. I think Delta would be the first to lower fares if they didn’t have to go through all the red tape to get that licensing for the pilots, we all know the computer really fly’s the plane anyway. Another good point is drivers licenses. The D.M.V. is a waste of our tax dollars. Every kid by the age of 12 has played so many video games they could land the lunar module, driving a car would be cake.
I would however, on a serious note agree that many permitting regulations have gone a bit too far. Is it for safety or profit to the the city, any city? The good part about that is— if we don’t like it we have the chance to tell the city government what we think and it could be changed. In this country you can pretty much do that without the fear of being shot or thrown in jail.
I just had the opportunity to visit the site of the Trade Towers——-you know something–the feel of freedom and liberty smelled kinda sweet.
Looks like you own your land and the county owns your tree .
Amen Tony. It is interesting how all these folks that complain so much about government intrusion in their life still decide to live and work here – maybe because our great country provides them with the ability to profess their disdain for the very forces that keep them safe.
I think we all agree that government intervention at times oversteps its necessary bounds but as you state, there is a process in place to work to change that policy or law.
BTW Randy, the tree removal at the Flash Foods took place in the county where they essentially have no tree protection ordinances so see what that got you! With the designation of Tree City USA, the City has the responsibility to track its tree inventory of specified trees above 5″ in diameter hence the permitting process. It is very simple to do and normally results in no fees to the homeowner unless they are clearcutting their lot.
Well before you reach around and pat yourself on the back for your attempt at whimsical humor realize that you are as sad as the government that brainwashed you. If you enjoy all the government rules, possibly North Korea or the Sudan may be entertaining to you. As far as I see it, every time the government “controls” another facet of our lives, we lose a freedom. The founding fathers of this country repeatedly stressed that a government was not to be the master of the people. But it sounds like your very happy with the way it is, so go ahead and stick your head in the dirt and enjoy your happy life, all the more power to you.
The Twin Towers were destroyed by terrorist. Innocent people died. It marked a great hole in our domestic security. I have been there many times and all I have ever felt was sadness for all those people and their families. Sure didn’t feel like freedom and liberty to me, but heck, you probably would enjoy ground zero in Hiroshima. Maybe have a picnic there. So now we have Homeland Security, Federalization of the National Guard, Trillions of dollars spent on NSA, CIA, Military Contractor ops, and for what? We can not even defend our borders from harmless children much less an actual military invasion.
And Mr Lott, I was one of those forces that kept you safe, and the policies don’t change unless a politician wants to, usually by the urging ($) of a lobbyist. My disdain is that the government has turned into a bureaucratic monster that is removing more of our rights, the same rights I have defended and fought for.
Keep drinking the Kool-Aid…they say it is good for you.
Geez. What a bunch of libertarians living in a dream world. Those codes and code enforcements are there to protect the citizen from unscrupulous businesses and shoddy work. They also protect neighbors of homes and businesses that would erect or repair structures that would reduce your property values.
We also pay for fire protection and shoddy work can easily lead to extreme fire risk and fireman are paid for out of your pocket.
Tree protection is there to protect the quality of life enjoyed by everyone on the Island. If you don’t like trees; move. If you think you should have the right to do whatever you want on your property then move to Mexico or some other libertarian hellhole.
The real issue is that our system of democracy is far from perfect. It has more holes in it that Swiss cheese. We are burdened by what many see as unnecessary rules. We pay taxes for services many don’t agree with. We have corrupt politicians that are being paid by lobbyists who have nothing but profit as their ruling God. We have a educational systems that ranks 17th in the world. We are right up there in health care ranking about 37th in the world. Sad to say we have one of the highest first day infant morality rates in the world as well. These aren’t opinions. These are re searchable facts.
My point is simple, we have problems. They can be fixed if we want and get the lobbyists out of control and demand our elected officials do what we hired them to do.
Even with all these problems I ask you Randy ” where would you like to live”? It is still by far the very best system of government on the planet . We have freedom that other countries are currently at war over in their quest to come close to achieving what many of us take for granted.
I also feel the sadness of ground zero. That is my home town. I also feel even more the pride it took and the freedom it took to go back and rebuild after the attack. I met an iron worker while their recently and we spoke about what it was like. He showed a lot of sadness to me, but what was far more apparent was the pride that we picked our self’s up and overcame it. This was a slap in the face to all who thought 2 planes and thousands of death’s would stop us from using our freedom to re build and continue as a united nation.
You are right that I would enjoy going to Hiroshima. I would. It was a needed deed that had to be done at the time, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t honor those who died there. Peal Harbor has many Japanese who view it with the same sadness as we do. Remember Randy people don’t fight people. Governments fight governments. People are only the pawns. Please tell me a better Country to live in.
It all depends on who you are whether you need a permit or not. You were just S.O.L. Sad to say, but so true.
These fees are actually there to help keep us free, secure and help fund much of what is too often taken for granted. Privileges have prices. Enjoy the day.
Let’s not delude ourselves that all of these permits are to protect us from unsafe improvements and contractors blah blah blah. It’s to collect permit money. Myself and several neighbors had solar tubes installed. The permit fee was fairly large. The installer pointed out that only two governmental entities in NE Florida required a permit for the tubes … and the other one’s fees were about 1/4 of Fernandina’s. No one inspected the work after the fact. It was just a tax. Anyone getting estimates for home improvement projects will tell you the contractor shudders when he realizes you live in the City. I own property in both the City and just barely outside the City. With the County property, the contractor has even lowered the price when he realizes he was mistaken (and has a big smile) … the property was not actually in the City. Of course permitting should be required for various things … but the City goes way overboard in this department.
Richard, I couldn’t agree with you more. Code enforcement is well needed, but like with anything else —common sense— needs to apply. The way to change that is to get folks into office who will change that——- sounds simple, but as we all know it isn’t.
Looks like most of you folks attacking Randy even agree with his point of WE HAVE TOO MUCH GOVERNMENT INTRUSION IN OUR LIVES while you are writing your clever and snarky posts about how more government intrusion is AWESOME!
I swear this country has turned into Animal Farm and I believe that most of you boot licking idiots would thank the Devil for the heat.
Sean, we, or at least I am not attacking Randy, just his ideas. I am sure Randy is a great guy and he has every right to his opinion, as I and others have the same right to ours. That’s one of the good perks about living here. We all h ave the right to free speech. Many places do not have this freedom.
Let me ask you a few simple questions.
Do you think government should require any permitting and regulations? Please don’t say yes but they are just overdoing it as that is my point?
Do you think Government should require testing and various requirements to get a drivers license or pilot licenses?
Do you think Government should track our income and require us to pay taxes?
Do you think we should have Homeland Security?
No one is saying this is a perfect place and that everything is perfect with our rules and regulations. We do have a system in place to change it. Elections.
My last question as I have asked and yet to get an answer to is simple.
What other country would you rather live in?
Do you think government should require any permitting and regulations? Please don’t say yes but they are just overdoing it as that is my point?……..Can’t really think of any to be honest, but I’m sure if I thought about it a while I could come up with some scenarios where it would be needed. I believe the free market will decide on it’s own most of the time. Let’s take your example from a previous post about Delta Airlines, you believe if the government wasn’t protecting you with some type of pilot certification that Delta might hire drunken teen age boys to fly their multimillion dollar aircraft with all of those passengers on board to save a few bucks on fares……..I’m thinking you are probably wrong about that since Delta would have untenable risk and it would be bad business after their planes started falling from the skies and people went to other airlines.
Do you think Government should track our income and require us to pay taxes? Track our income and require us to pay taxes? No I don’t, I’m actually in favor of the FairTax as it is written, which is a type of national sales tax, that way everyone pays to support the country and help fund the government. We have to get away from this idea that the government owns us and we serve them……it’s supposed to be the opposite, they are supposed to answer to we the people. And with the abuse from this administration using the IRS to target it’s enemies, it’s past time to defund them.
Do you think we should have Homeland Security? Absolutely not, nothing more than a federal jobs program and a tax wasting boondoggle of biblical proportions.
No one is saying this is a perfect place and that everything is perfect with our rules and regulations. We do have a system in place to change it. Elections. That’s not really a question is it….
My last question as I have asked and yet to get an answer to is simple.
What other country would you rather live in? This is a great country if we can just put the crazy liberals back under the rocks they crawled out from. Like some wise man once said……Elections!!!:)