Canker battle becomes legal minefield

New law drafted to thwart counties

BY ERIKA BOLSTAD AND JONI JAMES
ebolstad@herald.com
Miami Herald
5-7-02

A proposed law could give citrus canker eradication crews the authority to flout local ''tree canopy'' ordinances when the state issues an emergency order, be it for citrus canker or hurricane response.

Passed as part of a broader government reorganization bill, the proposal was drafted to thwart South Florida's efforts to oppose a just-passed state canker eradication law, said its sponsor, Rep. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales. The law goes to the governor to sign even as Broward Circuit Judge J. Leonard Fleet is set to decide a canker lawsuit against the state on May 24.

''We want to make sure [halting canker eradication] doesn't happen,'' Alexander said.

``Every week they stall us down there, it's another $1 million in taxpayer's money we're going to have to spend to get rid of canker.'' Broward County, along with Miami-Dade and severalindividual South Florida cities, is seeking a temporary injunction against a new law that allows the state to cut down uninfected citrus trees on private property without a search warrant for each property.

''These people [in the Legislature] are making decisions based solely on what they think benefits the citrus industry,'' said Andrew Myers, the county attorney directing Broward's canker lawsuit. ``It's policy without much thought.''

Broward County residents say they're the ones bearing the cost of the eradication program because they're losing their tree canopy. The legislation continues to show the citrus industry's contempt for residents who have lost their trees, said Jack Haire of Fort Lauderdale, a homeowner included in the county's lawsuit.

''Once again, the department [of agriculture] has evaded justifying their citrus canker eradication program by going to their citrus legislators,'' Haire said. ``What are they afraid of?''

Alexander's proposed law gives the state the ability to trump any local ordinances requiring people who cut down trees to either replace them with comparably sized foliage or face a fine, Myers said.

HALF-DOZEN ISSUES

That county ordinance is one of about a half-dozen issues in Broward's challenge of the search warrant law.

Myers simply adds it to the county's list of grievances: Homeowners aren't properly compensated for losing healthy trees; trees aren't replaced; homeowners have limited procedures for an appeal; and state cutting crews can enter private property without a search warrant.

South Florida residents are sacrificing for the benefit of the entire state, Myers said.

Already, more than 140,000 citrus trees have been cut down in Broward alone. ''They haven't replaced any of those trees,'' Myers said.

``That's a very significant number of trees.''

FINANCIAL MEASURE

Alexander tucked his 60-word proposal into a 73-page bill that dealt mostly with the regulation of banking and insurance and the consolidation of two statewide elected offices, comptroller and treasurer, into a single job of chief financial officer.

He is a citrus grower and grandson to the late citrus magnate Ben Hill Griffin Jr.

A spokeswoman for Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson said the language would help clarify issues in any type of agricultural emergency. That includes coordinating firefighting efforts or fighting other potential agricultural disasters such as foot-and-mouth or mad cow disease.

''The canker case brought it to light that there is the potential for conflict'' between state and local ordinances, spokeswoman Liz Compton said. ``But we also know we've been cutting down there for years, and they're just now bringing it up.''