News

By Rich Pollack

    It is a question for the ages, but with a bit of a twist in Highland Beach.
    If a tree falls on the public right of way and no one is around to see it happen, does the adjacent property owner still have to replace it?
    That’s one of the questions Highland Beach town commissioners have been wrestling with as they try to clarify a 1990 municipal ordinance dealing with the question of who is responsible for maintaining landscaping on public rights of way.
    A proposed revision to the ordinance that was brought to commissioners in May would have required adjacent property owners to maintain all landscaping on public rights of way.  But it drew concerns from Commissioner Carl Feldman and was sent back to the drawing board before it could be brought to a vote.
    Feldman questioned whether property owners should be responsible for replacing any of the more than 100 palm trees placed along State Road A1A  by the Florida Department of Transportation and the town in 2007.
    “You can’t park your car on a swale, you can’t put a sign in it, you can’t even put your lawn chair on it,” he said. “So why should you be responsible for the palms if they die?”
    As a result of Feldman’s questions, town attorneys are in the process of redrafting the ordinance, removing responsibility for replacing the trees from the adjacent property owner if the tree dies through no fault of their own. In those cases, the responsibility for removing and replacing the tree, if deemed necessary, would fall on the town’s shoulders.
    Attorneys are also planning to add a provision that would absolve adjacent property owners of liability for issues involving trees planted by the state or the town.
    The revised ordinance, according to attorneys, would still require adjacent property owners to maintain landscaping in the public right of way. The ordinance is expected to come before commissioners for final approval within the next few months.