By John Pacenti
How many coconuts must fly before they hurt a passerby? How big can a tree be before it needs a permit to be planted? How many times must the police knock on a door and say, “Trim or else”?
For the Ocean Ridge Town Commission, the answer at its Feb. 2 meeting was — as the great Bob Dylan sang — “blowin’ in the wind,” delivered in a freewheelin’ discussion where commissioners went a little nuts — coconuts, that is.
What started as a narrowly focused tweak to town regulations requiring coconut trimming turned into an all-hands-on-deck conversation about whether the town should be policing aesthetics or genuine safety hazards.
Town Attorney Christy Goddeau said the current code is that every coconut tree has to be trimmed by July 1 each year in preparation for potential hurricanes.
Commissioners wanted a simpler, less punitive approach — trim trees that are a public safety risk or interfere with power lines; otherwise, hands off. The planning and zoning board wanted something a little more encompassing.
A draft ordinance would also clarify when a permit is needed for planting or removing sizable trees — and delete the trim-your-coconuts-or-else mandate that has become an enforcement headache.
The existing language created a rule that had to be enforced repeatedly and, according to multiple commissioners, put the town in the awkward position of knocking on neighbors’ doors about their landscaping choices.
The proposed change refocuses enforcement on clear public safety concerns: trees overhanging public rights-of-way, obstructing sidewalks, or hanging into power lines.
The draft also would clarify the permit process when residents plant new trees. The current code already exempts small trees measured by trunk circumference from permitting, but the language is fuzzy.
The revised version will explicitly require permits for larger plantings. Essentially, the town wants to know when someone puts in a substantial tree that could affect easements, septic fields or rights-of-way.
Invasive trees, such as Australian pines, are prohibited.
Always the libertarian, Mayor Geoff Pugh said, “Personally, if I want to plant a tree in my property, as long as it’s not some mega-tree or something — a tree I’m gonna plant for my kids or my grandkids — I should be able to plant a tree on my property,” he said.
The mayor suggested keeping a 20-inch diameter threshold when requiring which trees need a permit. Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy asked, “How did this come about? Are we trying to solve the problem that we’re not aware of?”
Pugh explained, “It comes down to coconut trees. … Cut your coconuts, because the coconut is going to be some missile flying through the air.”
Vice Mayor Steve Coz added, “Which is not true.”
“We didn’t want the Police Department to have every year knocking on somebody’s door and say, ‘Hey, cut your coconuts,’” said Pugh, returning to the subject.
Coz tagged back in, giving context from a previous commission directive. “We sat here and decided not to enforce the coconut ordinance,” he said. “So we just stopped enforcing it, except when there was a public safety concern. For instance, if the public were walking through a back alley and coconuts hanging could drop.”
Former Commissioner Kristine de Haseth had a different recollection, saying the coconut ordinance came about because of two rental properties on Tropical Drive that did not maintain their huge palms and the coconuts — during a tropical storm — dropped and damaged cars.
“So it wasn’t about, you know, us being crazy about coconuts or anything else like that. It was trying to help some of the residents down on Tropical who had no recourse with their landlord because of what happened,” she said.
Pugh suggested taking the name coconuts off the ordinance.
“Should we just make it a tree ordinance?” he asked. “Because, let’s face it, I mean, a Norfolk pine during high winds will knock off way more limbs than a coconut palm.”
Coz said he didn’t understand how the draft ordinance had mushroomed once in the hands of planning and zoning. “We’re intruding on people’s private property rights. I just don’t understand how we’ve got from our coconut problem to P&Z coming back with all this.”
Goddeau finally got her guidance from the commissioners. She will redraft the ordinance to replace the annual coconut deadline with a general tree-maintenance requirement focused on public safety and utility clearance and clarify when planting and removal permits are required.
The revised ordinance will come back to the commission for more review.
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