Satellite Beach may ban Brazilian peppers, other invasives

SATELLITE BEACH – A trio of leafy, fast-growing noxious invaders — Brazilian pepper, Australian pine and melaleuca trees — are rooted squarely in the crosshairs of Satellite Beach city leaders.

Wednesday night, the Satellite Beach City Council unanimously approved first reading of an ordinance banning these non-native tree species from all properties within city limits.

If the ordinance passes during a second, final reading on Aug. 5, landowners will have until a Nov. 15 deadline to chop down the invasive trees from their yards and lots.

City Council adopted a list of nuisance trees back in 2007, declaring that Brazilian pepper, Australian pine and melaleuca trees were "non-native noxious invasive species." Council members decided not to set a removal deadline until all those exotics had been removed from municipal property, Building Official John Stone said.

Those last remaining invasive trees, on Samsons Island and along the Cassia Boulevard stormwater ditch, have been cut down, Stone said.

"We feel at this point that we have our house in order. Now, we're going one step further and we're saying, 'We've done it. It's time for you to do it,'" Stone said during a Tuesday interview.

"As you drive around the city, there's very little of them. I know of probably one strand of Australians and two of the Brazilians and one of the melaluca," he said.

If the ordinance is adopted, Stone said his department will mail informational letters to Satellite Beach households where inspectors spot the invasive trees. After Nov. 15, these cases could receive code enforcement attention.

Stone described Satellite Beach's code enforcement strategy as "soft-handed," and he said staffers will work with homeowners to remove invasive trees.

He said the city fielded 350 code enforcement complaints in 2012, 412 complaints in 2013 and 479 complaints last year. But only one complaint resulted in a code enforcement hearing: a dock dispute involving former councilwoman Sheryl Denan.

Councilman Steve Osmer said he chatted with a neighbor who inquired what the prohibited trees look like. He said he wants to ensure that the city properly notifies affected residents.

"I do understand that some people probably wouldn't know what a pepper tree was in their backyard, other than just another weed or something growing out there," Osmer said.

Bill DeLuccia, the Surfrider Foundation's Sebastian Inlet chapter's ocean-friendly garden coordinator, offered to help the city compile an inventory of invasive plant species.

City Manager Courtney Barker said council members can include carrotwood trees in a future ordinance, if they desire.

Contact Neale at 321-242-3638, rneale@floridatoday.com or follow @RickNeale1 on Twitter