Be afraid be very afraid.

A North Carolina church has been fined $100 per branch for improperly pruning its trees, the Charlotte Observer reports.

Every two to three years, according to the paper, Eddie Sales trims the trees on the property surrounding the Albemarle Road Presbyterian Church.

But this year, the city of Charlotte issued the church a fine of $100 per branch cut for excessive pruning, bringing the violation to $4,000.

"I just couldn't believe it when I heard about it," Sales told the Observer. "We trim our trees back every three years all over our property, and this is the first time we have been fined."

The fine will be dropped if the church replaces each of the improperly pruned trees, said Tom Johnson, senior urban forester for city of Charlotte Land Development Division.

Charlotte has had a tree ordinance since 1978, and when trees are incorrectly pruned or topped, people can be subject to fines, Johnson said.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/05/30/north-carolina-church-fined-100-branch-excessive-tree-pruning/#ixzz1NssC2g6X

Pissedoffvulcan wrote:

A North Carolina church has been fined $100 per branch for improperly pruning its trees, the Charlotte Observer reports.

Every two to three years, according to the paper, Eddie Sales trims the trees on the property surrounding the Albemarle Road Presbyterian Church.

But this year, the city of Charlotte issued the church a fine of $100 per branch cut for excessive pruning, bringing the violation to $4,000.

"I just couldn't believe it when I heard about it," Sales told the Observer. "We trim our trees back every three years all over our property, and this is the first time we have been fined."

The fine will be dropped if the church replaces each of the improperly pruned trees, said Tom Johnson, senior urban forester for city of Charlotte Land Development Division.

Charlotte has had a tree ordinance since 1978, and when trees are incorrectly pruned or topped, people can be subject to fines, Johnson said.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/05/30/north-carolina-church-fined-100-branch-excessive-tree-pruning/#ixzz1NssC2g6X

Another example of irrelivance trying to justify their existence by protecting ourselve from us.

It's kind of the same nonsense that one of my customers in Clearwater had to go through to pass final inspection on her new store. She had to buy so many shrubs for the front and trees along the side and that jacked the price to more than she had planned. I said if they were smart the city would relax some of their rules for building in order to get more businesses to build. In the end all of the trees have died and the city could care less now.

ford plasko wrote:

It's kind of the same nonsense that one of my customers in Clearwater had to go through to pass final inspection on her new store. She had to buy so many shrubs for the front and trees along the side and that jacked the price to more than she had planned. I said if they were smart the city would relax some of their rules for building in order to get more businesses to build. In the end all of the trees have died and the city could care less now.

When in doubt, Follow the money trail. This is not about beautifying anything. It's about a cash strapped city bilking anyone they can to pay their bills.

That is why I live on a mountain in the middle of nowhere, I can go to the city but their craziness stays away from me when I go home. I have noticed over the years that crowds (cities, towns, etc.) and body builders have something in common, the bigger they get, the lower their I.Q. becomes.