A proposed change to the land development code in Palm Coast is expected to help residents cleaning up after Hurricane Matthew.
- Palm Coast land development code
- Certain amount of trees required, depending on size of home
- Proposed change would reduce this
During Hurricane Matthew it was easy to spot trees down throughout the entire city of Palm Coast. Some were in the road and some were split in half near homes.
"I was sitting at the back window and watching these trees blow back and forth," said Al Rowe, homeowner.
Rowe was home as these trees started falling in his yard during the hurricane.
Now they're cleaning up the mess from the storm.
"I think a lot of people had things blown down like trees," said Rowe.
Like Rowe, many other people lost trees that will eventually need to be replaced.
The city of Palm Coast land development code requires properties to have a certain amount of trees per approximately 2,500 square feet, depending on the size of a home.
"You've got houses that vary in size so a very small house is going to have alot of extra space so it could have more trees than a large house. So a larger house might just have one shade tree, a small house on a big lot may have two shade trees," said Steve Nobile, council member.
Council members moved forward Tuesday with a change to the land development code that would likely require only "one" shade tree to cover a standard house in the city.
Councilman Nobile said replacing those trees can be costly but this change should help.
"It's going to make it easier on the homeowners," said Nobile.
Some people said this will be one less thing to worry about after the storm, but the Rowes aren't sure just yet if they'll have to replace their own.
Council members still have to vote to approve the changes.