Topic: Charlotte, NC church fined $4000 for improper tree pruning

[Glock32]

I meant to post this earlier since it's from my neck of the woods.  I'll just say it's not in the least bit surprising.  Where's the vaunted "separation of church and state" now?

H/T: Moonbattery

Churched Fined $100 per Branch for Pruning Trees

Posted by Dave Blount at May 31, 2011 1:18 PM

Communism is a totalitarian system under which there is no liberty whatsoever because there is no private property. Here's an example of how an authoritarian regime might use the absence of property rights to put the screws to disapproved activities like Christian worship:


    Every two to three years, Eddie Sales trims and prunes the crape myrtles at his church, Albemarle Road Presbyterian Church.

    But this year, the city of Charlotte cited the church for improperly pruning its trees.

    "We always keep our trees trimmed back because you don't want to worry about them hanging down in the way," said Sales, a church member.

    The church was fined $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 said. "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.


Sounds like a local nursery made a wise political donation.

This is how someone who needs to trim a tree can stay in Big Brother's good graces:

    Individuals who would like to trim their trees should call the city foresters to receive a free permit to conduct the landscape work.

Free? How generous. I wonder how long that will last.

    Foresters will then meet with the person receiving the permit and give instructions on how to properly trim their trees, Johnson said.

    The state Division of Forestry recommends that anyone trimming trees should be certified by the National Horticulture Board, but certification is not required to receive a permit.

Yet. Before long you'll have to belong to the National Manicure Board to get a permit to trim your own toenails.

In a free country, it would be none of the government's business how a church pruned its trees, because the trees would belong to the church. But in the USSA, they belong to the government, like everything else. Otherwise how could bureaucrats dictate how they must be pruned?

http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2011/05/churched-fined.html

[LadyVirginia]

This reminded me of something I read years ago.

GENTEEL CHICAGO SUBURB RAGES OVER MR. T'S TREE MASSACRE

[Sectionhand]

When I grow my own trees , I trim them any damned way I please .

[Libertas]

Whoever is running the city should be pruned!

[LadyVirginia]

there are regulations like this all over the country and people just accept it

[John Florida]

Down here where stuff grows all year round pruning every couple of months is a pain in the but so every so often I go on a rampage and scalp everything and be done with it it for a good long while.Shocked the hell out of the neighbors the first time I did it. But they don't know jack about plants.

[Pandora]

And they don't have to know about the plants on your property.   

When Gunsmith and I got set to build the garage, we had a surveyor come and double-check the property lines, because ...
and along came our former next door neighbor, tromping through the buffer-woods, wanting to know what was going on.  We told him.  At that, he became incensed, accusing us of all manner of unwarranted tree-destruction.  I told him we didn't want to see him anymore than he wanted to see us.  Did I expect that to help?  Er, no, but it was the truth, and in retaliation, he told us he was going to clear-cut his buffer right up the property line abutting ours. 

Yeah, boo-hoo; like we cared what the hell he did on his grounds.

We built and there's still a respectable tree-buffer between us and the folks that bought him out.

Some people just know what's theirs is theirs and what's yours is theirs .... for the common good, of course.

[John Florida]

And they don't have to know about the plants on your property.   

When Gunsmith and I got set to build the garage, we had a surveyor come and double-check the property lines, because ...
and along came our former next door neighbor, tromping through the buffer-woods, wanting to know what was going on.  We told him.  At that, he became incensed, accusing us of all manner of unwarranted tree-destruction.  I told him we didn't want to see him anymore than he wanted to see us.  Did I expect that to help?  Er, no, but it was the truth, and in retaliation, he told us he was going to clear-cut his buffer right up the property line abutting ours. 

Yeah, boo-hoo; like we cared what the hell he did on his grounds.

We built and there's still a respectable tree-buffer between us and the folks that bought him out.

Some people just know what's theirs is theirs and what's yours is theirs .... for the common good, of course.

 They thought I was killing all the plants. Now they cut their back as harshly as I do mine. It's good for them.