Surfside Beach talks trees, fire, and holiday

There is no new tree cutting or trimming in Surfside Beach, at least for the next 30 days, according to town council.

At Tuesday’s town council meeting, the first one after the start of the New Year, council unanimously approved a 30-day moratorium on the cutting, pruning, removal, or replacement of trees inside the town.

If the moratorium is violated, the penalties could be a fine of not more than $500 plus court fees, or not more than 30 days in jail.

Surfside Beach Mayor Allen Deaton said the moratorium is a window of opportunity for council to put a tree ordinance in place with some teeth. He said they have to do something to stop the destruction that's happening with trees going down everyday. Deaton said the current ordinance has some holes and this council is trying to close them since they are adamant about protecting trees.

“The importance of the trees as far as aesthetics as far as storm water as far as our environment itself, tourism, there is numerous amounts of plusses for us to keep our trees and protect them.” Deaton said.

John McCarthy, owner of Acadia Tree & Stump, does not agree with council’s action.

“I think the people that are proposing the rules know nothing about dangerous or diseased trees, trees that should be thinned out or removed, too heavy leaning towards a structure…it's very restrictive as it is and now they want to make it even more restrictive and I have a problem with if somebody pays the amount of money they have to pay to buy a house here in Surfside, if they don't want any trees in their yard, they shouldn't have to have them." McCarthy said.

Deaton said the moratorium is not about hurting businesses or property owners, he said it’s about putting the proper mechanisms in place so the interpretation of the ordinance is correct and best for the environment and developers. Deaton said they are exempting current permits and anyone who has a permit now will not be affected.

Council is expecting to revisit the issue at the next meeting, January 26, 2009.

Town Administrator Ed Booth also brought up the issue of the town’s fire department. He told council about a meeting he had with Horry County officials about Surfside Beach’s firefighters responding to calls outside of the town’s limits in a part of the county they have a mutual aid agreement.

Booth told council members the town is not getting any money for providing that service and it might be a good idea for them to think about ending the agreement. No formal decision was made, but Booth urged council to let him go into negotiation with the county about the issues. Councilman Bob Childs proposed a motion for Horry County to pay Surfside Beach for any calls outside of the town limits. The motion passed unanimously.

Councilman Doug Samples also proposed a motion to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day an official paid holiday in Surfside Beach, effective immediately. The motion passed unanimously.

Council also changed the date of its next meeting due to the fact that several members will be in Washington, D.C.