Suit: City rules don't apply to DOT roadwork

By David Bauerlein
Times-Union staff writer

In a double-barrelled challenge, a state Department of Transportation lawsuit says Jacksonville's tree protection law and noise pollution regulations cannot be enforced on state roadwork.

The lawsuit over the city's tree-protection law was long expected because the transportation department told city officials in November the state would stop complying, rather than pay millions of dollars to replace trees cleared for large-scale road projects.

The noise pollution regulations, which restrict most kinds of construction between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., are a newer bone of contention. The state has been trying to do more work at night to prevent traffic jams but that has drawn complaints from residents about sleep-wrecking noise, and City Hall has cited contractors for being too loud at night.

City Hall will argue that both the tree protection and noise pollution rules serve public interests, said Tracy Arpen, a lawyer in the city General Counsel's Office.

Hitting home By a 3-1 margin, Duval County voters approved a charter amendment in 2000 that established minimum tree protection standards for all types of development, including road-building.

The state filed the lawsuit last week in Duval County, and city lawyers received a copy of the suit this week.

Ken Davis, general counsel for the transportation department's Northeast Florida district, said Jacksonville's tree law intrudes on the state's ability to fund and build a regional road network.

"You cannot build a road system if all of the cities sit down and pass ordinances telling us how to construct the roads," Davis said.

The state also contends the city's Environmental Protection Board has enacted noise pollution rules that are unconstitutional when applied to state road projects.

On April 4, the city used those rules to cite AMEC Civil LLC, the contractor building the huge interchange linking Interstate 95, Interstate 295, and the Florida 9A beltway in south Jacksonville. The city found the contractor was exceeding noise levels by pounding pilings past the 10 p.m. cutoff time, officials said.

Times-Union staff writer Dan Scanlan contributed to this report.

Staff writer David Bauerlein can be reached at (904) 359-4581 or via e-mail at dbauerlein.