Billboard Company Must Re-Plant Trees on Ga. 400

CUMMING, GA -- A bare, treeless patch along Ga. 400 is going to eventually spring back to life, if Forsyth County has anything to do with it.

The county commission has agreed to a settlement with a billboard company it says clear-cut trees in a section between southbound exits 12 and 13, violating county rules.

Under the agreement, Agnes Slack LLLP and Southern Displays will have to replant trees in the area.

"You need to comply with zoning conditions. Otherwise, everybody is going to start clearing back into there, clearing out things that they shouldn't be clearing," said Forsyth County Commissioner Todd Levent to WSB-TV.

The county maintains that the company cut down trees so its billboard could be seen more easily.

The space is about the size of six or seven football fields.

While the company had a Department of Transportation permit to clear trees in the area, Levent says they cleared trees that were on private property, which violates county codes.

The county currently has a ban on new billboards.

The parts of the area that are private property must be replanted within three months, the Forsyth County News reported. For the next 25 years, any tree that dies must be replaced.