Tampa's idiot leaders remove 110 trees in Ybor without warning

[Jasonhouse]

Scores of trees cut down as part of Ybor 'face-lift'

By Justin George, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Tuesday, September 25, 2012

TAMPA — It has been referred to as murder without warning or clear motive.

Troy Ligon watched out the windows of his Italian restaurant as trucks rumbled in Friday. Work crews got out, started up saws and chopped down scores of trees that lined the sidewalks in Ybor City's business district. Left behind was the jarring sight of 4-foot-tall beheaded stumps.

"They all seemed healthy," said Ligon, who co-owns the Laughing Cat restaurant on N 15th Street. "I really don't understand."

What was known by Monday was that the city had ordered removing and replacing 110 trees in Ybor City's historic business district. But uncertainty remained about why and at what cost.

Carrie West, president of the GaYBOR District Coalition, and Mark Bias, who co-owns Ybor's MC Film Fest gift shop with West, wrote an email to civic leaders demanding answers.

"(Ninety) plus trees were murdered in Ybor City by the city of Tampa!!!" the email reads. "The tall and luscious trees only crime was providing shade and beauty to historic Ybor City."

Not even the district's City Council member, Frank Reddick, knew what was going on. He learned about the mass removal after a city Barrio Latino historic architectural commissioner asked him.

"My office is looking into it with the administration and hopes to get an answer tomorrow," he said Monday night. "This is the first I heard of it today. No one would discuss it with me in the administration."

Most business owners and neighborhood leaders were also in the dark, though a few got clues Friday when the city made a brief, late afternoon announcement.

The announcement said Ybor was getting "a much needed facelift." Trees would be cut Friday and Saturday and stumps removed Monday. Olive and crape myrtle trees would replace them, all in about a month.

Greg Bayor, Tampa's parks and recreation director, did not know Monday afternoon what type of trees were chosen for removal, or the cost of the project.

The trees were being replaced, he said, because they had reached their life span, were diseased or were disrupting power lines. He said he didn't know when they had been planted, but said state-recommended species, including some palm trees, would take their place.

He said he wasn't sure why merchants in Ybor hadn't received more notice but said his staff had worked with the Ybor City Development Corp. on the project for months.

A call to the YCDC, which is a city redevelopment and revitalization agency, was referred to a city spokeswoman and ultimately to Bayor.

Neither the leader of the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce, nor Tony LaColla, president of the Historic Ybor Neighborhood Civic Association, knew the trees were coming down.

As the trees fell Friday, LaColla called city government. He said someone there told him that 15-year-old live oaks were targeted because they obstructed power lines. Their root systems, he was told, could eventually harm Ybor's historic structures.

"Once I heard the reasoning why, it was completely understandable," he said. "We have to save our historic structures and if some trees have to come down, so be it. At least they'll be replaced with something a little more friendlier to the historic district."

But harm to the Ybor structures was never a reason for the trees' removal, Bayor said.

Norm Easey, CEO of the Florida chapter of the International Society of the Arboriculture, said live oaks could not damage buildings because their root systems go no deeper than 14 inches. They can spread as far as 200 feet, but only if they have unobstructed room to grow.

"It would be unusual for it to damage buildings," he said. "In fact, I would find that almost to be impossible."

The roots could buckle sidewalks, but that's generally tolerated in cities where live oaks exist in many urban areas. He said the city of Venice planted live oaks downtown just after World War II, and they have flourished while surrounded by development.

Power lines, Easey said, are a concern with live oaks, which can grow as tall as 60 feet in Tampa.

"That's a different story," he said. "Trees should never be planted underneath an area where a tree can grow into an overhead utility."

He noted that Tampa's replacement choices will never grow tall enough for shade.

For years, Ybor City's chamber has struggled to play up its historic character and unique daytime shops — not just its nightclubs and entertainment reputation.

"Trees are a real refreshing respite from the cityscape, so they're really important," Chamber president Tom Keating said.

Bayor said the replacement trees would not be just saplings or seedlings.

"It certainly won't be the canopy that was there for a couple of years for sure, but it will be a very pleasant look and a good-sized tree there," he said.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/localgo...e-lift/1253244

[Jasonhouse]

You just can't make this stuff up.

Un-f***ing-believable!

[Lakelander]

^Unfortunately, this type of thing happens in Jacksonville a lot. Some of the clowns up here actually want to cut all the trees down in this downtown park because they believe it will make it easier to identify criminals and stop people from hanging out there (because the heat from a fully exposed sun will make discourage people from staying and playing chess).



Any guy who's walked the streets down here knows the shade in this one spot is a huge downtown amenity.

[Jasonhouse]

I like how it was done by communicating as little as humanly possible with the people who would be affected. Not even other community leaders knew about it.

[rmaddrey]

Was just reading this article earlier on Facebook...never underestimate the power of Floridian city, county and state government to totally not understand the value of shade. It's by far more important to plant rodent ridden scrub palms and other tropical ornamental flora than anything that might actually promote the enjoyment of the outdoors during that 70% of the year when we "enjoy" stifling heat and humidity. Really, really aggravates me. Central Florida has more in common with south Georgia than it does south Florida and yet they persist in trying to morph us into someone's vision of a Corona beer commercial.

[densitymatters]

Does anyone think that cutting down those trees was a good idea? the mayor talked about flattening those mounds at Julian B Lane riverfront park when they start putting money into improving the park. He says it obstructs peoples vision of the water. I like those mounds and hope they stay.. Our leaders are clueless

[Jasonhouse]

^Those mounds are a big reason why I take my daughter to that park on occasion. She looooves that huge slide on the one (she slides down on a towel, which makes you go quick and keeps the hot metal away from her skin). When she was still a toddler, she called them 'mountains'. lol!

I'm sure they'll also chop down the lovely criss-cross oak canopy in that park as well. Put up some useless palms, because you know, they look better on a postcard, and someone's buddy wants more profits for his landscaping biz.

[mhays]

This is HORRIFYING. Shade is a 100% necessity for me to visit any hot place. And huge for ambiance.

[rmaddrey]

Agreed, the mounds really are the single most unique thing about that park.

[I-275westcoastfl]

Welcome to Tampa Bay!

[WeatherChannel]

Crape Myrtles loose their leaves every year during the winter which down here can be warm. So from shade to no shade for months at a time!

[Jasonhouse]

Sounds like a super plan.

[kmthurman]

Also never underestimate the media to sensationalize and refuse to tell the whole story -- as many merchants requested the trees be replaced as are complaining (seems like many who are complaining now asked for them to be replaced as well). The majority of the trees removed are diseased the rest cost significant money to trim back every year from interfering with power lines or caused major issues to historic buildings/walkways.

The method and notice were of course ridiculous and caused people who distrust government to do so more. But the trees cut down look nothing like the ones in Jacksonville photo and the reason makes more sense than just a "preference" for other trees.

[smiley]

How do you know exactly how many merchants requested what?

In any event, leave it to the city govt to do what it wants without input. The city has screwed up Ybor from at least early in Iorio's tenure.

[Jasonhouse]

^We were talking abut that last night. You should have showed up dude! It was nice just to get to meet other members.

[kmthurman]

Originally Posted by smiley

How do you know exactly how many merchants requested what?

In any event, leave it to the city govt to do what it wants without input. The city has screwed up Ybor from at least early in Iorio's tenure.

To clarify, as many requested it as are complaining in the press. How dO you know there was no input? The news reports last night claim otherwise. The merchants should have gotten more notice that for sure, but this far from being as big a deal as cameras, the new entrprenurial center, debating Julian B lAne, street lights, rail or about anything else -- yet we flock like sheep to a story about trees missing from a street for three weeks.

And can people really explain to me why one share tree that costs a lot of money and replacing it with another that doesn't is so horrifying?

[Jasonhouse]

Back when the economy took a dump, I worked as a foreman for a company that plants mature trees, so I can answer that.

Oaks are a shade/canopy tree. Crepe Myrtles are an ornamental tree too small and shrubby to provide useful shade to peds. Crepe Myrtles are also deciduous, and tend to be one of the last tree species to begin their spring growth phase, leaving them without leaves for several months a year. Oaks in our region do drop their leaves, but they also regrow new leaves almost simultaneously.

Oaks are native to FL. Crepe Myrtles are native to China, Japan and Korea. Not sure how that's appropriate for a historic district?

Crepe Myrtles are susceptible to damage or death from unusually cold winters. Oaks aren't.

Crepe Myrtles will also require more pruning/upkeep than oaks, to keep walkways open, since they branch out at a height shorter than an upright person. But they also generally won't grow tall enough to get entangled in overhead power lines.

The trees are also quite messy, and shed leaves or flowers for several months each year. Oaks aren't exactly clean either (esp if it's a cold winter which can confuse an oak into multiple growth cycles), but on balance the Crepe Myrtles are messier imho.

The pluses... They look pretty, they are fairly sturdy when storms come, and are fairly drought resistant. But oaks are even more so.


Added... On a personal note, a flowering tree like the Crepe Myrtle scares the bejeezus out of people like me who are allergic to bees, as they attract bees to them throughout their lengthy flowering period each year (late spring through the summer into early fall). They're also a popular feeding source for caterpillars, another insect some people are turned off by. I remember when my folks bought their first house (in the late fall) when we moved to Tampa, and chopping down the several Crepe Myrtles in the back yard became priority #1 when spring rolled around and the bees and caterpillars showed up. So, for a family like mine, where my daughter is also allergic to bees, planting a bunch of these assures that we would never, ever go where these trees are during their flowering phase.

[DShenise]

Pennywise, pound foolish on the trimming requirements. Instead of sending out a crew twice yearly with a bucket truck to trim the tops of oaks, they'll be on a monthly cycle with the Crepe Myrtles.

[Jasonhouse]

Maybe not monthly, but certainly more frequently than an oak. In my neighborhood, we have a crew come out once a year to prune everyone's oak trees, but not every tree needs to be pruned every year.

[Jasonhouse]

Originally Posted by kmthurman

The method and notice were of course ridiculous and caused people who distrust government to do so more. But the trees cut down look nothing like the ones in Jacksonville photo and the reason makes more sense than just a "preference" for other trees.

Almost forgot...

My take is that Ybor is a historic district, and every resident and business owner is impacted by what the city does to the district, even if they don't live on 7th. To me, before the city went ahead and decided to redefine a key component of the district's look, they should have at minimum been required to make a public presentation to the Barrio. Afterall, if an Ybor property owner wants to change the look of their structure, they must go through a binding approval process. I don't see why the city's activities aren't held to the same standard.