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Leaning trees felled near leader's home

A dispute between two neighbors, one a city commissioner, leaves behind two pine tree stumps and questions about power.

By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published August 20, 2005

SAFETY HARBOR - After weeks of arguing, some hot words at a City Commission meeting, two code board hearings, and more arguing, a homeowner prevailed Wednesday night in her dispute against her next door neighbor.

The city ordered the next door neighbor to cut down two pines.

But this spat was far from routine.

The complaining homeowner is City Commissioner Kara Bauer. It was her city's government code enforcement board that ordered Patrice Charles-Platteis to cut down her two slash pines by Oct. 17 or face a $25-a-day fine.

Charles-Platteis complied. By Thursday morning the trees, which were leaning toward Bauer's house, were nothing more than stumps.

Still hanging in the air, though, is a lingering question: Did Bauer abuse her power as a city commissioner and get the city to take steps it might not have taken otherwise?

Charles-Platteis thinks so. She and her husband, Gary Platteis, made that point forcefully Monday at City Hall, appearing before the full City Commission and scores of city residents.

Heatedly, Gary Platteis asked: "Is Kara Bauer held to a different standard than the rest of the city's residents?"

City Manager Wayne Logan told him absolutely not.

"Proper procedures were followed in this situation," Logan said. "There was no favorable treatment."

Trees gone, Bauer stands by what she did. Her case went through the same procedures anyone's would have, she says.

"I still retain my rights as a homeowner even though I'm a commissioner," said Bauer.

Bauer lives next door to Charles-Platteis on a cul-de-sac in the Rainbow Farms North subdivision off McMullen-Booth Road. For years, the neighborhood's homes have been shaded by hundreds of tall slash pines.

But last year's hurricanes wreaked havoc. The skinny pines, many of them 70 feet tall, blew over. They crushed roofs, screened enclosures, lanais and fences, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage.

Not wanting to deal with that problem again, many concerned residents had their remaining pines cut down this winter and spring.

Charles-Platteis left standing the trees in her front yard. Two leaned toward Bauer's master bedroom. Bauer asked her neighbor to remove them, even offering to foot the bill.

Charles-Platteis refused, saying she loved the trees.

That's when Bauer took matters to a familiar place: City Hall.

She filed a formal complaint with the city's code enforcement department. That started the city's wheels turning.

Logan, the city manager, authorized hiring a tree expert. The cost: $375. Logan said he never before used city money to hire a specialist to examine a live tree on private property.

Joseph Samnik of Samnik & Associates concluded the two trees and five others on Charles-Platteis' property were, indeed, a hazard. He recommended removal.

The city later cited Platteis, saying she was maintaining a nuisance. She appealed. Her case landed in the lap of the code enforcement board, which is made up of residents who are appointed, not elected.

During a code board hearing last month, Charles-Platteis asked the city's code enforcement officer, Bob Repp, if he gave Bauer preferential treatment.

"Have you ever known the city to hire a consultant to inspect live trees on private property?" she asked Repp.

"No," he replied.

Board member Steve Fishman said he felt the case was on a fast track.

"There is a very bad vibe here," he said. "Something is very wrong here."

The board didn't vote, tabling the matter because their lawyer wasn't present.

In following days, Charles-Platteis had all the slash pines in her back yard removed. Crews didn't touch the ones leaning toward Bauer's property.

When the code board reconvened Wednesday night, Fishman asked again if the case moved through the system a little too quickly. The lawyer said no.

After some discussion, the board voted 5-1 to force Charles-Platteis to remove her pines.

"Even the homeowner said (her) trees are hazardous," Fishman pointed out.

The Platteises said they weren't upset about the ruling. Speaking publicly before the City Commission was success enough, they said.

"We thought the people of Safety Harbor should know that professional arborists are available to them," said Gary Platteis.

The couple plan to sell the house.

For her part, Bauer said she found no happiness in victory.

It was agonizing, she said, to sit through the Platteis speech at the City Commission meeting and not be able to respond to the charges.

"It was horribly embarrassing," Bauer said. "But when it was over, I felt encouraged that the city manager and (Assistant City Manager) Ron Pianta said nothing improper had been done, period."

When Bauer first took her complaint to the city, Pianta said he had warned her that she might face allegations of abuse of power. When she opted to continue the fight, "we treated it like it was any other complaint," Pianta said. "She just happens to be a city commissioner."

Eileen Schulte can be reached at 727 445-4153 or schulte@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 20, 2005, 01:26:05]