Without permit, nature trims tree

Homeowners fume that the city forester denied a request to remove a tree labeled a hazard.

By STEVE HUETTEL

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 21, 2000

TAMPA -- Missy Steadman's tree expert called the laurel oak that shaded her two-story South Tampa home a hazard. City inspectors agreed, noting huge hollow limbs and a cavity in the trunk big enough for a person to crouch inside.

But the city's forester on June 2 blocked Steadman's request to remove the 80-foot-tall tree, which he estimated had more than five years of life remaining.

On Monday night, Steadman and her husband Corey were in the den when they heard one of the big limbs peel off the trunk and crash down on their roof. A second limb smashed onto their tennis court an hour later, taking down a section of 10-foot fence with it.

The Steadmans were still steamed Tuesday as a crane parked on the tennis court prepared to lift the 7-ton limb off the roof without doing more damage to their $500,000 home near Palma Ceia Golf and Country Club.

"If the city doesn't have someone who can make a (correct) determination, they need to get somebody who can," Missy Steadman said.

Removing the limbs cost $11,000, including $1,800 for the crane, she said. It was too early to guess the cost of replacing the roof, fixing damage the crane did to the asphalt tennis court and making other repairs.

The incident adds to a controversy that ignited last week over how the city protects its largest and oldest trees.

City Council members refused Thursday to let Gary and Molly Smith remove a huge live oak on Chapin Avenue where they want to build a new $800,000 house.

Within hours, a crew with a city-issued tree-trimming permit cut off 60 percent of the centuries-old oak as shocked neighbors watched in horror.

Like the Steadmans, the Smiths hired an arborist who determined their tree was too damaged by disease to save.

City forester Steve Graham examined both trees and decided they were healthy enough to deny removal permits. That meant owners had to take their cases to the Variance Review Board and, ultimately, the City Council.

Graham could not be reached Tuesday afternoon.

Mayor Dick Greco said tree experts told him sometimes they can't accurately gauge the extent of damage to a tree or estimate how long it has to live.

The two cases show how difficult a job the city has to protect historic trees from people -- and the other way around. "Just because of emotion, we don't want someone killed," Greco said. "But we don't want people helter-skelter cutting trees down either."

On Tuesday, Greco examined rotted branches cut off the Smith's property at 3012 W Chapin Ave. and saw photos of the limb leaning on the Steadman's roof.

He is trying to come up with a better way for the city to evaluate whether trees protected by law are too dangerous to remain standing.

Now, inspectors from Tampa's development office determine whether a tree is large enough to qualify for protection, then make a recommendation on the removal request. But the city forester in the parks department has the final word on issuing a permit immediately.

The two departments are at odds over about a half-dozen trees, said Rick Del Rio, who runs the development department's site inspection bureau.

He had been out to the Steadman house twice to inspect the tree and had scheduled another trip for Tuesday to advise them on the steps to appeal to the variance board, he said.

"I felt bad for the lady," Del Rio said. "Unfortunately in this situation, step-by-step wasn't fast enough."

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