Tree Won't Stop Downtown Office Project

The owners of local construction company Bay to Bay Properties want to build a one-story office building in downtown Safety Harbor, and the City Commission voted in favor of approving the request at their meeting on July 15.

Now the only thing standing in the way of the new building on the northwest corner of Second Street South and Sixth Avenue South is a live oak tree, one that will be taken down to make room for the company's new 3,800-square-foot headquarters.

Officials said the 60-foot-tall tree is in declining health due to the presence of invasive vines and rot and does not fall under the guidelines of the city's Grand Tree Ordinance; but that didn't stop one commissioner from pleading for the applicant to spare the tree.

"I know that for, say, three hundred to four hundred dollars of work on the tree, the tree could be preserved," Commissioner Nancy Besore said. "I've got this dream that this tree is going to be saved."

"I'm hopeful that when the developer sees it...he's going to say, let me pull $500 out of my pocket, let me treat this tree and move my building back."

But Bay to Bay owner Joe Faw said that although he is sensitive to the subject of preserving trees in town, this one cannot be saved if he wants to develop the property.

"I do respect Commissioner Besore's comments," Faw said before describing a couple of projects where he has worked to preserve grand trees.

"I know that because of my line of work I get the 'slashing tree' label, but those are two examples of grand trees we have worked around."

Faw went on to say that due the fact that the city received an easement from the property owner to allow perpendicular parking on the south side of the lot, he is forced to move his building further back on the property, closer to the tree.

He also cited an incident where limbs fell from a neighboring tree similar in size and age to the one on the lot, which raises concerns of property damage or personal injury should he attempt to work his building around the tree.

"I'm trying as hard as I can to comply and follow the rules," Faw said. "But as a property owner, I don't want a tree that is borderline should be taken out five feet away from a half-million dollar investment that we're trying to make."

In the end the commission agreed to approve the applicant's request by a vote of 4-1, with Besore voicing the only nay vote. Officials said work on the project could begin immediately.

What do you think, Harborites? Do the rights of private property owners and developers trump the need to save trees? Let us know in the comments below.