Rohde Avenue oak tree being destroyed

Few areas in uptown St Augustine and north city have better examples of our city’s large oak trees; nesting habitat for native birds, squirrels and other wildlife. Historic City News was informed this morning that residents along Rohde Avenue were instructed to remove their vehicles to accommodate the workers from the tree service. What followed shocked and drew complaints from neighbors to this otherwise quiet street.

Oak trees require maintenance. The city is responsible to keep streets clear for traffic and utility franchisees are required to keep trees off the aerial power and communications lines. Residents expect removal of invasive vines, trimming branches, and other routine maintenance to keep our Tree City worthy of the designation. Over the past four years, a subservient city manager under the direction of a prior mayor, allowed maintenance of the community’s streets, water and sewer systems, and other vital infrastructure, including trees, to be “deferred” in favor of a spare-no-expense 450th birthday party — which is not even a function of government in the first place.

“A limb overhanging the road came down in the storm last week, so now the entire tree must die because it is a liability? A little trimming might have been warranted,” Rhonda Parker asked Historic City News editor Michael Gold in a telephone interview earlier today. “I wish I’d had time to say goodbye to the momma and poppa cardinals and their babies.”

Parker called from the balcony of her home which overlooks the scene where K and S Tree Service was in the process of removing the oak. She was upset and had spent the morning in search of anyone who could stop an otherwise healthy oak tree from being destroyed. She forwarded photographs showing the workers and apparent good condition of tree that had become a comforting part of her day-to-day life. “Can you see the squirrel nest near the heart of the tree?”

According to Parker, and in her words, this morning’s tree removal amounts to “the murder of the second largest tree on Rohde Avenue”.

Monday night’s city commission meeting was referred to, tongue-in-cheek, as “the tree meeting” by Mayor Nancy Shaver when the agenda addressed an appeal regarding the removal of nine cedar trees on Inlet Drive, the selection of twenty date palms on medians at the San Sebastian bridge on SR-16, and an application for a forestry grant to continue inventorying the city’s trees.

Gold remembers, as a boy growing up in St Augustine, that before Hurricane Dora hit the city in the 1960’s, San Marco Avenue was lined with ancient oaks. Over the years, more and more of the trees were “cut back” until they were finally cut down altogether. The expansive oak canopy that overhangs Magnolia Avenue near the Fountain of Youth, amazingly spared by generations of fierce tropical storms, could become the victim of a chainsaw, some residents fear.

The fact is, of course, St Augustine is renowned for our treescapes. There has been increasing attention paid to the removal of trees in St Augustine; last week, St Johns County had to pay the City an after-the-fact permit penalty when they were caught removing trees at the Amphitheatre without the required approval.

Parker said she is rallying support, “If I didn’t have the baby here, I’d stand under this tree and get arrested.” She says the neighborhood is up in arms, and her next calls will be to Gina Burrell who serves on the City’s Tree Committee, David Birchim who is the director of planning and zoning for the City, and also to Mayor Shaver. She will update Historic City News on her progress.

Photo credits: © 2015 Historic City News contributed photograph by Rhonda Parker

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