The inventory found a mix of native species, including laurel oaks, southern live oaks, cabbage palms, bald cypress and red maples, many of which qualify for protection under the city\u2019s tree ordinance because of their size and condition. It also identified invasive species, including queen palms, weeping bottlebrush and Chinese tallow trees.<\/p>\n
Rather than meeting that preservation requirement, the developer requested a variance that would allow all of those protected trees to be removed.<\/p>\n
Planning staff said the mature trees are scattered throughout the property rather than concentrated in one area. The developer argued the warehouse layout, truck circulation, updated stormwater requirements, floodplain regulations and the need to place three to five feet of fill across much of the site made preserving those trees impractical.<\/p>\n
Several commissioners questioned whether the project had been designed around the existing trees or around maximizing the site\u2019s development potential.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a hard time reconciling the 100% variance here,\u201d Commissioner Sarah Jane Vatelot said. \u201c[I] have a hard time \u2026 imagining that there are no trees that could be preserved \u201c<\/p>\n
Vatelot questioned whether the buildings and site layout had been designed around the existing trees or simply maximized the amount of developable square footage.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t like the notion that \u2026 it\u2019s this, or it\u2019s just nothing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Sam Blatt said he also struggled with granting what he viewed as an unusually broad exception to the city\u2019s tree preservation ordinance, particularly for a speculative warehouse project without committed tenants.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if I can get behind a 100% tree variance for this project,\u201d Blatt said. \u201cEspecially when we\u2019re talking about spec development. I get that it\u2019s a small site. They\u2019re trying to maximize the value of their property, but 100% is a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blatt said commissioners were effectively being asked to trust the developer that more trees would ultimately be preserved than the variance requested.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey seem like they want to maintain some trees,\u201d he said. \u201cBut they want us to take their word for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/warehouse_rendering-gateway-logistics-trees-300x194.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
A conceptual rendering shows one of the two warehouse-light industrial buildings proposed for a 20-acre site at 1201 102nd Ave. N. Image: McCraney Property Company\/City of St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Michael Kiernan said he was similarly uneasy with the applicant\u2019s explanation that requesting a complete variance simply provided flexibility during the design process.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I heard \u2026 the stated reason was, \u2018Well, we want to buffer just to kind of hedge our bets,\u2019 that was, I have to say, troubling,\u201d Kiernan said.<\/p>\n
He also noted that many trees on the property were in poor condition, but said that did little to resolve his concerns.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am also struck by the number of trees that are not worth saving. They\u2019re not protected, per se, so I struggle with this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not everyone agreed.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Kevin Reali argued the variance reflected the practical realities of redeveloping flood-prone industrial land and urged the board to weigh the loss of mature trees against the public benefit of creating employment-generating uses.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there\u2019s a balance here,\u201d Reali said. \u201cWe also want these types of uses in the city, and this is the right place for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reali said modern floodplain regulations requiring the site to be elevated several feet left little opportunity to preserve existing trees.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe almost can\u2019t have it both ways,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we have the coastal high hazard and we have to bring in fill to elevate the property, you by definition can\u2019t sort of keep what\u2019s on the existing surface.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rather than proceed to a vote, the development team asked commissioners for additional time to revise the proposal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would ask that this be continued so that we can present this a little further and see if we can\u2019t come back with a variance that\u2019s not 100%,\u201d project engineer Andrew Eiland said.<\/p>\n
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