Miami\u2019s tree permit battles reach city commission<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cIt was heartbreaking to see this old-growth tree removed,\u201d said Marlene Erven, president of the Coconut Grove Park Homeowners Association, who lives a few blocks from the site. \u201cOver generations, it had become a small ecosystem of its own \u2014 home to hawks, parrots, migratory birds, squirrels and other wildlife, and a wonderful place for neighbors and children passing by to observe nature,\u201d<\/p>\n
Tree protection advocates also point to the pending removal of a mature oak at Northeast 64th Street and Northeast Seventh Avenue in Legion Park.<\/p>\n
David Winker, a lawyer who represents local residents and neighborhood associations in appeals of city-issued tree removal permits, said he has recently seen sight-visibility concerns cited more frequently as a reason for removing trees.<\/p>\n
Of the roughly 20 active appeals Winker was handling at the end of August, he said sight visibility was cited as an issue in most.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe city all of a sudden is pushing it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt seems like an excuse just to chop down trees. The city seems hell-bent on cutting down as many trees as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
A city spokesperson did not respond to multiple requests for comment about the recent enforcement actions or questions about how the city applies visibility-triangle rules by publication time.<\/p>\n
Van de Kreeke said he has discussed the dispute with Javier Gonzalez, Coconut Grove constituent liaison for District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo, seeking his help in resolving the matter. According to van de Kreeke, Gonzalez told him the citations stemmed from complaints by nearby residents.<\/p>\n
Gonzalez did not respond to the Spotlight\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n
But internal city records reviewed by the Spotlight suggest there may be confusion over how \u2014 and when \u2014 the sight-visibility requirement should be applied.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, a North Grove property owner cited sight visibility among several reasons for seeking a city permit to remove a mature Cassia fistula, commonly known as a golden shower tree, to make way for construction of a new home.<\/p>\n
An Environmental Resources Division reviewing officer initially recommended that the application be denied, noting that the tree should be \u201cgrandfathered\u201d because of its age under the sight-visibility requirement.<\/p>\n
Neighbors successfully appealed the city\u2019s tree removal permit last May, citing the reviewing officer\u2019s initial recommendation as evidence that the tree should be allowed to remain.<\/p>\n
Sandy Moise, conservation co-chair of the Sierra Club Miami Group and a leader of Miami\u2019s Trees Matter Most coalition, said she, too, has noticed an increase in property owners and developers invoking sight visibility as a reason for removing trees. While she understands the city\u2019s safety concerns, Moise said the rule is being applied \u201cexcessively\u201d to trees.<\/p>\n
\u201cCommon sense needs to be applied,\u201d she wrote in a statement to the Spotlight. \u201cThe existence of a tree within a sight triangle does not necessarily mean the tree must be removed. The relevant question should be whether the tree actually creates an unsafe obstruction to required visibility, and whether pruning or another less destructive measure can correct it.\u201d<\/p>\n
After van de Kreeke received several warnings from the city, he said he trimmed a \u201ctunnel\u201d through his hedge so drivers could see the intersection\u2019s stop sign through the foliage.<\/p>\n
Then, on Aug. 26, the city issued a formal notice citing three code violations, including obstruction of required visibility at the intersection. The notice also cited unpermitted fencing and plantings in the public right of way and directed him to remove several objects caught in the hedge.<\/p>\n
Van de Kreeke must correct the violations or obtain required permits by Sept. 25.<\/p>\n
Across the street, neighbor Roy Mathew said his property has also been cited by code enforcement. He and his wife, Lata, have cultivated a yard filled with native plants that extend toward the street.<\/p>\n
The notice cited Mathew\u2019s fence, which he acknowledged extending closer to the street without a permit, as well as a gravel pathway, hedges and shrubs in the public right of way. It also cited an obstruction to motorists\u2019 view of oncoming traffic.<\/p>\n
Mathew said he understands the need for code enforcement but questions why the city is enforcing the rules now, after 26 years of maintaining his canopied South Grove property without facing similar scrutiny.<\/p>\n
\u201cA couple of times in the past they\u2019ve come by and said, \u2018Oh, your hedges need to be trimmed a little bit,\u2019 little warning-type things,\u201d he said. \u201cBut never a case opened.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis just seems like they\u2019re going after everyone for little things,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Van de Kreeke, meanwhile, said he plans to appeal his citation. Removing his hedge, he said, would undermine the character of the neighborhood that drew him to South Grove in the first place.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you were to cut and do all of these visual corners, you\u2019d look just like Coral Gables, or just like one of these manicured cities where it\u2019s wide open,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re losing the canopy, you\u2019re losing the lushness and the greenery of the area \u2014 the reason why you live there.\u201d<\/p>\n
David Villano contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
Sinclair Holian is a Spotlight reporter and Report for America corps member covering gentrification and development in Coconut Grove. She joins us through our partnership with Report for America, a national organization that places journalists in local newsrooms across the United States.<\/p>\n
This story was originally published in the Coconut Grove Spotlight<\/a>, a WLRN News partner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Michiel Johan van de Kreeke earned his lifelong nickname, \u201cMonkey,\u201d as a 6-year-old climbing trees on Braganza Avenue…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397486,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[225,227,226],"class_list":["post-397485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hialeah","tag-hialeah","tag-hialeah-headlines","tag-hialeah-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397485\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}