Hilton Head Island<\/p>\n
Daniel Kirchberg and his wife, Mary Ann, have lived in the Forest Beach neighborhood on Hilton Head Island for 10 years. A retired couple from Virginia, the Kirchbergs moved to Hilton Head for its natural beauty and peaceful atmosphere.<\/p>\n
Their three-bedroom ranch-style home, constructed in 1972, is surrounded by majestic live oak trees draped in Spanish Moss. For years, they had no need for a backyard pool.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe could walk to the beach,\u201d Mr. Kirchberg said. \u201cSo we joked, \u2018Oh, our pool\u2019s right out there.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Five and a half years ago, that changed. While walking home from the beach, Mrs. Kirchberg tripped and fell, leaving her with a knee injury that still affects her mobility to this day.<\/p>\n
The couple now wants to build a pool in their backyard so that Mrs. Kirchberg can exercise and regain her strength.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven just to walk back and forth with the resistance of the water, I think it\u2019d be very helpful,\u201d Mrs. Kirchberg said.<\/p>\n
The problem? A majestic, two-foot-wide live oak tree stands in the Kirchbergs\u2019 backyard, smack in the middle of where their new pool would be. A new law passed in August protects trees like this one on single-family lots, but makes it difficult \u2014 if not impossible \u2014 for homeowners to get clearance to remove them.<\/p>\n
Forest Beach resident Daniel Kirchberg stands in his backyard next to a two-foot wide live oak tree. The 78-year-old retiree wants to install a hydrotherapy pool for his wife, who suffers from a knee injury, but the town\u2019s tree protection ordinance could prevent that. Li Khan lkhan@islandpacket.com <\/p>\n
Mr. Kirchberg has spent weeks preparing his request to remove the tree and waiting for the town to hear his case. But at a Monday meeting of the Board of Zoning Appeals, the board delayed making a decision. He now has to come back to the board with an arborist\u2019s opinion on whether the tree could cause damage to his home.<\/p>\n
The board only meets once a month, so the pool will have to wait.<\/p>\n
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A sign on the Kirchbergs\u2019 property advertises a public hearing for their request for a zoning variance to remove a tree in their backyard. Li Khan lkhan@islandpacket.com <\/p>\n
Mr. Kirchberg argues there are four other large live oak trees on his property that won\u2019t be affected by the pool. He told The Packet he\u2019d be \u201chappy\u201d to plant as many trees as needed to make up for the loss.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo me, it\u2019s common sense,\u201d Mr. Kirchberg said. \u201cIt\u2019s one tree.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why does this law exist?<\/p>\n
The Kirchbergs\u2019 pool aspirations are now caught in the crossfire of a decades-long battle to protect the natural beauty of Hilton Head Island.<\/p>\n
Hilton Head\u2019s tree protection ordinance is supposed to prevent clear-cutting and require developers to design neighborhoods thoughtfully around trees, not through them. But a former exemption for single-family lots opened the doors for large-scale residential developers to cut down swaths of forests without oversight.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a tough balance to strike. Most Hilton Head residents want to protect the natural beauty they came here for, but many also want the freedom to do as they like with their own property.<\/p>\n
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This photo taken with a drone on May 10, 2023 shows a forested area with residential properties enveloped by land clear cut for a future housing development off Jonesville Road on Hilton Head Island. Drew Martin dmartin@islandpacket.com <\/p>\n
Trees wider than a certain threshold are considered \u201cspecimen trees,\u201d by the Town of Hilton Head Island; the threshold varies by species<\/a>.<\/p>\n In an effort to protect more trees, the Hilton Head Island Town Council closed the single-family-lot loophoole<\/a> in August 2025. They also reduced the threshold for live oak and laurel oak trees to be considered \u201cspecimen\u201d trees from 35 to 30 inches.<\/p>\n As a result, homeowners wanting to remove specimen trees from their property now have to go through the long, arduous and costly process of obtaining a zoning variance from the Board of Zoning Appeals.<\/p>\n In order to be granted a zoning variance, homeowners have to prove that protecting the tree would result in \u201cunnecessary hardship.\u201d<\/p>\n Zoning law lays out very limited criteria for what constitutes an \u201cunnecessary hardship.\u201d<\/p>\n There must be \u201cextraordinary and exceptional conditions\u201d on the property;These conditions don\u2019t apply to neighboring properties;These conditions \u201cprohibit or unreasonably restrict\u201d the utilization of the property, and;Granting the variance would not harm the neighborhood\u2019s character or be of detriment to nearby properties.A mountain of paperwork<\/p>\n Mr. Kirchberg said he spent \u201cweeks\u201d navigating the process and gathering all the paperwork he needed for his application.<\/p>\n He dug up site plans and supplied an affidavit of ownership proving that he owned the property. He supplied a detailed narrative explaining why he met all the criteria for an \u201cunnecessary hardship,\u201d but was told by staff not to discuss his wife\u2019s injury in the application.<\/p>\n He also had to mail a letter to every property owner within a 350-foot radius notifying them of his request to cut down a tree. Luckily, town staff provided him with a list of names and addresses. Each of the 50 letters cost him $0.78 in postage. One of the recipients on the list was the Town of Hilton Head Island.<\/p>\n After paying a $250 application fee, Mr. Kirchberg waited for his public hearing. The Board of Zoning Appeals meets once a month, and the deadline to get on the agenda is 30 days before each meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cI was hoping to get in the March one,\u201d Mr. Kirchberg said. \u201cBut I was told no, it\u2019s 30 days.\u201d<\/p>\n Tree removal stumps board<\/p>\n Monday\u2019s meeting of the Board of Zoning Appeals marked the first time the board has weighed on tree removals on single-family lots since the old exemption was lifted.<\/p>\n The board reviewed two removal requests that day. The first seemed pretty cut-and-dry.<\/p>\n A Palmetto Dunes homeowner sought to remove a 36-inch tree growing dangerously close to her property. The homeowner obtained an arborist\u2019s report confirming that the tree would cause \u201ccatastrophic damage\u201d to the home\u2019s foundation unless it was removed.<\/p>\n The board approved this request without much friction. The arborist\u2019s opinion for removal helped make the decision more \u201ccomfortable,\u201d board members said.<\/p>\n The Kirchbergs\u2019 request, however, stumped the board.<\/p>\n Under the law, the board can only grant a zoning variance if the applicant meets all the criteria for an \u201cunnecessary hardship.\u201d<\/p>\n Board members questioned whether not being allowed to build a pool constituted an \u201cunnecessary hardship\u201d under the law. Because Mr. Kirchberg was instructed not to talk about his wife\u2019s injury in his application, the board wasn\u2019t able to take that into account.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m having a hard time with this one,\u201d said board member Peter Kristian, who is also the general manager of Hilton Head Plantation. \u201cA home may be a requirement on a lot, but a pool is not a requirement on a lot. And the tree isn\u2019t causing any damage to the home.\u201d<\/p>\n Board member Jeffery Greene took a different stance. \u201cToday, it may not be causing harm to the house, but eventually its root system will,\u201d Greene said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really kind of torn here,\u201d said Amy Fee, who also sits on the board for the Forest Beach Owners\u2019 Association.<\/p>\n Fee, a resident of Forest Beach, said she bought her home when it was still \u201cForest Beach.\u201d The neighborhood gets its name from the lush maritime forests that once cloaked the streets under its dense canopy. Some residents feel that the town has failed to protect the area from overdevelopment and clear-cutting.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have experienced, one tree at a time, death by a thousand cuts,\u201d Fee said.<\/p>\n The board suggested that if the Kirchbergs came back with an arborist\u2019s report, that could help them make a more informed decision. Mr. Kirchberg agreed, so the board moved to delay making a decision for now.<\/p>\n What\u2019s next?<\/p>\n Interviewed at his home in Forest Beach after the meeting, Mr. Kirchberg said he\u2019s already sunk $20,000 into the pool project that he won\u2019t get back if his request is denied.<\/p>\n It may take him only a few days to hire an arborist to come look at his tree, but the move will cost him at least another 30 days as he waits for the next board meeting. The board only meets once a month, if at all \u2014 meetings are frequently cancelled due to lack of quorum.<\/p>\n When the Kirchbergs bought their home, they never planned on cutting down the tree. After they built an addition to their home, they even fertilized the massive tree to keep it healthy.<\/p>\n Now, Mr. Kirchberg feels as though he\u2019s being \u201cpunished\u201d for not cutting the tree down earlier. The two are against clear-cutting, but Mr. Kichberg argues the laws should follow \u201ccommon sense.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt just becomes lunacy when humans are secondary to a tree,\u201d Mr. Kirchberg said.<\/p>\n Forest Beach resident Daniel Kirchberg shows a copy of the public notice he was required to mail out to all 50 property owners within a 350-ft. radius of him. Li Khan The Island Packet <\/p>\n
At an April 27 meeting, the Board of Zoning Appeals approved a homeowner\u2019s request to a remove a tree that threatened to cause \u201ccatastrophic damage\u201d to her home. Town of Hilton Head Island Board of Zoning Appeals <\/p>\n
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The Kirchbergs\u2019 tree sits on a mound in their backyard. Board members questioned whether the tree\u2019s root system could damage their home. Li Khan lkhan@islandpacket.com <\/p>\n Forest Beach resident Mary Ann Kirchberg injured her knee five and a half years ago. A backyard pool could help her exercise to regain her strength. Li Khan lkhan@islandpacket.com <\/p>\n