City’s Park and Tree Advisory Commission faces questions about oak’s removal
By Lolita Huckaby
The Island News
Construction at the Bay and Charles streets intersection in downtown Beaufort has generated considerable attention in the past week following the city’s announcement the central downtown junction would be closed for the next 5 to 6 weeks, just in time for holiday shopping.
What wasn’t as widely noted, except on social media, was the removal by Gulf Stream Construction work crews of a single live oak tree estimated to be 100 years old.
The tree, located at the eastern entrance of the Downtown Marina parking lot behind Emma’s Earth Shop and Suthern Rose Horse Tours, is estimated to be about the age of the underground stormwater pipes the contractor is working to replace to improve drainage in the downtown district.
When word went out, again via Facebook, that the tree had been removed to make way for the bulldozers, questions were raised about the role in planning of the City’s Park and Tree Advisory Commission, the protector and overseer of the City’s tree landscape.
City Manager Scott Marshall answered that question very directly during a PTAC meeting when he said the tree removal, which at that point, was a “done deal,” and “beyond the scope of authority” of the advisory board.
The five-member committee met to discuss a report on their activities for Nov. 17 meeting of City Council. But their role in the tree removal was raised by members who were concerned that the removal of such a significant tree might jeopardize the city’s standing in the Tree USA program, a certification Beaufort has held for the past 30 years.
Board member Michael Andersen expressed concern that the Commission had not been brought into the planning process prior to a report by the City’s Capital Improvement Project Manager Raul Dominguez in October that work would include the tree. At that October meeting, Dominguez also said the Bay-Charles intersection phase of the project would not be starting until January and would last only three weeks.
Board members asked Marshall if he was aware of any other tree removal in the next phases of the stormwater improvement plan. His response: “not to my knowledge.”
