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County OKs Tree Purge

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI

kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com

Published: January 9, 2009

LAND O' LAKES - Originally planted to please the eye, the roadside trees in part of The Groves community on U.S. 41 have become a problem for some residents.

The neighborhood's Community Development District won county approval Thursday to remove more than 200 streetside trees throughout the community and replace them with trees planted elsewhere.

The trees, some of them approaching a decade in age, have begun dislodging sections of sidewalk and are sending roots into the local sewer systems, community officials told Pasco County's Development Review Committee.

The trees need to be removed before they become more of a nuisance, CDD chairman David Colflesh said.

"The end point of the damages from these trees is going to be much more serious," Colflesh said.

The CDD has spent $400 each replacing sections of sidewalk lifted by tree roots, Colflesh said.

The proposal met with reluctant acceptance from County Administrator John Gallagher and the rest of the review committee, who worried that approving the proposal could produce a flood of similar complaints from other communities. They also worried about the look of streets stripped of their trees.

That second concern was echoed by resident Bill Carter, who suggested that removing the trees would lower the curb appeal - and ultimately the ease of selling - the homes affected, one of which was his.

Carter said he was surprised county officials agreed to the proposal.

"I don't think anybody thought it would be approved," he said.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201.

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