- City leaders are revisiting plans for a retention pond at the old Northwood Centre after neighbors voiced concerns about the planned removal of 20 live oak trees.
- Neighbors and city leaders met Monday to discuss the plans. The city says they are looking into the cost, but nothing is guaranteed.
- Watch the video to hear how neighbors found out about the plans for the trees.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
These red Xs pushed neighbors to ask to keep trees standing at the new TPD Headquarters slated to be built at the Northwood Centre.
I'm following up on neighbors concerns about the 20 live oak trees that could be impacted by the project.
"It's kind of in limbo but we are hopeful that they have heard us," said neighbor Randi Denker.
That's the position she said neighbors are in after meeting with the city Monday about the planned removal of 20 live oak trees.
"A neighbor was taking a walk and she saw someone putting Xs on trees and she asked what's going on and the man said he was marking the trees because they were going to be demolished," Denker said.
We spoke with Denker Saturday as neighbors were learning about the plans.
As a member of the Alliance of Tallahassee Neighborhoods and an environmental lawyer, she's an advocate for preserving and planting trees.
"They not only make us feel better psychologically, but they filter the air that we breathe," Denker said. "They take up storm water, they prevent erosion."
Her and others attended the virtual meeting where assistant city manager Wayne Tedder said they will explore options to see what saving the trees will cost.
"We'll confirm with our engineers and work close with them to let them understand this and see if there are opportunity," Tedder said. "There are no guarantees in this process but we will certainly go back to our engineers. We understand your concerns."
City staff also noted that the removal of the trees passed the environmental review process.
They also said the city will plant 200 trees as a part of the project.
Commissioner Jack Porter said this shows that the city's tree protection ordinances need to be strengthened.
"That's something we need to revisit," Porter said. "The county has made strides, other cities have set the example, we can do better."
Denker said she hopes the 20 live oak trees will continue to serve the community.
"That kind of tree provides an environmental service to the community that you can't replicate by planting little stick trees that will take 20 to 30 years to mature and reach the same size."
As for when we can expect a new TPD Headquarters, that's not quite clear.
The project is still being designed and will take at least a year once a plan is given the go ahead.
