Palmetto Bay residents urged village to save Coral Reef Park tree…so they did

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Design plans are changed for the multipurpose room

A 100-year-old tree near the entrance to Coral Reef Park is safe. For now, anyway.

After some backlash to a plan by the Village of Palmetto Bay to remove the giant oak to make way for a planned multipurpose room, and 754 people signed a petition in just five days, the design was changed and a wall moved about 10 feet to accommodate the construction without having to uproot or cut down the stately, old tree.

“This win is an example of what happens when a people-powered campaign leads our community on an important issue like this,” said community activist Pam Gorman, who ran for council but lost in 2022, in a statement. “When we as a community stand up for what we believe in together, we win.”

Mayor Karyn Cunningham told Political Cortadito that she had met Tuesday with Village Manager Nick Marano, Parks Director Fannie Carmona and others, including Henry Clifford, the chair of the village’s tree committee. Because they have a tree committee.

“When we heard about the beautiful majestic tree, I went out with the engineer and city manager, staff and the chair of tree board to determine if it’s possible to move the tree,” Cunningham said. While the building design had been approved, no permits had been pulled to remove the trees, yet, she said.

“At the end of the day, resident input is always important. That is why we posted a number of public meetings, at least four or five, relate to the parks master plan,” Cunningham added.

In a video posted Tuesday on Instagram, Cunningham thanked the people who had reached out to her about the tree. “She certainly is a beauty,” she says. The mayor names Clifford, Mark Weber, Jim Woodard and Howard Trendrich. She called them “folks that are solution oriented,” when she spoke with Ladra.

She does not name Gorman or Mark Merwitzer, a council candidate, who had also promoted the petition and helped plan a protest at the park Thursday that is now cancelled. “It’s no longer needed,” Merwitzer told Ladra.

But why was it needed in the first place? Why weren’t the plans made around the tree to begin with? Isn’t there a tree committee?

Both Clifford and Woodard brought the tree up at the June 3 council meeting during public comments. He said he had been at the park and saw the markings for the new building too close to the tree. “Even though the trunk of the tree may be outside the building line, the massive limbs extending to the east, northeast and northwest would clearly be destroyed,” Woodard said, adding that the tree could not be moved, but that the building could be.

“The tree must remain for residents to enjoy. Please correct this problem before it can’t be corrected,” Woodard said.

Said Clifford: “I’m actually a little distressed that somewhere in the process of getting this building built, there wasn’t a town hall meeting or meeting with the tree board to talk about the trees that are going to have to go and why.”

Read related: Palmetto Bay Village Council elections could get interesting this November

Coucilwoman Marsha Matson asked if the building could be move to save the tree. But Marano said it was too late.

“I don’t think we can at this point in time,” he said. “We have briefed for the past year that there are a number of trees that will have to be removed.

Marano did mention that they were trying to design around the tree to save it. Cunningham was silence on it. “Next question,” is all she said.

Merwitzer, who campaigned for former Mayor Eugene Flinn, said the pressure mounted in the last week with the petition and on social media helped force the change. “This was a victory for all who shared this petition far and wide, for all those who spoke out, and for those who were courageous enough to speak up at village meetings,” he said in a statement that reads like a campaign press release.

But he also said that residents have to stay vigilant because the village has “an alarming pattern of disregarding the importance of mature trees to the park’s ecosystem and ambiance. In 2021, the Village cut down another of Coral Reef Park’s stately giants for a bridge project” at 136th street.

Now, the village is having a contest to name the old oak at Coral Reef Park and there are five names nominated that all sound terrible.

Eternal Shade sounds like the name of a cemetery. Lady Oak could be a Sesame Street character. The Giving Tree… wait, aren’t there copyright issues with the name of a book? Elderwood sounds like either an old folks home or a gated community. And The Whispering Giant could be a children’s book.

Why not just call it the old oak tree, like in the song? That’s what everybody calls it. It already has a blue ribbon around it. (Also, take that off. The old oak tree doesn’t like it.)

  Karyn Cunningham, Marsha Matson, Palmetto Bay