‘Do the right thing.’ Port Royal residents fear loss of iconic trees to mounting development

Dozens of Port Royal residents turned out Wednesday to protest a housing developer’s plan to cut down two live oaks, and the mayor promised to look at ways to make it tougher to remove trees in the future.

The furor highlights the value residents place on the iconic trees and their sprawling branches and massive canopies — and broader concerns about threats to them, especially with the Town poised for additional growth.

Coastal Homes and Sunrooms (CHS) is the builder of five homes planned on 12th street, just off Paris Avenue, but it doesn’t own the property, Mayor Joe DeVito said. The Town has received a request to remove two “landmark” trees, one 60 inches in diameter and the other, 43, as part of the project.

“Please, I’m begging you, please stand by the [existing] ordinance and do the right thing for the town,” said Wendy Zara, a Port Royal resident and member of the Metropolitan Planning Commission, adding the town is at a watershed moment

Beaufort and Port Royal, Zara said, have been discovered, which is increasing growth pressure on the coastal communities — and pressure from developers. She urged council members “to stick to our guns.”

Some of the lots have apparently been sold without the OK on the tree removal, adding to the pressure on the Town to approve the request.

Karen Sartori said she purchased one of the home lots for her mother. She has a vested interest, she said, in seeing the development proceed. However, as a landowner, she said she also has a vested interest in saving the trees. She has offered to buy an additional lot where one of the landmark trees is located, she said, in order to save that tree. Changing the location of an access road, she added, could save the other tree.

Those proposals brought applause from the audience.

But going forward, the Town needs to “make it harder for them to tear down trees,” said Sartori, who moved to Port Royal from Atlanta to get away from the hustle and bustle and crime.

“The trees,” Sartori said, “make Port Royal Port Royal.”

On Wednesday, the Town Council didn’t take any action in regard to the two trees, but Mayor DeVito said council members are in agreement they don’t want the trees removed either. DeVito called the situation the “first true test” of a beefed up tree ordinance that was passed in 2018 with the help of the Coastal Conservation League.

“I guarantee that tree ordinance is going to get looked at again,” said DeVito, adding the council plans to “make it much more difficult to cut down trees.”

The ordinance, DeVito added, “may be a little weak.”

After hearing from residents, council members convened into a closed executive session to get legal advice on “what can we do” in regard to the request to remove the two trees at the 12th Street development that have launched the bigger tree debate.

The permits, DeVito said, “are not being issued today or tomorrow” but will be placed on the agenda of a future meeting.

Long-term, DeVito said, the Town may need to consider bringing requests to cut down trees of a certain size before the Town Council. Currently, decisions whether to OK tree removals are made at the staff level.

“You, as citizens rallying,” DeVito said, “this allows us to deal with it at a different level.”

Petition garners 300 signers

The possible loss of the two trees lit a fire among residents, sparking a petition calling on the Town Council to reject a request by the developer. Kit Bruce, one of the organizers, said the petition placed online went “viral.” When Bruce submitted the paperwork to Town Council members Wednesday, it had more than 300 signatures.

“I know you all are in a tough situation but you do have the tools to make the right decision and the tool is the tree ordinance,” Bruce said. “The intent of the tree ordinance is to save trees and that’s all I have to say. Please protect those trees.”

The Town’s ordinance was strengthened in 2018 to provide more protections.

Permits are required for removing any tree inches or larger than 8 inches DBH — diameter at breast height — or any tree designated as a specimen or landmark tree, which are trees that stand out because of their species and size. The two trees proposed for removal are landmark trees.

A building official can approve the removal of specimen and landmark trees for new development, but the developer must plant additional trees elsewhere or pay fees to offset the loss.

The ordinance also requires that developers explore reasonable design alternatives to preserve species or landmark trees “to the extent practicable.” Residents opposed to the removal of the 12th Street trees argue that requirement hasn’t been met.

Some 60 people turned out to attend a workshop meeting, typically sleepy affairs, and 17 residents testified against removing the towering trees, which are estimated to be 200 years old.

Chris Marsh, who recently retired from the Spring Island Trust, where he oversaw conservation efforts, urged council members to view trees as they would historical buildings and apply the same sort of regulations.

Preserving trees makes good economic sense, too, Marsh added, because they improve property values, reducing the tax burden for everybody.

With redevelopment of the Port of Port Royal just beginning, said Jim Berry, who lives on 8th Street, Port Royal will be hard pressed to preserve the uniqueness it promotes in its “cool, coastal and far from ordinary” slogan. If the trees are not protected, Berry said, the catchphrase will need to be changed to “ordinary as hell.”

The tree debate comes as Safe Harbor Marina is in the beginning stages of a multi-million redevelopment that includes a new marina, businesses and homes.