City officials say they need to be removed because they are either diseased, dead, in decline, are improper trees for the location, or because they pose a threat to personal injury or property damage. A neighborhood meeting has been scheduled to discuss the plan, which includes the planting of new trees.

CLEARWATER – The city plans to cut down more than 150 trees in Crest Lake Park as part of a multi-million dollar project to make it one of Clearwater’s signature parks.

The proposed park design is for $6.4 million worth of improvements and includes a large and small picnic pavilion, a restroom building, a splash pad, playground, boardwalk, kayak launch and volleyball courts. The improvements will also include upgrades to landscaping, lighting, parking and sidewalks.

Before construction, officials said a comprehensive Crest Lake Park tree inventory was completed. A tree inventory is a written record of each tree’s condition at the time of inspection. It is a tool to prioritize tree maintenance and removal, if needed, for trees with problems that could lead to failure, personal injury or property damage. The tree inventory lists four codes, tree number, trunk diameter, tree species, and overall condition rating. It also includes a comment section with specific supportive data for the rating.

A certified city arborist completed the tree inventory and identified more than 150 trees that need to be removed because they are either diseased, dead, in decline, are improper trees for the location, or because they pose a threat to personal injury or property damage. An additional 15 trees are being removed because of the location of future structures associated with the construction. There are more than 600 trees in the park. The exact number of new trees to be planted will be known when the renovation plans are completed but there will be a tree-for-tree replacement at a minimum.

A large percent of the trees that are scheduled for removal are laurel oaks, which were heavily planted in the area in the 1960s and 1970s. This species of tree is no longer planted in our community due to their rapid and often uncontrollable growth, short life spans, inability to compartmentalize decay after pruning, and tendency toward severe decay, which can cause them to collapse onto structures and people.

Removing trees from a park seems destructive, but the Parks and Recreation department said it is aiming to bolster the livability of Crest Lake Park and its long-term environment by removing these trees and replacing them with new healthy trees. The city said it wants to ensure the public understands why these trees must be removed and recognizes that public involvement and engagement in this process is necessary for success. Tree damage can’t always be seen from the outside to the untrained eye. A tree can look healthy to residents, even when it is severely decayed on the inside.

Before any trees are removed, the city has scheduled a neighborhood meeting to discuss the proposed improvements and explain the need to eliminate the trees. The meeting has been scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday (Aug. 28) at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 407 S Saturn Ave. The meeting is open to the public.

Photo of Crest Lake Park courtesy of the city of Clearwater.

Clearwater | Crest Lake Park | Tree Removal | Events Near Me | Tampabay News | News Tampa

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