Long Beach Residents Attempt to Save Live Oak Tree

Undoubtedly the last few weeks, a large group of Long Beach residents have tried to stop the removal of a three-century old Live Oak Tree for construction of a new luxury hotel on the corner of Jeff Davis Avenue and West 4th Street.

After the Long Beach Planning Commission provided clarification to their minutes for the Live Oak Tree removal last Thursday, February 23, 2023, these will be placed on the agenda for the city Board of Aldermen meeting in city hall Tuesday, March 7, 2023 to either take action, rescind their vote or maintain.

An application was filled out for the removal of this tree in 2022 and was denied by the city tree board, only to have the Long Beach Planning Commission accept the document in entirety in their previous meeting Thursday, February 9, 2023.

After being sent to the Long Beach Board of Alderman for review in their last meeting February 21, 2023, a few representatives that filed a petition to stop the live oak tree removal spoke for nearly an hour at the meeting.

Tree advocate Deborah Caldwell sought the opinion of each alderman in front of a nearly packed city hall, questioning each elected member about their personal views.

Long Beach Mayor George Bass attempted to halt the questioning as the board had not discussed or reviewed the minutes by the planning commission or tree board.

“We brought in an arborist and many other alternative solutions on the lot to pursue with the building, but by including the tree,” stated Caldwell as she aggressively pointed these options out to the aldermen. “Tonight (February 21) I want to hear your voices as I know it was very overwhelming the last meeting. I have read the tree ordinance and in Chapter 19, I found 9 offenses to removal of this live oak.”

The tree ordinance from 2004, that was cited as “The Tree Preservation and Protection Ordinance for the City of Long Beach,” openly states in the first paragraph that removing street or private property tree will be penalized for any violation of this ordinance unless section 5-b-13 is followed where any person desiring a removal of a Live Oak or Magnolia Tree shall submit a written application together with a filing fee.

When Caldwell asked the Board about their personal views on whether or not to remove the tree, Alderman-at-Large Donald Frazer brought forward a few instances where a similar approach occurred in the planning commission minutes and the board approved.

“Where I stand is that I am pro-development,” expressed Frazer as he stated a few cases that he researched since the earlier vote. “The tree is very serious to you, but we go through many serious concerns during the budget meetings. We’re having to talk about cutting public servants, which is very bad because we can’t come up with the budget.”

Several additional aldermen stated the need for economic development because of the growing number of services needed in the city for the public.

“I am not trying to shut y’all down, I am trying to offer alternatives,” said Mayor Bass when speaking about working with the developer. “Let’s work back and forth, I don’t want us to debate this subject because this is a business meeting, and we have other things to take care of.”

The suggestion was made to send the original minutes back to the city planning commission for clarity on the minutes about their ruling from the tree board.

City Attorney Steve Simpson stated interpretation of the minutes from the commission and tree board may be confusing whereas Mayor Bass recommended sending these back.

“I think the only action you can take is to send these minutes back to the planning commission,” said fellow advocate Barb Reed. “Let them redo what they were supposed to, I have filled out every single item in consideration.”

Subsequently, the board voted unanimously to send the minutes back to the planning commission for clarification, which was sent back to the board for final approval in the upcoming meeting
or acceptance of their rationale.

As Mayor Bass has repeatedly commented, no one from the city has spoken with the investor or developer of Phenom Investments to offer alternatives at this point.

Alderwoman Angie Johnson was absent from the February 21 meeting.