Rosemary developer defends tree removal

Alex Hay wants to make one thing perfectly clear: His company would not have purchased the land at 1329 Fourth St. if it wasn’t confident it could remove two large trees from the property.

Hay is the executive director of property with DRAPAC Capital Partners, which plans to develop the site. He appeared at a community workshop regarding the property, which includes 62 residential units.

City code does not require a workshop for the project, but the developer held one to address residents’ concerns. As DRAPAC begins the development review process, neighbors want to save those two ficus trees, which each measure more than 100 inches in diameter at breast height.

Hay wanted to assure residents their concerns were being heard, but the development team made no effort to mislead those in attendance. The group still intends to remove the trees.

“We have to take down those trees to build this project,” Hay said. “We have a lot of faith that this is an area that needs change, and this will be good change.”

Hay, along with landscape architect Phil Smith and architect Michael Halflants, explained the trees were diseased and classified as invasive. They said the developer is planting 46 trees to mitigate the impact of the project, more than twice as many as the city requires.

Halflants also produced a new design for the project that creates a wider tree-lined sidewalk along Fourth Street. Although residents were happy about that change, they remained worried about the loss of green space in the rapidly developing Rosemary District.

Initial plans call for the installation of off-site trees in Centennial Park, which is located outside the Rosemary District. DRAPAC representatives said the city could not immediately identify sites within the neighborhood that could take the trees, but residents encouraged them to keep looking.

Environmental activist Jono Miller proposed a potential solution, suggesting the city apply for county funds to purchase vacant land through the county’s neighborhood parkland program.

“The city of Sarasota has contributed far more money to the neighborhood parkland program than it’s gotten back,” Miller said.

Those in attendance expressed some concern about a lack of vacant space in the area. Still, residents remain determined to find some way to incorporate as many trees and plants into the fabric of the neighborhood as possible — even if it turns out the two big trees at 1329 Fourth St. can’t be saved.

This article has been updated to correct the number of trees the city requires the developer to replace.