CDD 5 approves additional palm trimming

After a trial year for trimming Washingtonian Palms only once a year, the Community Development District 5 board decided to revert to its old ways.

Chairman Martin Cohn suggested the change at today’s CDD meeting at Lakewood Ranch Town Hall, saying that the once-a-year trimming that the board decided to try out last year was causing the palms to lose the aesthetic appeal in people’s front yards. There are usually one or two palms in each yard.

Vice Chair Thomas Leavey supported the proposal because it would provide consistency between District 5 and District 2, which also trims twice a year.

Paul Chetlain, the new director of operations, said the operations crew for Lakewood Ranch usually follows a practice researched by the University of Florida which suggests only trimming the dead palms.

“If there’s any green in the frond, it’s still productive for the palm tree,” he said.

However, the appearance of the palm trees can look unkempt if untrimmed, so for some districts, the crew will trim twice a year.

Each trimming session costs $22,000. Alan Silverglat was hesitant to support the proposal.

“Twenty thousand is twenty thousand,” he told the board. “I’d rather wait to see what our financial situation is.”

Silverglat was outvoted 3-1 as the board approved the additional trimming.

“It’s not a decision we needed to make right now,” he said.