The Great Indian Beach Palm Massacre of 2012

There are two types of neighborhoods in Sarasota: the most recent is the type where everyone belongs to (and pays money to) an association and the norms and expectations of all the neighbors are codified.

These neighborhoods offer fairly predictable appearance and people can buy a home without worrying that an eccentric neighbor is going to get all creative and populate their front lawn with with stereotyped gnomes, sombrero-wearing Mexicans languishing under concrete cactus and dutiful diminutive black jockeys holding yard lights.

Then there is the older type neighborhood, where you don't have to join (or pay) the association and the norms and expectations are not written down and not enforced. Homes in these neighborhoods can vary considerably and it is there can be tensions among neighbors regarding what is appropriate. Neighbors take their cues from other neighbors and infer what the range of acceptable behavior is. New residents typically temper their visions of their new property with principles garnered by observation of the surrounding homes. I'm talking about neighborhoods like IBSSA. 

The following observations are not personal, because I have no idea who owns the property south of Indian Beach, the site where, on Friday January 20th, 2012, the great palm massacre took place.

Now, according to the City this vegetable genocide is all above board and sanctioned and makes perfect sense.

It is, after all, private property and the trees that were removed will (are projected to) be offset by new trees and all this is outlined in a landscape plan prepared by a professional landscape architect. The palms (mostly cabbage palms) were not dug up so they could be repositioned because this site is an important archaeological site and digging the trees would disturb the site.

But I, for one, challenge this narrative.

1) If this is such an important archaeological site, why are we building a private residence on it? Furthermore many of those trees (including the native palms) may have been there when Fort Armistead was established in 1840 to deal with the local Indians. So the trees are actually part of the historic/archaeological record just as much as any mouldering bones or eroding pot shards. To claim that one is respecting local heritage and then removing most of the trees is disingenuous.

2) Unless they are planting seeds, the new trees called for will involve digging site-disturbing holes, just as relocating the old trees would have.

3) I believe it is a polite fiction to say trees can be replaced. You can replace a light bulb, a TV set, or Uniroyal Tiger Paw GTZ All Season tire. But you cannot replace a living tree anymore than a family that loses a child can "replace" the child by adopting another, or a new puppy can "replace" a faithful hound of 15 years. Living things can sort of take the place of a previous living entity, but they cannot replace because they will never be the same as what preceded them. 

4) I also bristle at the implicit finding that if Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Schmo want to remove trees they have to argue and wheedle with the city, but if one is  able to afford a landscape architect then the city rolls over and approves mass killing. This certainly seems like a double standard. 

5) I would like to assume that moving into a neighborhood like ours is motivated in part by wanting to be part of the neighborhood, that rather than an private enclave or bastion with no neighbor contact, that new residents would want to be accepted by those who live around them. But this is not always the case, particularly along the bayfront, which has drawn the wealthy and powerful for over a century. But even John Ringling and Powel Crosley, whose wealth and power in their day almost certainly eclipsed that of the new owners of 916 Indian Beach, had the decency and forbearance to leave some of the native palms.

We all understand that you have to break eggs to make omelets and siting a house on a lot, (particularly a small, constrained lot) may involve removing trees. Thoreau did to build his cabin as did Jesse Colin Young (see Ridgetop lyrics). 


But when you have a gigantic lot populated with native trees saturated with both natural and cultural history, I think it all comes down to respect:


• Respecting the people that came before
• Respecting the current neighborhood
• Respecting those that will live here in the future.

Beyond Hollies and Poinsettias: Alternative Christmas Color

Red and green symbolize the Christmas season, but there are ways to get those living colors without resorting to the ever-popular (and sometimes overused) poinsettias and hollies.

Still Shopping? Consider Penzey's Spices on Main St.

Looking for small, different gifts, from a store on Main Street? Consider Penzey's spices just east of Pastry Art (south side of Main, east of Lemon, 1516 Main). They haven't been open very long, but I know them from Minneapolis. They sell all manner of spices: eight varieties of Cinnamon, real Vanilla beans, more than a dozen chili peppers -- 250 spices and seasonings in all. And not just popular North American spices, but Central American, Caribbean, Asian, etc. (no Antarctic spices, tho). You can buy small (.3 ounce) jars that work well for stocking stuffers, or four fit in a squarish box they sell for about 50¢ (easy wrapping). They are open 10-6 most days, except Sunday when you can knock an hour off either end.

And no, I don't own stock or have some "arrangement" with the store -- I just think this is a place worth supporting. They are a national chain, but the employees are local and they chose Main St. and not a mall. Check it out -- I'll be surprised if you don't leave with something.  
And don't tell them I sent you, because they have no idea who I am.

Sprawl is not the Answer and May be Dying a Natural Death

I'm not much for using this blog to redirect people to other blogs, but  STREETSBLOG , which "is a daily news source connecting people to information about sustainable transportation and livable communities" recently posted an intriguing article titled Quantified: The Price of Sprawl in Florida. The brief article has a graphic showing how much excess housing capacity already exists in various counties (Sarasota is shown as up to 25% more housing allowed at buildout, which I suspect is low). You may want to read that posting in juxtaposition with a November 26 2011 New York Times opinion piece by Christopher B. Leinberger: The Death of the Fringe Suburb. Leinberger argues that "suburban fringe" is doomed because the boomers that populated the fringe are downsizing and moving in towards city centers with more walkable amenities while the millennials also favor urban centers. Taken together these pieces suggest that efforts to revive Florida's economy by making it easier for new sprawl are likely to fail and fail miserably.

Do Term Limits Place Sarasota at a Regional Competitive Disadvantage?

As I understand it, part of the argument for term limits is to prevent County Commissioners from acquiring power. But power is something we want our commissioners to have, particularly when working in a regional context. If Sarasota County were an island floating in the Gulf of Mexico, its commissioners might not need to collaborate (and sometimes compete) with other counties. But Sarasota County exists in a regional context and one that, in general, is not term-limited.

Top Two Floral Ways to Tell it is Thanksgiving in Sarasota

Earlier in the season I posted a list of the top ten (actually eleven) ways to tell it is Fall in Sarasota Florida. Now here's a Thanksgiving-specific supplement.

City Whacks Pioneer Trees - Palms Most Abused

No sooner had the pixels faded on the revelation that only Live Oaks can be Grand Trees in the City of Sarasota than we discovered major pruning underway in Pioneer Park. Cypress along Hog Creek have been shorn of their lower branches and oaks have also been attacked. Now, the City will probably argue this is another way to end homelessness or reduce liability, but this work is certainly open to question.

What is not open to question is how the City prunes cabbage palms. The accompanying picture from Pioneer Park shows how the city does it. Please note there are only about a half dozen fronds left on the tree in the foreground and those few fronds point almost straight up.

Healthy Cabbage Palms dramatically overpruned by City Staff

This approach is completely contrary to the Tree Care Industry Association American National Standard ANSI A300 (Part 1)- 2008 that states: "8.3 Live healthy fronds about horizontal shall not be removed. Exception: Palms encroaching on electric supply lines."  

The International Society of Arborculture best management practices use nearly identical language: "Live healthy fronds should not be removed. If they must be removed however, avoid removing those that initiate above the horizontal."

The City of Sarasota is not doing right by our trees. Please ask Commissioners for some external review of the city's policies and practices.