What’s the fine?
 

Hi, so we have tried without success to get approval to remove an aging oak tree in our front yard. The roots are out of control lifting up the pavers and the driveway, with a real concern the roots will cause issues with the foundation not to mention the hurricane risk if/when the tree falls on the house.

I am now considering legal recourse or just getting it removed and accept the consequences. But .. what are those consequences? If it’s a fine then that may be acceptable vs the current problems and the potential of loosing our home due to a storm.

Thought?

Are you saying ARC Did not approve to remove? Did they say why not? Don’t know what the fine would be if you don’t get permission.

The just responded denying the application stating “the tree is healthy”

Hire Massey, the native, almost indestructible palm in my front yard, expired under their care.

Excellent question. You are not alone. I have a shot at a home that is not on the market but the Humongous Tree is absolutely a deal breaker. It has had no professional care in 30 years and is off the hook out of control and safety is the main thing! It is magnificent to look at but I down want to check out under a tree or battle limbs and leaves all year. That is the life we left behind. :pray:

I hope things work out favorably for you.

Get an engineers report that the tree is undermining your property and is a danger.

Or.

Find someone to cut it down to a two foot stump, and when confronted by the powers that be, just insist it was a heavy prune.

Oak tree roots spread is about 4-5 times the size of the canopy.

I took one down without permission. A noisy neighbor turned me in. I was threatened with a recurring $500 fine. After a meeting with the powers that be I was told that I would have to replace it with a canopy tree of my choice anywhere on my property. I planted a small magnolia in the rear of my yard.

tree removal
 

I recently had a very large oak tree removed and it was approved by ARC. Hire a licensed arborist to look at the tree and write a report for the ARC. We got immediate approval. Call Matt Ray at AmeriTree Services 352-461-4890. He will handle the whole process. Good Luck.

This is the best advice ...... have the job done in the best possible way.

I know this is for an oak tree and they are protected, but I had a 35' magnolia tree from my villa back yard. I had called the Villages and they told me to check for a certified arborist online. I found Tree Frog Tree Company and they came out and gave me an estimate. They said it was no big deal for them to get permission because the roots were infringing on our house and foundation slab. They gave me a copy of the Villages approval when they came to take down the tree. They were incredible and were here at 9am and the tree was down and yard all cleaned up by 2. So if I were you I would call this company or another certified arborist and see what they have to say.

Another aspect, we have a neighbor's tree whose roots are starting to undermine our lanai--we hire a company to use a stump cutter to remove some of the roots--this is a recurring problem--

You need to get a aborist to state that the tree must come down.

we tried to get rid of our grass. no luck now I just turnd off all the water to the grass it will just go a way

No approval, the tree stays.

That’s a sure way to get a recurring fine from The Villages. Better read your CCRs.

I have sat through a couple ARC meetings, waiting to obtain approval for our proposed landscaping plans and resients are always coming before them asking permission to remove trees for various reasons, including the one you site. If it is a healthy tree, permission is always given IF the homeowner promises to plant another canopy tree of a certain size somewhere else on the property. I don't know if anyone ever follows up to confirm that a new tree is planted (I doubt it, considering how busy they are, and you could always say that you are working on it if anyone knocks on your door to inquire about the status). You just need to request that they hear your case, be there when they consider your proposal to answer questions, and include plenty of pictures when you submit your paperwork. It would be helpful for you to obtain a letter from an arborist, stating that the tree is healthy but supporting your case of potential damage to your property. You can get approval. Lots of people do. Just attend the meeting (even though the meeting will be long and boring because you will have to sit through everyone elses cases until yours comes up on their agenda) and be willing to plant another tree elsewhere on your property.

that's right! if the tree dies, you'll get ordered to take it down. the fact that it is healthy would not work for me. I might consult legal advice

These oaks are way too large for these size lots. Not sure what they were thinking when planted.

Contact Tree Frog tree service. KANANI will solve your problem. He is an certified arborist. 352-446-5043

Another vote for Tree Frog. Kinani is the owner, and a certified arborist. He told us that the majority of the oaks planted here are junk trees that should have never left the nursery. He took care of all the paperwork and removed 2 oaks on our property, one of which root system had broken through our sprinkler system and caused a minor flood. Call him. You’ll be glad you did.

Sadly whenever you want to get something done on your property I find The Villages only to cater to their controlled rules. And they seem to have generated responses so they never really answer or address your issues.

if someone emptied a bag of rock salt at the base of the tree... it would die in a year.
FYI

Not true in my experience.
Refer to the posts immediately prior to the one above for good advice.
The OP should definitely call Kanani Morris at Tree Frog, it will be worthwhile in solving the OP’s problem.

It’s there because the developer has to leave a certain number of native trees. I don’t know the exact formula but it is not just the developer being obstinate. If you cut it down, at a minimum, you will have to replace it with another similar tree (not a palm). There may also be a fine and even potential jail time. Posting your intent here certainly doesn’t help.

There must be more to your story.

We had an oak in our front lawn which we thought had a disease.
Applied to ARC to cut the tree down. They sent out their arborist to evaluate the tree. He agreed to disease, reported that to ARC and they approved. Tree is gone.

I question why ARC did not request the arborist, did theyARC, come and look at the tree?

Once a live oak has a diameter of a 4” trunk, it is a protected tree in the state of Florida. The developer plants a certain number of live oaks on residential property to balance out the number they remove when clearing for the infrastructure.
A few years ago some unnamed people in the Village of Bridgeport took out a number of live oaks because they had grown taller and were blocking their beautiful view. There was a HUGE consequence. It was under investigation by the Sumpter Co Sheriff dept.
New trees were replanted, and I believe an “association “ donated about $40,000 to make the problem go away.
So don’t do anything rash. Follow the advice from some of the previous posts that are on the conservative side

That assertion is wrong. All protections if they exist are local not state regulation. In fact in 2019 the state passed a new law which is designed to remove any local restrictions on the removal of problem trees on private property.

DeSantis signs bill weakening Tampa’s tree ordinance

Not even trees are safe from the Florida Legislature | Editorial

This new law has not yet been tested in the courts as far as I know. Also, here in TV there is an issue of whether this law has the effect of negating the ARC's authority to prohibit tree removal. As our regulation is not the result of a local law it may not. We are bound by a set of rules per a contract we signed. Generally a contract can regulate our behavior well beyond what a law regulates. For example we all can pretty much talk about anything. But if you signed a non-disclosure agreement as a private person that contract prohibits your discussing the covered issues. No crying 1st amendment and freedom of speech, unless the NDA is for some other reason found un-enforceable. So contracts can trump law.

Until you get reported for having an non conforming lawned area!

Out tree is 100-200 years old as many oaks are around here. Some near Spanish Springs as old as 400! So The Villages wasn’t here when they were “planted.”

You should have asked for forgiveness rather than permission. Legal action will be expensive and possibly more than the cost of the tree's removal and fine if there is one.

Curious what was the cost for removal and stump grind? Doug

FL no longer requires permission to chop down trees. I had mine done last week. Contact Tree Frog Service The Villages Fl.

It all depends on who is doing the removing from whose property. I've related this story on here before: one day in March a few years ago a contractor "cleared the forest" by suddenly removing 27 healthy, large oak trees from a grove on Kenya golf course. I called the Golf Management System to ask why they were doing that. Todd Basso, head of GMS, said they were removing them so the remaining trees would "flourish" and that he had decided which trees to take out without consulting an arborist. So oak trees are only sacred to the ARC, not the developer.

The Lake Miona incident is different, in that it involved removing trees from property that the SW Florida Water Management controls, not the ARC.

We removed a very large diseased water oak from a lot we used to own in another town near here. The cost was $2,000.

Thanks for the recommendation, contacted Tree Frog responded same day, came to the house , did a survey and we have plan/solution!

Yep they confirmed same this afternoon, tree coming down in a couple of weeks, will replace with a “canopy” tree. Big job though lots of root and stump grinding, need topsoil and new lawn as part of the project.

Confirmation, recent FL law no permission needed to remove or trim trees
 

That explains a lot. Almost all of the new homes that were being built in the historic district had new trees planted. Most were close to the foundation. A new house went in behind me and a live oak was planted eight feet from the foundation in the backyard. The owner found someone that wanted it and gave it to them in exchange for their removing it. I looked at one house that was built about five years ago. On the tiny front lawn were three palm trees that had been there. The Villages planted a magnolia tree in the middle of them. They were evidently planting trees to replace the ones that they they took down.

For every x-number of trees removed in clearing the land for building, they were required to plant one. Don't know if the requirement was for Oaks, but at least they chose Live Oak rather than Water Oak because of the better root system. (This is what we were told.) Water Oaks grow more on top of the ground, making them less stable in storms. Dunno for sure, because where I come from, Chinese Elms were the norm and had enormous tap roots. Not a lot of trees of any kind there.:1rotfl:

But a licensed arborist is still required to certify removal is necessary.