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Trimming of trees angers Seminole Heights residents

Staff photo by PAUL LAMISON

A TECO contracted crew trims trees near power lines along West Giddens Avenue in Seminole Heights.

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By KATHY STEELE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 16, 2009

TAMPA - Shady avenues and boulevards, many lined with laurel and live oak trees, speak to the charm of Seminole Heights, an old-fashioned neighborhood characterized by restored bungalows, front porches and neighbors watching out for neighbors.

An oak, with spreading branches, is the logo for the Old Seminole Heights Neighborhood Association.

But that logo and the easygoing way of life it implies are under assault, according to residents whose trees recently were cut by Tampa Electric Co. to protect power lines. Some have likened it to butchery.

"I am very upset about the whole block," said Terry Abrahams. Two pecan trees were removed in front of her home at West Idlewild and Otis avenues.

Next door, limbs in the middle of an oak in front of her daughter's home were cut out. "It was a big beautiful tree," said Susan Abrahams. "That's disgusting. If you have to cut it why leave it at that?"

Some residents suspected the economy was partly to blame. They said TECO is cost-cutting, doesn't want to trim as often and that's why limbs are being cut back to stumps.

TECO officials said the trimming is a safety measure in the aftermath of the hurricanes of 2004 and 2005, and a state-wide directive from the Public Service Commission for utilities to move toward a three-year maintenance cycle.

National standards specify the distance between vegetation and power lines must be eight to 10 feet, said TECO spokesman Rick Morera. "We need to make sure the power lines are clear of tree limbs," he said.

TECO linemen will be in the Seminole Heights area for at least another week, around Hillsborough and Florida avenues. The last tree pruning in the neighborhood was in October 2002, Morera said.

Michelle Welcks understands the safety objective, she said, but, "They're taking too much. They're cutting way too aggressively."

Limbs of a live oak at her Idlewild home stretch far across her lawn. Before TECO's tree contractor showed up several days ago, the limbs spread across the avenue as well. "They cut it right off," Welcks said.

Her neighbor Sam Rodriquez said, "It looked like they butchered the oak trees up and down Idlewild. It took more than 100 years to grow. It's never going to grow back. We've got to stop this."

Tonight, the Old Seminole Heights' executive board planned to approve a letter to TECO strongly protesting the tree cutting. President Jeff Harmon said the work to him appeared indiscriminate. "We want to make sure they are sensitive to our neighborhood," he said.

Kathy Beck, the city's natural resources coordinator, has fielded residents' complaints. A meeting is in the works with TECO, the line crews doing the cutting and neighbors. "We're going to try to find some middle ground," she said.

Morera said he wasn't aware of a meeting but TECO works closely with the city, notifying parks and recreation of its tree cutting schedule.

He understands the neighbors' concerns. "They want the aesthetics. What we want is the required clearance and safety of the trees," he said. "It's a difficult balance."

The tree cuts have spanned a wide area of Seminole Heights from West to East Idlewild and along Suwanee and Central avenues. Central is perhaps the most iconic road in Seminole Heights with some of the neighborhood's most expensive bungalows.

Some trees along Central from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to Sligh Avenue have been cut back.

Back on West Idlewild, Terry Abrahams doesn't understand why so much shade was taken out. "This is the most treeless street in Seminole Heights anyway," she said.

She finds one ray of sunshine. The city's parks and recreation department offered to replace her pecan trees with a low-growing magnolia and "a little berry tree," she said.

Reporter Kathy Steele can be reached at (813) 259-7652.

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