Council approves reduced tree removals for CBD Real Estate project after preservation commitments

The Brooksville City Council voted unanimously on March 16 to approve TR200601, a quasi-judicial request by CBD Real Estate Investments to remove certain specimen trees needed for a planned development, after the applicant submitted revised exhibits showing additional trees salvaged.

Applicant counsel Mark Fentley told the council the revised plan reduced regulated tree removals from 119 to 79 — saving about 40 additional trees compared with the prior plan. Fentley said the reductions reflect site reworking and targeted preservation where fill depths did not exceed approximately 3 feet and where utilities and house pads do not force removal. “The prior tree preservation and removal plan required removal of 119 regulated trees... The proposed plan before you tonight reduced the removal of regulated trees from 119 to 79, saving 40 more trees,” Fentley said.

Engineer David Schmidt and the applicant's certified arborist described preservation techniques the team plans to use during construction — barricades, root-protection systems, wood retaining walls to keep fill away from trunks, and post-construction monitoring — while noting no survival guarantees. Staff conditions include replacing any preserved trees that do not survive the first five years after project completion.

Neighbors and council members raised concerns about drainage and safety around retention ponds. Resident Richard Ross, who lives across the planned entrance, urged the council to require mitigation for runoff to Wiscon Road and asked that replacement trees be Florida-native hardwoods, not small pines. “I would like to see every it's specified they have to be a hardwood and a Florida native Hardwood,” Ross said. The applicant agreed to make a good-faith effort to preserve additional trees near the dog park and the entrance, per council direction.

Council moved to approve the application with staff-recommended conditions and an applicant commitment to attempt additional preservation in identified areas; the motion passed unanimously. The decision covered the present tree-removal request and did not automatically approve future phases or unrelated grading activity.

What happens next: applicant will finalize construction plans incorporating tree-protection details and staff conditions; any trees that fail within five years must be replaced by the petitioner.