About the Brickell trees

Courtesy of Brickell Unites to
Save Trees Facebook page

I received an email regarding the trees on Brickell from Comm. Marc Sarnoff's office after posting the last story, it says: 

"Respectfully, Comm. Xavier Suarez is misinformed. And unfortunately many of the people who signed the petition were not only misinformed, but mislead.

"The petition didn't mention anything about the replacement of the trees: 237 mature 20 foot trees to replace the 70 sick, damaged or crowded trees."

I get that and I do understand that, but I have traveled all over and it seems that only Miami destroys any sort of tree to replace them with other trees, no matter what shape they are in. I have never seen this anywhere else before.

Here's the response that Mark Spanioli, the Capital Improvement Director, is providing anyone who asks about the Brickell tree project:

The Brickell Avenue Beautification Project was carefully crafted and well thought out. The 70 trees (of the 168 that exist) being removed are being done so for a variety of reasons:

1. Health - some trees slated to be removed were struggling due to age, hollow trunks, disease, or they were the wrong tree for the environment it was planted in.

2. Structure - poor structure can make a tree prone to failure which is very dangerous along such a heavily traveled roadway.

3. Damage - car impacts or previous storms have damaged some trees beyond saving.

4. Proximity to roadway - over the years some trees were planted by others and allowed to establish themselves too close to the roadway, creating crowded conditions or a road hazard.

5. Impact on other trees - Clustering of trees can impact the health and canopy of a tree group, and removal of a single tree from that Cluster can make for a healthier canopy.

David Gjertson, PLA, ASLA, is a senior Landscape Architect and certified arborist, who, along with Certified Arborist Peter Keenan, took great care to work with the surrounding environment in making a plan that will add 237 new trees to the median including more or less 10 differnet varieties in order to maintain, or add diversity to, the existing canopy.

The net gain will be 167 trees added to the Brickell median from SW 15 Road to SW 25 Road, and a much healthier and diverse canopy over the entire distance. The new trees being installed are field grown and have a minimum height of 20 feet (2 stories tall). The types of trees being installed are oaks, gumbo limbos, royal poincianas, mahoganies, pink tabebuias, black olives, medjool date palms and other small variety trees. In addition, the City is installing a new irrigation system to support the trees and the installation of over 1000 shrubs and ground coverings throughout.

This project was properly noticed by the City of Miami Capital Improvement Dept., the City's NET Dept., and was vetted by neighbors who participate in the Brickell Homeowners Assn. The plan has also been written about by local press, including Miami Today. While at this stage of the project - the removal of trees before new, healthy trees are planted in their place - may seem harsh, the final product will be a dramatic improvement to the tree canopy along Brickell Avenue.