Trees massacred at Grove post office
Seven large mahogany trees, some as tall as 50 feet, were destroyed at the Grove post office today because roots were coming through the sidewalk and the morons powers that be felt that people would trip over them.
So the federal government moved in, no warning, no permit and they whacked down the shade trees.
Miami code enforcement officer Marlene Castellanos was shocked at the sight and tried to get involved, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. She contacted her boss, code enforcement director Mariano de Mola, who also tried to stop the madness, but he was told off by the feds.
Apparently they can do what they want, when they want, without warning.
''I would be fining someone $500 a piece for cutting down these trees,'' de Mola said. "They apparently don't have to get a permit. But they should have notified the city of Miami of their plans.''
Some of the trees were 50 years old, but alas, nothing gets to be old in Miami. Before it can become history, it's knocked down, paved over and rebuilt. Apparently that is what the post office is going to do -- add some flowers and greenery where the trees were.
Thanks Harry Emilio Gottlieb for the photo.
So the federal government moved in, no warning, no permit and they whacked down the shade trees.
Miami code enforcement officer Marlene Castellanos was shocked at the sight and tried to get involved, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. She contacted her boss, code enforcement director Mariano de Mola, who also tried to stop the madness, but he was told off by the feds.
Apparently they can do what they want, when they want, without warning.
''I would be fining someone $500 a piece for cutting down these trees,'' de Mola said. "They apparently don't have to get a permit. But they should have notified the city of Miami of their plans.''
Some of the trees were 50 years old, but alas, nothing gets to be old in Miami. Before it can become history, it's knocked down, paved over and rebuilt. Apparently that is what the post office is going to do -- add some flowers and greenery where the trees were.
Thanks Harry Emilio Gottlieb for the photo.
posted by Tom Falco at 8:28 PM
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14 Comments:
While I agree that losing greenery on Grove streets sucks, sometimes there is a good reason. We have similar trees at my condo complex and they really caused a MAJOR issue with their roots destroying our brick walkway. It because a hazard for both walkers and folks in wheelchairs, yet the city wouldnt grant a permit to destroy the trees. So, we had to spend money to rip up the bricks and rip out the roots, which is taking forever thanks to lazy workers on the job. It sucks and I cant wait for it to be completed so my residence will cease to look like a crime scene with yellow caution tape everywhere. Sometimes its worth ripping out trees and planting new ones, thats all...
There are solutions to cutting down trees. Bricks are easy to re-arrange. Hard to create a 50 yr old tree.
And De Mola could have contacted the Law Dept to get an injunction.
Yep, it sucks when the taxpayer can easily get fined "$500 a piece" and the government and whoever has good access to it can get away with murder.
Is the Post Office exempt because it is Federal Government property?
Regardless, I laugh when everyone gets their knickers wadded up about trees being cut down.
When Katrina & Wilma blew through I did not see Marlene Castellanos writing $500 Fines to those women.
I am not advocating a wholesale destruction of trees, but we worry so much about the loss of these trees when nature can come along and destroy a significant quantity in a matter of hours.
We are so vain to think humans can control and/or destroy our environment so easily.
Sometimes trees need to be cut down. (For many reasons including posing a hazard to houses, cars, pedestrians, etc..) Unfortunately, the City of Miami has made it impossible to cut down trees legally. The tree police let developers do whatever they want, but forget about a private property owner doing the same.
I tried to do it the right way and I got screwed. I had a large tree that was threatening my house (both above and below the ground) I did a tree survey of my yard, took photos, hired a landscaper, the result: permit denied, no particular reason. The tree "mysteriously" died a month later and I cut it down without a permit.
Now, whenever there's a storm coming, I decide beforehand who will be a casualty. Then, the day after the storm I go out and cut away.
"They apparently don't have to get a permit. But they should have notified the city of Miami of their plans."
WHY??? as a courtesy? so the City can stick their noses into something that doesn't concern them? And yes, if they don't need a permit then it doesn't concern the City.
Hmm, is the post office at last in the process of selling the property?
I will miss the trees! Why can't we learn to coexist with nature? Surely there was a better solution...
Has De Mola actually ever written a code enforcement ticket in his life? Or even ordered any inspector to write a ticket? Or does he just sit around collecting a paycheck?
What happened to De Mola's aide who refused to write tickets and then went to work for a company putting up illegal wall advertising?
This is an absurd abuse of power. The USPS should know better and should work with the Grove to preserve the tree canopy...It's a sad day when trees are removed because of their impact on pavement...absolutely pathetic!
Found via Critical Miami
this PARK (ing) sounds pretty Grovey groovy. Perhaps in front of the Post Office. Bummer we missed today's official day, but would be fun to do another time.
From the comment that the post office might be ready to sell, let's not forget that the dry cleaners own the other half of that block, from Matilda to the post office parking lot. Is it possible that someone is looking to buy that whole block? Scary!!
I saw the actual notice of permit violation posted today. The fine is $1000.00 per tree for ten trees (i.e. $10,000.00).
While the loss of trees is sad, this seems like a hefty fine. The only problem is whether they will be able to enforce the same against the USPS.
Miami will never have a nice canopy of trees because residents of this city have absolutely no respect for nature. I moved into a new apartment building in Little Habana some years ago. We have nice trees around the area initially but as soon as a leaf would fall on one of the residents' car, out would come the power saws. They eventually hacked the trees so badly that the inner limbs would be all exposed and then when birds would sit in the those limbs, the poop would fall on the cars because there was no longer any leaves to catch it so again...out would come the power saws. God forbid that living things be considered more important than metal. A few weeks ago, city workers spent hours planting grass around our entire block and neighboring blocks and then watering these. Almost as soon as the city workers left, local residents starting parking their cars on top of the grass, killing the grass and returning everything to rock and mud. People look at cities like Coral Gables and observe how pretty it is but CG is like that because it has HEAVY penalties protecting its greenery and it enforces these. It's pointless to spend money beautifying the rest of Miami-Dade unless similar penalties and enforcement is put in place. The residents will just trash everything pretty quickly.
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