Villagers are fighting to save trees that they say date back to the time of the Revolutionary War.
The trees are located at 1304 Debra Drive on the Historic Side of The Villages. Though they peacefully co-existed with a double wide for many years, that double wide has since been removed and The Villages wants to put in a new site-built home.
Neighbors say the trees are at least 300 years old.
“They were but young trees at the time of the American Revolution,” said Villager Richard St. Amant, who lives directly across the street. “They may also be the oldest, and largest, trees in The Villages and surrounding area.”
St. Amant and some of his neighbors attended Monday night’s Lady Lake Commission in an attempt to make a last-ditch plea on the trees’ behalf.
They were stunned to learn that a permit for the trees’ removal had been issued that very morning by the Town of Lady Lake, hours before the commission was gavelled into session. The item was on the agenda for Monday night’s meeting. At the time the permit was issued, the property was still in Lake County and was yet to be annexed into Lady Lake. A town official said the issuance of the tree removal permit was possible under an interlocal agreement. He said that this has been standard procedure as the town has annexed a number of properties on the Historic Side.
Villager Joe Quinn, a Marine Corps veteran who frequently leads the Pledge of Allegiance prior to Lady Lake Commission meetings, called the issuance of the tree removal permit prior to the meeting a “fiasco.”
“It’s an embarrassment to the town,” he scolded commissioners.
The Villages pays a $500 tree removal fee for each tree. The money goes into a fund to provide for future trees.
Villager Louise Rahmlow, who lives next door to the property and benefits from the trees’ enormous canopies, is saddened at the thought of seeing them cut down.
“They are beautiful,” she said.
The neighbors say it would be a perfect spot for a park and the trees could be spared, to be enjoyed for years to come.
