The Lady Lake Commission voted 3-2 to allow the removal of two Historic Live Oak trees, clearing the way for the construction of a medical office.
The trees are located at La Plaza Grande Professional Center on the Historic Side of The Villages.
One of the trees is 42-inches in diameter and the other is 45-inches in diameter.
The property is co-owned by 83-year-old Ellen Robards, her daughter Janet Varnell and Varnell’s husband Brian Warwick who have been fighting for months to sell the property.
The trio lost its original buyer when another tree, a 60-inch Historic Live Oak, got in the way.
The owners went back to the drawing board, reconfigured the design for the building and requested instead to cut down two smaller trees.
That did not sit well with Commissioner Paul Hannan.
“They wanted to cut down one tree. Now they want to cut down two,” he said. “We do not want to create a concrete jungle in Lady Lake.”
But Mayor Ruth Kussard sided with the property owners.
“They have done everything we have asked of them,” she said.
Villages Historic Side resident Joe Quinn took to the podium on behalf of the property owners.
“That’s a small woods. There’s 30 something trees there. You’ve got two trees standing in the way of the improvement of this property,” Quinn said.
Commissioner Jim Richards joined Hannan in voting against the tree removal. In addition to the mayor, Commissioners Tony Holden and Dan Vincent voted in favor of the removal of the two trees.