A month after St. Petersburg commissioners expressed concerns over a developer’s request to remove all of a property’s qualifying specimen trees, a redesigned warehouse project has won their approval. The Development Review Commission unanimously approved plans for two warehouse-light industrial buildings totaling nearly 296,000 square feet at 1201 102nd Avenue N.

Tree Preservation

The commission delayed the project in July after members questioned a request to remove all of the site’s qualifying specimen trees, rather than preserve the amount normally required under city code. The developer returned with a plan that shifts one building, reduces parking, and preserves a cluster of mature trees near the property’s southwest corner.

A tree inventory identified more than 1,300 trees across the largely wooded, 20-acre former state institutional campus. City regulations require the developer to preserve 25% of healthy specimen trees, calculated by their combined trunk diameter. The revised plan preserves 178 of the required 526 inches, with 11 specimen trees counting toward that total, and 35 trees preserved overall.

Commissioner Concerns

Commissioners expressed concerns over the project, with some feeling that more could be done to preserve trees. Commissioner Sarah Jane Vatelot appreciated the efforts made to identify trees to be preserved but felt that more could be done. Commissioner Charles Flint questioned why the speculative warehouses could not be reduced further to preserve more trees.

Commissioner Tim Clemmons approached the question more broadly, considering the potential unintended consequences of restricting development on land already designated for intensive commercial and industrial uses. He suggested that this could lead to development spreading across more land elsewhere, potentially consuming more trees and wetlands.

Original reporting: St. Pete Catalyst — read the source article.