Winter Park candidates weigh in on tree canopy conundrum

Preserving Winter Park’s signature tree canopy remains a hot button topic as the upcoming city election approaches. Dying trees that have stood for decades are being removed throughout the city due to their age and risk of falling down. The Observer spoke with the four candidates running for the open seats of mayor and City Commissioner on what they thought was the best approach moving forward with the city’s trees.

Mayoral candidate Cynthia Mackinnon said the city needs a new approach regarding trees. Winter Park needs a larger staff to help manage a strategy, as opposed to employing just one arborist as the city does currently, Mackinnon said.

“There was a time in the not-too-distant past when we had a forestry department with 14 people and a budget of over a million dollars,” Mackinnon said. “I can’t say today we need 14 people, but I don’t think one person is adequate.”

She added that the trees need to become a higher priority in the budgeting process and that the city should take responsibility for maintaining trees along city right-of-ways, not the residents.

“These are the trees that we’re replanting, and to say that we’re not going to maintain those doesn’t reflect the priorities that the citizens have clearly expressed to me,” Mackinnon said.

Opposing Winter Park mayoral candidate and current City Commissioner Steven Leary said Winter Park’s existing Urban Forestry Management Plan is moving the canopy toward restoration. Leary said that the city is replanting only one tree for every two removed, but added that the city’s most important priority is to ensure that dangerous trees are taken down.

“I’m committed to supporting [the Urban Forestry Management Plan] moving forward,” Leary said. “I’m very concerned about trees falling on people – that to me is a greater concern than when we replace that tree. In 20 years you’re not going to remember if that oak tree was planted in 2014 or 2016.”

Leary said the current plan also focuses on diversifying the species of trees in the city while maintaining an oak canopy. Once the dangerous trees have been removed and the city finishes undergrounding its power lines, money spent to trim branches around the power lines could go toward replanting trees instead, he said.

Gary Brewer, running for Winter Park City Commissioner, said he’d like to see the tree canopy plan focus on coverage more than just eventually replacing a tree with a smaller tree.

“If someone takes down a tree and replaces it with just a stick, is that a clear trade off?” Brewer said. “Maybe if you take down a large tree, you should put up six trees.”

“We ought to look at coverage, not necessarily tree-for-tree.”

Winter Park may be steadily losing trees, but City Commissioner candidate Greg Seidel said that incentivizing residents to plant new ones could help restore the canopy.

“Let’s assume they have subsidized tree plans. What they could do is, in your electric bill, there’s something that says ‘Did you know the city will share the cost of a tree on your property?’” Seidel said. “It’s just to let people know that the city does want to restore the trees…. Nobody wants to pay more taxes, but if you can get a subsidized tree planted in your yard you might be fine with that.”

Residents will have a chance to make their vote count as the four candidates square off for the municipal election on March 10.