Boca wins delay on plan to remove trees

Boca Raton residents who live near canals say they’re glad projects to chop down trees and vegetation are being delayed.

The Lake Worth Drainage District, the agency clearing the canal banks this hurricane season, voted Wednesday to postpone those plans in the city until the end of October. It acted at the urging of Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer, after some homeowners pleaded with the city to intervene.

“It would give us time to cool the temperature,” Singer said of the district’s plans to strip banks along the L-48, 49 and 50 canals inside city limits east of I-95.

The projects are among 29 the district has underway between Boca and West Palm Beach.

The drainage district on Wednesday didn’t postpone plans in any other cities.

Piles of potential hurricane debris are being removed now so none of it falls into canals and causes flooding.

But some residents valued the trees and foliage because they blocked passers-by from seeing their backyards. That includes canal banks already stripped along nearby Military Trail, where drivers on Palmetto Park Road now can see right into people’s backyards, Singer said.

Putting the projects on hold in Boca will give the city time to work out a better maintenance agreement with the district, which could save some trees, Singer said.

Board president James Alderman replied, “We could make that happen.” The vote to postpone the Boca efforts drew a round of applause from residents.

The district could ask crews to stand down on the other projects, the district said.

“We will be riding out hurricane season for the next few months, so if you see issues with trees and vegetation, let us know,” Tommy Strowd, in charge of the district’s maintenance and operations, told the crowd.

“I think we made good progress,” said Karen Krumholtz, a resident who lives on Sabal Palm Lake. Several residents there spoke, and continue to contest whether the district has any claim on their properties.

“I understand you have a job to do and thanks for giving us the extension, but unless you have come up with a deed, stay off my property,” said Mike Jurus. “Now, we’ll have time to work with the city.”

An emotional Susie Huard said her backyard is a wildlife habitat that needs protecting. “You can’t come in here and mow it all flat,” she told the board.