St. Pete Beach residents are upset that Major League Baseball player Casey Kotchman had a large and very old green buttonwood tree cut down on his Pass-A-Grille property on Monday.

  • Baseball player Casey Kotchman had green buttonwood tree cut down on new property
  • Said tree needed to be cut down for home construction, was old and decaying
  • Neighbors say the historic tree should have been left alone

“I just think it’s a crime,” said neighbor Fran Lovallo. “It shouldn’t have been allowed.”

Another neighbor, Ralph Lickton, said aerial photos show the tree had been standing tall on that waterfront location for at least 75 years. Lickton called the stump that’s leftover disgusting.

“It was probably the largest buttonwood that I’ve ever seen in Florida,” he said. “The base of it was probably 8-to-10 feet wide. It was an incredible tree.”

City manager Wayne Saunders said he did everything in his power to try and save the tree. The first permit for the tree removal was denied last December. The reason for denial was listed as ‘truly a specimen tree, the oldest buttonwood on St. Pete Beach. One of two buttonwood trees monitored by the state.’

Kotchman appealed that denial and was issued a new permit last week to cut down the tree. Saunders said it turns out the buttonwood is not monitored by the state and he was forced to approve the permit.

“There’s nothing in the code that would allow for a denial,” he said. “We all scrambled to find something to hang our hat on for denial and couldn’t find anything.”

Saunders said that included asking Kotchman and his wife, Abigail, to change the design for their new home to accommodate the buttonwood.

“They were very adamant about building the home they had designed,” he said. “Extremely disappointed.”

According to Pinellas Property Appraiser records, the Kotchmans purchased the home located on the 1800 block of Pass-A-Grille Way for $761,300 back in November of 2014. The previous home was torn down and Kotchman said they’ve been waiting to cut down the tree to begin construction.

“It had to be cut down to make our plans work, for what we’re looking to do with the new construction home,” Casey said. “We’re looking to optimize the lot and optimize the views that Pass-A-Grille has to offer and it was going to obstruct it.”

Kotchman said his arborist also determined the tree was leaning, suffered from decay and was the improper height over a public road. The report noted the tree poses a high risk in the event of failure with a public sidewalk and main roadway in the target area. Kotchman said they looked into transplanting the tree but it was going to be too expensive and take too long.

“It was probably around $40,000 and it was going to take about 6-to-8 months,” he said. “All these people who’ve had problems with it, they could have bought it as well.”

Kotchman’s property is located in Commissioner Melinda Pletcher’s district, who did not return repeated calls for a comment. Residents said the city needs to toughen up its tree ordinances to prevent something like this from happening again.

“It just goes against what this community stands for,” Lovallo said. “To me, it’s preserve what you’ve got that’s beautiful, that’s natural, that’s unique. That’s why people like this place.”

At least one neighbor, who lives just south of the property and received all of the wood from the buttonwood, did not have a problem with the tree being cut down. That neighbor declined a request for an interview.

Kotchman said he hopes to have his new home built in less than two years.

“My wife and I are privileged that God has provided an opportunity for us to go build something nice and new and fun for us down in Pass-A-Grille,” he said. “We’ll be looking forward to some nice warm neighbors in the future.”