Crosswinds Apartments fined $46,200 for removing trees - News - Wilmington Star News

By Gareth McGrath, Staff Writer

A small sign at the entrance to the Crosswinds Apartments says "Newly Renovated."
But it's doubtful the sign refers to the nearly three-tenths of a mile of trees that have been cut down and shrubs that have been ripped up along St. Andrews Drive.
The landscaping work has increased the visibility of the apartments. It also has raised the ire of Wilmington officials who have slapped the complex's owner with a $200 fine for each tree allegedly removed illegally.
With 231 trees cut down, the fine totals $46,200.
That's the largest penalty for illegal tree removal levied by the city that anyone interviewed can remember.
"It certainly is a significant amount," said City Attorney Tom Pollard.
Pausing from her daily walk with Aspen, her yellow Labrador, Jessica Groome stared at the dozens of ankle- and knee-high stumps stretching nearly a block and shook her head.
"It's ugly, and that's a shame because it used to look very nice," she said.
City officials agree, noting that Wilmington has rules meant to protect "significant" trees, defined by species, and "regulated" trees, defined by their size.
Most of the trees cut down appeared to be holly trees and crape myrtles.
Crosswinds also is charged with violating the city's landscape buffering ordinance, which is meant, among other things, to require screens for items such as trash bins.
Crosswinds is appealing the citation to the city's Board of Adjustment, which will hear the matter next month.
A call to the apartment complex and an attorney for Crosswinds weren't returned Wednesday.
But in a statement submitted as part of its appeal of the citation, Crosswinds said the tree removal was part of a plan to replenish the complex's landscaping buffer since many of the trees were unhealthy and some presented a safety hazard.
Replacing the trees, the statement claims, would provide a "more functional, safe and aesthetically pleasing buffer."
The apartment complex, which is owned by UDRT of North Carolina, LLC, also said it didn't know it needed permission to perform landscaping work or that any of the trees were considered regulated trees under Wilmington's tree ordinance.
The clear-cutting of the trees and shrubs that formed the landscaped buffer, which used to stand between the sidewalk along St. Andrews and the complex parking lot, starts at Ashley Park Drive and runs past several entrances into Crosswinds.
But it ends just before Tynemouth Drive, likely stopped when the city ordered the tree-removal work to end.
The result are several dozen holly trees, complete with berries, standing in stark contrast to the nearby stumps.
"It's just horrible," Groome said. "This used to be a nice part of our walk.
"And now look at it."
Trees have become hot topics in New Hanover County recently as development infringes on some of the county's last remaining green spaces.
Some students and faculty members at the University of North Carolina Wilmington are fighting the school's plan to clear 15 acres of longleaf pine forest to build dormitories, stating that there's a better way to add the much-needed facilities to campus than cutting down hundreds of trees.
The Wilmington International Airport also took a lot of flak last year for clear-cutting 40 acres of forested wetlands along Smith Creek. Airport officials said they had no choice under new federal regulations to improve runway safety.
Gareth McGrath: 343-2384
gareth.mcgrath@starnewsonline.com