INDIAN ROCKS BEACH — Cutting down mangroves is illegal in Florida, as the new owner of a convenience store here discovered Sunday.
"I apologized. I was just trying to clean up. It's such a nice corner, and it was so nasty," said Nancy Harlan, who purchased the business at the northwest corner of Walsingham Road and Gulf Boulevard just a few weeks ago.
She had hired a landscaper to remove Brazilian pepper trees to clear a view of the Intracoastal Waterway just behind her property.
That was not illegal, since Brazilian peppers are not native to Florida and are considered nuisance vegetation.
Harlan said she left for lunch and when she came back she discovered the landscaper had also cut down three or four small mangrove trees.
She said she stopped him from cutting any more mangroves.
City Public Services Director Dean Scharmen said if Harlan had not acted, more mangroves might have been destroyed.
Scharmen and City Manager Charles Coward were at the scene Sunday after they were alerted by both Harlan and resident Robert Starr.
"The contractor messed up," Scharmen said. "We don't believe it was done on purpose."
Nonetheless, cutting down mangrove trees violates state law and county and city ordinances. Trimming is allowed, but only with a permit and only by a certified arborist or other professional mangrove trimmer.
Under Pinellas County's mangrove ordinance, Harlan could be fined up to $10,000 per offense along with being required to restore the mangroves.
"She may not be fined and instead be given the opportunity to mitigate the damage by putting in mangrove saplings," Scharmen said.
"I'll do anything they ask," said Harlan, who said Tuesday she has not been contacted yet by the county.
Starr, who also reported the incident to the county, is a retired architect who has lived in the area since 1972.
He is concerned that other mangrove trees along an aging concrete bulkhead on the eastern edge of Gulf Boulevard could be damaged if they are trimmed out.
The bulkhead is just to the north of Harlan's property.
Earlier this year the civic group Action 2000 proposed removing about 20 feet of the mangroves to install an observation deck to allow passersby to see the waterway.
Scharmen said the civic group is surveying neighborhood residents to determine their support for the proposal, which is slated to be presented to the City Commission later this year.
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