DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — The Lake Worth Drainage District voted Wednesday morning to entirely remove a massive 75-year-old Banyan tree discovered at the Delray Beach Golf Course, despite city efforts to save it.
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The tree, estimated to be the largest in South Palm Beach County, must now be removed by June 1.
Delray Beach Mayor Tom Carney went before the district Wednesday with data from an arborist. The data found the tree did not pose a threat to the nearby canal and that removing it could create structural issues for the canal bank. Carney also explained logistical plans established to secure the tree if a storm were to approach.
In an effort to comply and eliminate the potential threat to the canal, the city directed crews to trim the tree's branches away from the water. Despite the plans, arborist findings, and trimming, the Lake Worth Drainage District voted again to have the tree removed, citing a looming flood threat.
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WPTV first reported on the Banyan tree in January. Crews initially thought the 1.5-acre canopy was multiple trees, but learned it was one massive tree that had grown while the golf course was underkept. Crews uncovered the tree during recent site renovations as they were clearing out brush near the canal.
"We were amazed at the size, the canopy of this tree is at least half an acre," Jason Kaufman said.
Kaufman, the engineering division manager for the Delray Beach Public Works Department, spoke about the discovery during a January interview.
"The city believes it's a historic tree, it's been here since at least the mid 1950s and it could qualify for certain designations," Kaufman said.
The problem was that the tree grew beyond city limits and was approximately 90% into the Lake Worth Drainage District, threatening the nearby canal. Shortly after the discovery and an assessment of the flood threat if the tree were to fall during a storm, the district decided the tree had to be removed.
In February, WPTV worked to find solutions and took questions to Tommy Strowd, director of the Lake Worth Drainage District, to learn what it would take to save the tree. He stated Delray Beach would need to come up with a plan to trim it substantially so it no longer posed a threat to the canal.
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"We love trees but not when they're going to risk flood damage. It's in a situation where it could fail," Strowd said. "A tree that size in this canal is not something you can just reach in and pull out. Major blockage in a major canal in a major rain event would be catastrophic if it weren't addressed immediately."
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