DAVID DOUGLAS BIRCHIM, City Planning and Zoning Director of The City of St. Augustine, Florida created a conflict of interest when he contracted with MARQUIS LATIMER + HALBACK VP and partner FREMONT LATIMER for arborist advice on rewriting the City's tree code and on individual trees, at the same time that he knows that the ML+H is working for applicants for tree-killing applications.
BIRCHIM previously violated F.S. 112.313(7) when he failed to recuse himself from the application of his own building contractor for fourteen (14) homes on Riberia Street.
LATIMER himself signed the paperwork for PATEL wanting to destroy trees at a future hotel site..
Here's the text of the September 6, 2018 letter from the City's conflicted consultant, on behalf of hotelier KANTI PATEL, only two days after BIRCHIM informed Planning and Zoning Board member of the hiring of FREMONT LATIMER.
Marquis Latimer+ Halback
~ LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE · PLANNING
September 6, 2018
Kanti Patel
32 Avenida Menendez St. Augustine, FL 32084
Re: Tree Removal and Consultation at proposed Hilton Garden Inn
Dear Mr. Patel
At your request, I have visited the site of your proposed hotel site at 185 Matanzas Avenue to examine the existing trees and develop a site plan that preserves existing tree where possible. I performed a detailed visual inspection from the ground of both the trees and the site. This report does not constitute a hazard assessment.
Site Characteristics
The site is an urbanized area composed of multiple uses including a parking lot, construction yard/storage, single family residence, and undeveloped lot that appears to have been previously cleared. The soil cover is variable due to the urban nature of the site and vehicular areas are severely compacted.
Tree Characteristics
There are several small live oaks and sabal palms on the site that have been recently planted. The recently installed oak trees are showing signs of stunted growth and poor canopy development, likely caused by poor root condition and installation/establishment. There are a number of mature oaks on site that qualify as "preserved" by the City of St. Augustine that are individually documented on the following pages.
Recommendations for development
The development program calls for the erection of a new hotel on the western parcels of the project site. This portion of the site will require a significant amount of fill as the elevation of the new structure is required to have a final floor elevation (FFE) of 10.0' and the existing grades on site are between 5.5' and 6.9'. The eastern parcel will be used for parking and can more closely follow the existing grade.
On the western parcels, the location of the trees and the amount of fill required make the preservation ofthe existing trees unfeasible. However, sabal palms have a high survivability when transplanted an recommend having some of the relocated to the eastern parcel where the construction activity will be less intensive. On the eatern parcel there are several large live oaks that are located on the periphery of the parcel. These should be preserved in place and any paving or resurfacing should be built on top the existing grade while avoiding compaction of the native soil.
If there are any other questions regarding the trees or site plan, please feel free to contact me. Sincerely,
Fremont Latimer, RLA, PrincipalISA Certified Arborist #FL5480AMarquis Latimer+ Halback, Inc.34 Cordova, Suite A
St. Augustine, FL 32084
904.588.5389
Interesting and I agree with the conflict of interest point, however, your reporting is lacking the facts...facts being the attached exhibit pages vs the cherry picked information you placed on your blog.
ReplyDeleteI for one want to know if any of the 'preserved trees" ( as noted in the report) are affected. We ( readers) can't honestly tell due due solely to your decision to leave out key details.
Now I have to ask...is all this fuss about nothing or the result of your grudge in losing the battle to prevent the hotel...a smear campaign perhaps?
It is almost comical you claim legal expertise yet purposefully leave out key details of your allegations for or against certain actions...which in this case may or may not be critical to your readers.
My personal opinion...who cares about newly installed under nourished and small live oak trees? Nobody! They are a dime a dozen around here.
What we care about are the "preserved" live oaks...so tell us Ed..what are the facts? Are the preserved trees at risk? If not...much nonsense about nothing but for the overall risk of the conflict of interest as it pertains to future tree preservation.
Frankly...I am weary of yellow smear journalism ..it has no place in our society but to feed the greed egos of those writing the articles. Clean it up or be gone friend
Mature live oaks -- as stated in LATIMER's letter. See above.
ReplyDeleteCome speak out against rampant, routine conflict of interest in environmental and land use planning in St. Augustine, Florida -- City Planning and Zoning Board IPZB) meets Tuesday, October 2, 2018, 75 King Street, Alcazar Room, 1st Floor loggia. Read conflicted ML+H VP/partner FREMONT LATIMER's report on ML+H letterhead, item 4c in backup here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.citystaug.com/PacketPZB10022018.pdf
1. The same secretive foreign-funded developer applicants, lawyers, engineers, architects, landscape architects and other hired guns routinely appear before city boards and Commission on behalf of each others' projects. There is a close community of interests between those who are destroying our town's historic ambience.
ReplyDelete2. St. Johns County, its two cities, School Board, Airport and Mosquito Control BADLY need checks and balances -- an Inspector General,, Ombuds and Ethics Commission, as in other Florida counties.
3. Enough flummery, dupery and nincompoopery.