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OPEN SEASON on Buckhead trees...

An email I sent Mayor Franklin, Mary Norwood and Howard Shook:

From: deLille Anthony
Sent: Aug 11, 2008 12:32 PM
To: sfranklin@atlantaga.gov, mnorwood@atlantaga.gov, hshook@atlantaga.gov
Subject: OPEN SEASON on Buckhead trees began this past weekend

Dear Mayor Franklin,

With Tom Coffin out of the developers’ way, OPEN SEASON on Buckhead’s trees began this past weekend. A beautiful 22” magnolia tree was removed by R. Tree Service at 2668 Ellwood Drive, NE this past Saturday, in the Garden Hills neighborhood just blocks from my house. No posting was ever noticed by the neighbors who called to report this tree to me, and the tree appeared very healthy before its destruction. One neighbor asked R. Tree Service for a permit to cut the tree and the tree service was unable to produce one.

I understand that Tom Coffin has already fined the owner of this property for cutting down trees illegally when the property was undergoing site preparation for an infill home. However, I can’t tell you who owns this property because this property is not recorded in the Fulton County property tax database. (Does this mean that the developer/owner isn’t paying property taxes like the rest of us?)

Meanwhile, a second neighbor has been dialing the City Arborist office this morning to inquire about this magnolia, and he can’t get anything but recorded messages.

What are we supposed to be doing now? We have no arborist assigned to our neighborhood, the city won’t pick up the phone and all we’ve heard is that we have to wait for an HR investigation to discover why Tom Coffin was fired. The City Arborist Division employees should be doing their jobs NOW, regardless of whatever is decided about Tom Coffin’s job.

Meanwhile, while we sit and wait on HR, the developers are firing up their chain saws knowing that no one is going to stop them.

deLille Anthony
Atlanta, GA

... and a response from the Office of Howard Shook:

From: Shook, Howard [mailto:hshook@AtlantaGa.Gov]
Sent: Monday, August 11, 2008 1:41 PM
To: David Robertson; deLille Anthony; Franklin, Shirley; Norwood, Mary; Caldwell, Ainsley
Cc: Clair Muller; Muller, Clair
Subject: RE: OPEN SEASON on Buckhead trees began this past weekend

Ainsley,

Do you have information regarding the tree at this property? Any assistance you can provide will be appreciated. Thanks for your help.

Denis Taylor
Office of Councilperson Howard Shook
404-330-6050

... followed by a clarification from me:

From: deLille Anthony
Sent: Monday, August 11, 2008 1:54 PM
To: Shook, Howard; 'David Robertson'; Franklin, Shirley; Norwood, Mary; Caldwell, Ainsley
Cc: 'Clair Muller'; Muller, Clair
Subject: RE: OPEN SEASON on Buckhead trees began this past weekend

Thank you very much for following up on this! I just learned that the original lot is 2672 Ellwood, but has been subdivided into two lots, with the new lot being 2668 Ellwood. Might be helpful to know in looking up the permit history (or lack thereof…).

deLille Anthony

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