Let’s make a deal.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is looking to work a deal with the Holmes Beach property owner accused of illegal tree trimming.
Jose Vivero of Tampa allegedly contracted with Miguel Guevara of Sarasota’s Sunset Tree Service to cut a 50-by-30-foot swath of seagrape trees to half their height at a public beach access across from Vivero’s rental property, Casa Del Mar, 4301 Second Ave.
In May, DEP sent out investigator Steve West, who determined the cutting, on public property and private land owned by Vivero’s neighbor, was against state environmental laws.
HBPD Chief Bill Tokajer referred the case to the State Attorney of the 12th Judicial Circuit Court, seeking Vivero’s arrest for trespass after warning, and to the DEP for allegedly violating the Marine Turtle Protection Act.
DEP South District assistant director Jennifer Carpenter wrote Vivero and his corporate entity, Galicia Enterprises, May 22, asking “what you have done to resolve the issue,” asking why the agency’s concerns are invalid or arrangements for a DEP inspection.
“Such corrective measures, in coordination with the city of Holmes Beach, would then be memorialized and required within a department-issued consent order to be signed by Mr. Vivero and the department,” according to the DEP report.
Vivero’s Bradenton attorney, Gregory Hagopian, said June 5 that his client is “very remorseful” and “cooperating fully with the authorities.”
Hagopian declined to specify what types of corrective measures are being discussed.
The agency is still investigating its response to Guevara, who was fined in 2012 for cutting Holmes Beach mangroves without a permit, according to an email from DEP spokeswoman Dee Ann Miller.
Hagopian wrote to Holmes Beach Mayor Bob Johnson May 14, stating Vivero is a 74-year-old “highly successful businessman from Hillsborough County” who is ready to remedy “this unfortunate misunderstanding, ie., additional plantings, cleanup costs, fines, restitution, etc.”
Sea turtles nest May to October, and both the nesting mother and the hatchlings make their way to the water, guided by moonlight, but can become disoriented by artificial light on the beach.
Johnson said May 22 he was appalled by the disrespect to the city and the sea turtles.
“I am just flabbergasted that anyone would do anything like this,” Johnson said. “It’s just awful, especially after they’d been told not to.”
The mayor also said the city is looking to mitigate the situation with light shielding and re-planting.
Two turtle nests are within a quarter mile of the seagrape trees, according to Suzi Fox, director of Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch & Shorebird Monitoring.
“Every single light that can be seen from the beach has the possibility of misdirecting turtles.” said Fox.
After inspecting the beach at night, Holmes Beach code enforcement officer David Forbes said two light poles, at Episcopal Church of Annunciation, 4408 Gulf Drive, and at the corner of 43rd and Second Avenue, are the brightest offenders.
Now that the lights are exposed to the shoreline, there needs to be strict compliance, according to Forbes.
“It’ll get done … It’s just a question of who’s paying for it. It’ll probably fall on Vivero,” he said.