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The huge tree sits near the golf course clubhouse (at left). John Pacenti/The Coastal Star

“I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree.”   

                  — Joyce Kilmer

“The canal shall remain clear of all construction. There shall be no trees, shrubs, etc. within the right-of-way.” 

— Lake Worth Drainage District

By John Pacenti

Whenever a major municipal project commences, there is always a chance to find buried treasure — in this case, it was more than 70 years old and rose 50 feet into the sky. 

During work on a $28.5 million renovation project at the Delray Beach municipal golf course, crews discovered that what they thought was a large grove of trees was in fact a single, sprawling banyan tree — possibly the largest in southern Palm Beach County.

However, the tree — which is visible from the clubhouse’s ballroom — also significantly encroaches upon a nearby canal, and the Lake Worth Drainage District has asked for it to be removed. An engineering report found that if the tree fell during a tropical storm, significant flooding could occur.

What looked at first blush to be a feel-good story about saving a historic tree morphed into a clash of jurisdictions between Delray Beach and the drainage district — one defined by land, the other defined by water.

“I don’t want to say the heavy-handedness of the Lake Worth Drainage District,” Mayor Tom Carney said at a Feb. 18 special meeting of the City Commission called just on the tree. “But we were never really in the game, and they just really dictated terms. I don’t believe that that’s proper.”

But the banyan lives — at least for the time being — as the city lobbies the district to allow it to exist in some form. After deciding in February that the tree was a menace and needed to be removed, the district said it would allow Delray Beach officials to present a report on how both the canal and the tree can live in harmony.

It will be literally do or die for the tree at the drainage district hearing on March 11, where the city will make its case.

Commissioners at the Feb. 18 meeting chose to hire an arborist to produce a report to try to persuade the drainage district to reverse its decision. They did so despite knowing Delray Beach entered into a contract with the drainage district in 1994 to remove trees as directed by the district or face the legal — and costly — consequences. 

“The 78-year-old banyan tree is a part of the history of our golf course and needs to be protected,” Carney told The Coastal Star. “It has survived many hurricanes over the years and has the root system necessary to survive the storms to come. Protecting it is a fight worth having.”

A surprising discovery 

An arborist for the city found the tree — which is a Chinese banyan — in good health, with a robust canopy that could make it a candidate for Florida Forest Service champion tree recognition.

Public Works Director Missie Barletto told the commission at its Jan. 6 meeting that staffers thought at first it was just a grove of trees, but once the underbrush was cleared away, they realized it was all one tree covering about a half-acre.

As a banyan tree grows, its horizontal branches become longer and heavier, and it sprouts “aerial roots” that hang down like threads. Once these threads touch the ground, they take root and thicken into woody “accessory trunks.” 

Photos show that the tree with the brain-shaped canopy was already present in a 1953 image of the golf course, indicating the tree has stood on the property for generations.

The course designer and contractor support efforts to retain the banyan and are prepared to help mitigate any construction schedule impacts, Barletto said. The arborist who looked at it initially feels like it may be a candidate for a Florida Forest Service Champion Tree Award, she said. 

Delray Beach hopes to preserve this Chinese banyan tree, which was fully uncovered at the municipal golf course during its ongoing renovation. Officials with the Lake Worth Drainage District have asked it to be removed because it encroaches on an adjacent canal. Photo provided

A river runs through it

The E-4 canal runs north-south, separating the golf course from the residential neighborhoods and businesses to the east toward Congress Avenue. Its role is to remove heavy rainfall from neighborhoods. 

Lake Worth Drainage District officials have told city staff that the tree would need to be removed unless the city obtains a variance. 

The city told the drainage district it would take responsibility for the tree if it fell into the canal after a major storm and would add a codicil to the city’s debris‑removal contract to ensure the city can respond quickly to protect safety and navigation, Barletto said.

But a drainage district engineer’s report portrayed the banyan somewhat as the Al Capone of trees. 

There was even a dark AI-generated image of what would occur if it fell into the canal during a tropical tempest. Trees damaged during hurricanes past — like Category 5 Andrew — were shown as a grim reminder.

Of note is that the drainage district didn’t demand the tree be removed until the recent redo of the golf course. Tommy Strowd, the drainage district commission’s director, did not return a phone call seeking comment.

City’s ‘tree-mendous’ effort

Commissioner Tom Markert has been a champion of the tree, as well. “Save the tree. This is a no-brainer,” he said when it first came up at the commission’s Jan. 6 meeting. He and Barletto then spoke at the Lake Worth Drainage District’s Feb. 11 board meeting to no avail.

Carney called the Feb. 18 special commission meeting to discuss the tree, and, once again, bickering ensued.

Carney suggested seeking an injunction against the drainage district. But City Attorney Lynn Gelin said that, actually, the district’s request was indeed proper per the contract and that the city would have a hard time challenging it. 

Commissioner Juli Casale said the tree is 90% on property owned by the drainage district.

Markert, citing an emailed newsletter, accused Carney of saying he was a failure because the drainage district ruled against the city. Then a discussion ensued, not on the tree, but on whether the newsletter was sent from the mayor’s web address.

City Manager Terrence Moore aimed to turn the temperature down, knowing a fight with the drainage district does the city no good.

A consensus was finally reached to have an arborist do his own report to try to get the drainage district to reconsider. 

Jim Chard, chairman of the Historic Preservation Board, spoke during the public comments at the special meeting. He said removing the tree would actually damage the integrity of the canal bank since the roots go so deep. 

Moore said he would work on parallel tracks of continuing the effort to save the tree while preparing for its demise. He tempered expectations.

“If there’s any time an opportunity exists to preserve a tree, save whatever we can, we take every effort to do so,” Moore said. “This was an arduous consideration, an arduous request, because, as it turns out, Lake Worth Drainage District has never in known history granted such an authorization.”

There is a bit of good news for golfers, though, Barletto said in January.

The renovation of the municipal course has already made rapid progress since construction began in December. She said crews are moving at “an incredible pace” and that keeping the tree would be a priority.