A single live oak off Markland Place downtown has become a point of contention between property owners who want to remove the tree and build a house and Valencia neighborhood residents who want to preserve the 100-year-old tree.
St. Augustine's Planning and Zoning Board and City Commission have denied the owner's requests for a tree removal permit.
But the owners said Saturday that -- despite the tree -- they will put a house on that lot.
Gerald R. Leach of St. Augustine said he'd planned to build a $300,000 carriage house there for his family, "but they need a garage."
Now, he said, he'll construct a simple block house and rent it to college students.
"It won't be a pretty house," Leach said. "I'll have to build the cheapest thing I can."
His problem: A 30-inch diameter oak with a large root ball sits at the end of a 100-foot driveway that leads to his vacant lot.
Read more about it here: 100-year-old tree blocks homesite
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