A Pinellas County homeowner faces mounting cooling costs and lost privacy after the HOA cuts down a 20-year-old oak that survived multiple hurricanes
By Senior Staff Writer, Edmond Thorne for OmniCom MultiMediaFlorida News Network: Tallahassee —The tree had been standing for two decades, its broad canopy providing relief from Florida’s punishing summer sun and a natural screen from neighboring homes. Then one afternoon, the homeowner returned from work to find it gone, reduced to a stump and pile of wood chips by her homeowner’s association. “I actually thought I was at the wrong house for a second,” said the homeowner who has lived in her Clearwater townhome since 2015. “That tree was the reason I bought this place. Now my backyard feels like a fishbowl, and my electric bill has already gone up nearly forty dollars a month.”…