Lot with mangroves all along sea wall - issues? (hotels, attorney)

[SJNE17]

If a lot has mangroves all along the seawall (in PGI), is that one of those things where the buyer is going to have to hire a lobbyist to petition every gov't agency to cut 'em down and put in a dock? In other words, is it a nightmare-in-waiting?

[Harbor Hopper]

Yes, definitely a nightmare. You can get a permit to trim them, and certainly a permit to remove "some" to put in a dock, but removing them all likely won't be allowed. I'd put it in the offer that the seller has to have this done prior to closing. Let them handle it, since they're the ones that allowed them to grow and fill in. It certainly makes the lot far less valuable (although I'm sure the seller will argue that to death!)

[rusty78]

We recently took a tour in one of the local state parks and the park ranger informed us that a local resident removed the mangroves on his property to have access to the water and was given a 1 Million Dollar Fine!!!! So like mentioned earlier, let the current owner deal with it, unless of course you would consider speaking with an attorney that would be able to give you a better idea of what you will be allowed to do...

[sware2cod]

This won't prevent you from getting a dock. They allow you to remove enough mangroves to put a dock in, assuming you meet the other criteria to be allowed a dock. You can always have a dock company give an estimate and meet them out there to see what they say are possible road blocks.

Mangroves can be a nice privacy fence that prevents neighbors/boaters from seeing every move you make.

[SJNE17]

it looks like overgrown weeds, and no privacy (they're only a couple feet higher than seawall). drove by it on the water. too much headache.

i call them bug hotels!

thanks for the tips, folks.

[TamRE]

Here is a great link about mangrove trimming. It really explains everything in detail.

http://manatee.ifas.ufl.edu/seagrant...Guidelines.pdf

[SJNE17]

Thanks RamRE.

Good grief! Getting a permit to trim stuff each time.....no thanks.

Absolutely the last thing in the world I need to deal with.

No wonder that lot's still available. I wonder how it could've happened in the 1st place (the growth), so few lots in PGI I saw with mangroves adjacent to sea wall. A nighttime swin w/snorkel and a pair of pruning shears 10-15+ yrs or so ago would've saved a lot of future headache....

[Harbor Hopper]

I would never recommend it necessarily, but from what I hear, they're best dealt with as seedlings when they first take root. some folks might pull them out twice a year so they never have the chance to grow, at least not on their property. They might simply toss the seedling tubes in the water where they'll float along and take root elsewhere, thus not killing them. Just things I've heard

[SJNE17]

Originally Posted by Harbor Hopper

I would never recommend it necessarily, but from what I hear, they're best dealt with as seedlings when they first take root. some folks might pull them out twice a year so they never have the chance to grow, at least not on their property. They might simply toss the seedling tubes in the water where they'll float along and take root elsewhere, thus not killing them. Just things I've heard

[Travelassie]

Originally Posted by SJNE17

If a lot has mangroves all along the seawall (in PGI), is that one of those things where the buyer is going to have to hire a lobbyist to petition every gov't agency to cut 'em down and put in a dock? In other words, is it a nightmare-in-waiting?

I don't know about the mangroves in that area, I know there are restrictions with removing those, as others have mentioned. But what I haven't seen mentioned is that many of those mangroves are overgrown with what's considered pest vegetation, such as Florida holly and Brazilian pepper trees/bushes, and we've been told that if you choose to do so, those can be removed from the mangrove growth. I see a lot of mangroves upriver overgrown with Florida holly, and think I've seen it along the canals in PG and PC as well. I don't know if you need a permit to remove the pest vegetation ( not sure why you would) but there's no limit to what you can remove of those, and if your property along the canal has been overgrown with pest vegetation, perhaps removing that would improve things for you.