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Long Beach aldermen table Shelter Rock preliminary plat after residents raise tree, drainage and access concerns
Summary
After a lengthy public-comment period in which neighbors warned that a 16-lot preliminary plat on Shelter Rock Drive would endanger protected live oaks and worsen drainage and emergency access, the Long Beach Board of Aldermen voted to table the plat pending tree-board review and verification of any tree-health claims.
The Long Beach Board of Aldermen on Tuesday tabled consideration of a preliminary plat for 109 Shelter Rock Drive after residents described what they say are threats to protected live oaks, drainage and emergency access.
Dozens of neighbors turned out to oppose the developer’s sketch plat, saying the plan calls for 16 zero-lot-line homes in an area that historically had far fewer houses. "We played under those trees," said Carolyn Hamilton, a longtime Long Beach resident, describing the neighborhood’s canopy and urging the board to balance development with preserving mature oaks. Hamilton said she wants her grandchildren to have shaded sidewalks and memories of the city’s live oaks.
Kristen Leonard, who said she owns 427 Magnolia Street and plans to build there, told the board she was not opposed to growth but raised specific concerns about retention, storm drainage and emergency egress for a dense cluster of homes. "What does that retention pond actually mean during a storm or hurricane?" she asked, pressing officials for clarity on flood and access risks.
Jennifer Buckhannon, president of the Gulf Coast chapter of the Mississippi Native Plant Society, urged the board to fit housing around existing trees where possible and to avoid replacing mature oaks with smaller, decorative plantings that provide little ecological value. "Let's keep it the way it is," she said, calling for alternatives that preserve canopy and urban forest values.
Several neighbors, including Blaine Sutton, cited technical worries. Sutton said preliminary plans showed utility work and subsurface drainage changes that would come within three to five feet of the trunks of seven mature protected live oaks, and warned that site work could ‘‘compromise root systems’’ and later be used to justify removal. Deborah Sanji, who owns the undeveloped lot south of 120 Shelter Rock, urged the board to require independent verification of any pest or disease claims before allowing site work to begin.
City staff and some aldermen described the application as a preliminary or sketch plat, a first-step filing that in city practice does not by itself authorize construction. One alderman recommended treating the filing as contingent on the developer following the tree-board process and engineering approvals; another offered a motion to approve the planning commission’s recommendation contingent on a tree-removal plan and a prohibition on site work until trees issues were resolved.
After discussion and an earlier failed procedural motion, the board ultimately voted to table the Shelter Rock preliminary plat to the next meeting so the tree-board review and related questions about drainage, permits and any tree-removal requests can be resolved before further action. No construction work will be permitted to proceed while the board’s condition stands, according to comments from city staff.
The decision follows requests from neighbors that the city require independent documentation for any tree-removal justifications and fully evaluate retention-pond design, drainage impacts and emergency access. The planning-commission minutes relating to the plat were not yet posted at the time of the meeting, a point several speakers raised as a reason for deferring a final decision.
What’s next: The board directed staff to ensure the developer follows the city’s tree-board process, engineering and code requirements; the Shelter Rock plat will return to a future meeting after those processes are completed and documentation is provided.
Votes at a glance: The Shelter Rock preliminary plat was tabled (motion carried). Separately, a motion to remove a small oak tree on a city easement at a different address failed on roll call (4–3), and the board approved removal of a separate leaning oak on Burke Avenue for safety reasons.
The board also handled a range of routine business items, including awarding a cybersecurity services contract, approving grant applications for trails, and authorizing conduit work to increase electrical capacity at the Gateway project.
