Check with officials before tree removal

I am writing this letter so other homeowners in the City of Bradenton will not have to go through what we just did. I am not blaming the city, I blame myself for not looking at the computer or going through city laws pertaining to trees.

About six years ago we planted a tree in our side yard, a magnolia. Since this was our first experience with such a tree, we did not know or ask where the roots would go.

We felt and were told that the roots were going to harm our home, so we asked our yard man to cut it down. Big mistake.

We got it down to a stump and along came Code Enforcement and told us we could not do that. It was done already so our yard man got a ticket for $150. We had to go to City Hall and pull a permit: $20. Then we had to pay $200 into the city tree fund.

We also had to pay the fine for our yard man, plus we had to pay him $150 for the work. So all in all, it cost us $520 to cut down a tree that we planted.

I was raised in the hills of Missouri and we cut down trees where we wanted to; if it would burn, it kept us warm.

Don’t let this happen to you.

Times have changed.

This story was originally published November 10, 2016 at 3:22 PM with the headline "Check with officials before tree removal."