Georgia Power cuts 300-year-old oak despite protests

• Georgia Power cut down a 300-year-old live oak tree on a residential property to expand its energy grid.
• The utility company claims it had a legal right to remove the tree based on an easement agreement and state law.
• The property owners contend they only agreed to have a limb removed, not the entire tree.

At about 9 a.m. on Feb. 25, James Ball heard beeping outside his home, not unusual for trash day in his residential neighborhood on Little Neck Road between Georgetown and Pooler.

But the sounds of saws whirring were unfamiliar. When he stepped outside, he saw black State Office Department of Public Safety cars with flickering blue lights lining the street. Workers wearing yellow vests and white unmarked trucks filed into his driveway. 

“It was a sneak attack,” said Ball. 

Crews shortly began cutting down the live oak tree on Ball’s front lawn, estimated to be 300 years old. About a half hour later, Georgia Power announced the move in a press release.

Despite the late warning, a handful of protestors raced to show up, one by one. A woman ran towards the scene, breathless.

“I was going to chain myself to the tree,” she said. Another sat behind the cones and cried, as final limbs fell.

By 10:30 a.m., the tree was down, tangled in Spanish moss that once draped from its branches.

While the tree is officially gone, the event has sparked debate about whether or not the cutting was lawful. Claims on the tree’s fate over the past few weeks have whirled back-and-forth between Georgia Power, the property owner, and Chatham County.

And it appears the stronger arm, backed by state law enforcement, has ultimately won.

“Georgia Power has authority under state law to remove the tree and manage the right of way as necessary to ensure reliable electric service for customers,” wrote Georgia Power Spokesperson Joshua Peacock in a statement. 

‘No other option’

The transmission line runs nearly five miles along the rapidly developing road that connects to Highway 17, an electrical artery Georgia Power relies on for expanding its energy grid towards Pooler and the rest of west Chatham County.

If they did not expand these lines, the state’s largest utility company warns there could be blackouts during the summer, when the line will likely be completed, wrote Peacock.

“The current route… is the least impactful route to the community overall,” wrote Peacock. This option would avoid wetlands, a cemetery, as well as hundreds of trees over about 17 acres in the area, he added.

“There simply is no other option,” said William Mock, the Savannah region executive director for Georgia Power.

What do neighbors say?

It wasn’t just Ball’s tree that was cut down. Nearby, a neighbor’s four trees were also removed on Feb. 25, including a magnolia and live oak tree. She has always loved watching the squirrels running up and down the trees, and filling the birdhouses with feed. Her daughter, who now lives on the property beside her, enjoyed sitting up in the tree branches.

While she’s sad to see them go, she seems to have made her peace with the company’s expressed need to accommodate for growth.

“You want electricity, right? We all need it,” said the neighbor, who wished to not be identified by name. 

She pointed down the road toward a budding residential development, where about 1,500 people are slated to move into multi-family units, according to previous reporting by Savannah Morning News. 

Georgia Power sent offer letters for easements on their properties last year, she said. The company could likely seize the land by eminent domain anyways, she figured, and so she took their offer of compensation.

“We’ve known for over a year,” said the neighbor. “We sold them a 30-foot easement.”

Eminent domain is the government’s legal power to take private property for public use, provided they pay “just compensation,” typically fair market value. 

The company claimed its negotiations with property owners permitted the company to trim or remove trees, according to its press release.

But Ball and his roomate, property owner Allen Grizzard, claimed that they had agreed to the company cutting down a limb, not the entire tree, when a representative visited their property last year. But they don’t have the paperwork to prove it.

“We didn’t get proof because we trusted them, and we didn’t know not to,” said Grizzard.

The exceptional tree, except it’s no longer

When the tree was originally planned to be removed in mid-February, the operation was paused due to the onslaught of online community attention and protest that ultimately led Chatham County’s tree arborist to designate the tree as an “exceptional tree,” exempt from removal under county code.

Ball remembers that night when he thought they won that battle, he saw an owl fly from the tree to his garage.

“I thought it was so cool, but all for nothing,” Ball said.

At the end of the day, Georgia Power—under state and federal eminent domain laws—was able to override the county’s ordinance.

As a result, Ball and Grizzard’s tree is gone. And their land will likely be changed.

“It will flood. We’ll have a lake,” said Ball’s roommate and property owner Allen Grizzard. “They’ve destroyed our home.”

Jillian Magtoto covers climate change and the environment in coastal Georgia. You can reach her at jmagtoto@usatodayco.com. This reporting content is supported by a partnership with Green South Foundation and Journalism Funding Partners.