Tree circle in Bryant Park doesn’t square with skeptical Lake Worth Beach elected
Commissioner Anthony Segrich says the 15 silver buttonwoods were planted without commission approval. Some colleagues say he is micromanaging.
Bryant Park’s newest feature is a 60-foot diameter circle of 15 silver buttonwood trees, “a living artwork” that will offer a dramatic shade space for reflection, said supporters of the citizens–driven project paid for by the city.
Installed Oct. 27 in the northeast corner of the downtown waterfront park, the 6-foot trees are expected to mature with 20- to 30-foot canopies, forming a pattern of silver arches that will mimic the facade of the Gulfstream Hotel just west of the park.
Planted 12 feet apart, the “magical silver circle of trees” will create a silver halo visible from the hotel, the Lake Worth Bridge and airplanes, said Gael Silverblatt, a founding member of Neighbors Encouraging Shade Trees.
“We are calling it the 60-foot joyful trees circle,’’ she said. “It’s creating an event space for smaller musical groups, jazz quartets, book clubs, drum circles, poetry readings, yoga or quiet contemplation.’’
But for one Lake Worth Beach city commissioner, the new tree circle has blossomed into a space of concern.
Anthony Segrich, a South Palm Park resident elected in March to his first term, is raising questions about whether the new plantings went through proper city channels for approval. He also wonders if they are actually trees.
“If we are making changes to our parks, it has to be a commission decision,’’ he said Oct. 29 at a pre-agenda workshop. “I would be all for that circle if they put in…trees right from the get-go and it was a tree circle. It’s not. It’s a hedge circle and it’s right in the middle of our event space.’’
The silver buttonwoods are natural multi-trunk trees and not hedges, Paul Harding of Amelia’s SmartyPlants, the Lake Worth Beach nursery that installed the tree circle, said in an interview.
Although silver buttonwoods can be “trained” by nurseries to grow with a single trunk, he said the mult-trunks were chosen for the Bryant Park tree circle because they can better withstand high winds and will form a continuous arched circular canopy.
The circle was planted in the park’s northeast corner, west of the walking trail along the Lake Worth Lagoon and just south of Lake Worth Bridge. That area, supporters say, is not in the middle of the park but in a space usually used for support vehicles and equipment during public events.
Segrich’s concerns have sparked debate from some of his fellow commissioners who accuse him of micromanaging a project they say did get proper city approvals.
“You hate that circle of trees, Mr. Segrich,’’ Mayor Betty Resch, a project supporter, said after Segrich raised his concerns again at a City Commission meeting Nov. 4 .
Segrich said his concerns were not so much about the trees but about what he sees as a broader issue: Decisions made by city staff without commission approval.
“It’s not that we shouldn’t have a tree circle. It’s not that we shouldn’t be planting the trees. It’s that it should be done properly,’’ he said.
He convinced a commission majority to schedule a formal discussion at their next meeting Nov. 18 about making sure the commission reviews and approves site plans for tree plantings and major landscaping changes in public parks.
The commission’s 3-2 vote also postpones NEST’s plans to install nine green buttonwood trees near the tree circle on Nov 10.
“I think we are micromanaging just a little bit,’’ Resch said before voting with Commissioner Chris McVoy against Segrich’s request.
“The circle of trees came before the commission. It was approved. I really don’t know what the problem is,’’ she said.
The first he heard about the tree circle was during “an impromptu presentation” by NEST members during public comments at the Sept. 16 commission meeting, he said. It was not a formal agenda item.
NEST members that day gave each commissioner what they say was a site plan showing the tree circle in the park. Commissioners also were given small cuttings of velvet-textured silver buttonwood leaves. At the end of the presentation, Silverblatt reminded commissioners that the tree circle was scheduled for installation Oct. 27. No one at the dais raised any concerns.
Segrich insists commissioners were given just “a general map” and not a formal site plan, a contention supported by Commissioner Mimi May. She said she thought the tree circle was presented Sept. 16 “as an idea” the commission would vote on at a later date.
“I feel that we have kind of lost control of this well-intentioned project,’’ said Segrich, who said he raised the issue after he noticed the tree circle while walking through the park a day or two after it was installed.
“Basically it’s a project that’s gone off the rails. There was no control,’’ he said.
NEST members said they thought they did do everything properly. While they said they are glad commissioners are asking questions, they believe Segrich’s concerns are “a misunderstanding.’’
The tree circle is part of a larger shade tree program at Bryant Park. Commissioners approved spending $50,000 on the program in separate votes in September and November of 2023. Segrich was not on the commission at that time.
The first phase, 17 green buttonwoods and 10 flowering calophyllums along the walkway south of the water treatment plant, was installed in the fall of 2024 and spring of 2025.
The second phase includes the 15 25-gallon silver buttonwoods planted in the tree circle Oct. 27. NEST insists city officials signed off on both phases.
At the request of Tenna McKay, director of the city’s Leisure Services department, NEST contacted Sunshine811 for utility locations before planting the tree circle, Silverblatt said. NEST members said they included Leisure Services staff on all communications, including a confirmation of the Oct. 27 planting date, and no one raised any objections.
“We were surprised when some of the commissioners were bringing up concerns. As far as we thought we’d been doing our due diligence and dotting our I’s and crossing our T’s,’’ said Tracy Rosof-Petersen, a founding NEST member.
Segrich said the plans the city commission approved when the money was earmarked in late 2023 have since undergone changes that the current commission did not review or vote on, including the tree circle.
He said the city has spent about $14,000 so far on the $50,000 that was allocated for the shade project.
Vice Mayor Sarah Malega said her vote with Segrich and May to postpone future plantings was only to allow commissioners to discuss the issue on Nov. 18, not as a vote that she is for or against the tree project.
NEST members are concerned the commission’s vote could harm the tree circle. The temporary halt on future plantings will prevent the SmartyPlants crew from performing needed maintenance on the silver buttonwoods, including a trimming scheduled for Nov. 10.
They’re also thinking about Roseanne Malakates, a founding NEST member who died Nov. 2 of natural causes.
“Roseanne wanted her legacy to be increasing the shade in Bryant Park,’’ Silverblatt said. “She was the inspiration behind the shade tree project.’’
I have photographic evidence of wife carrying track, volleyball players and car shows in that exact area.
I hope that these trees are not in the path of the Midnight Sun Wife Carrying Contest racetrack- if they are rip them OUT!