June 4, 2026

By Mary Beth Gahan

In 2004, when the town approved Lakeside Ranch, a 229-acre commercial development on Lakeside Drive between Garden Ridge Boulevard and Enterprise Road, a group of post oak trees on the southeast side was marked to be preserved.

Most of the buildings have been constructed over the decades, but a few spots remain undeveloped.

20 years later, in April 2025, specimen tree #3953 was on the chopping block, literally. The environmental conservation commission approved a tree removal permit for it and two others to make way for a warehouse in Lakeside Ranch. The planning and zoning commission did the same. Then it came before the town council.

Specimen tree #3953 is a post oak tree with a diameter of 39.5 inches. It likely sprouted more than 200 years ago — a remnant of the Cross Timbers forest that used to blanket the region — and at some point, split to form two trunks. The double oak tree is still in good condition.

Mayor Pro Tem Adam Schiestel thought enough wasn’t being done to save the older trees, specifically #3953. He’d pulled the zoning documents and meeting minutes from the 2004 application.

“The vote to approve this [planned development] partially on the expectation that we were going to get environmental preservations specifically in this area right here,” mayor pro tem Adam Schiestel said at the meeting.

The tree removal permit vote was ultimately postponed and on Monday night, the town council approved economic incentives for Dog Gun Investments, which would save the tree and earn the town $100,000 more in tax revenue.

The issue was a driveway for Trinity Park that was required to allow emergency vehicle access and for trucks to reach the warehouse. With required landscape buffers and drainage considerations, the driveway would have to cross right over the spot where specimen tree #3953 stands today.

The town worked with the developer to reroute the driveway so it will curve around the post oak tree. Under the agreement, the developer, Dog Gun Investments, will receive $50,000 back from their $117,600 tree mitigation fee that is paid to the town.

The post oak tree must survive the construction around it, though. If it is dead or significantly damaged one year after the certificate of occupancy is issued, the town will look to see if the developer is at fault. If so, the town will keep the $50,000.

As part of the Chapter 380 agreement, the developer agreed that Flower Mound would be declared as the source city for construction materials for the $5 million building, which gives the town $100,000 in sales tax revenue that it wouldn’t have otherwise.

Council members were quick to approve the Chapter 380 agreement. It provided additional tax revenue and saved an old tree. It was a win-win in their book.

Council member Janvier Werner said she was “thrilled” to be part of preserving the tree.

“This is a slam dunk,” council member Chris Drew said. “It’s a 200-year-old tree. It’s irreplaceable.”

The tree will possible receive an honorary title in addition to its stay of execution.

Schiestel said he’d like the post oak to be nominated for the town’s Tree Recognition Program, which results in annual awards for large and historic trees. In 2024, a post oak that won had a diameter of 29 inches. Specimen #3953’s trunk is 36 percent larger.

“This is about as big as they come,” Schiestel said.