October 20, 2026

By Mary Beth Gahan

In what Mayor Pro Tem Adam Schiestel called “a miss on the part of the town,” a 140-year-old post oak tree will be cleared to make way for apartments after a permit was approved Monday night.

Several town council members were in favor of preserving the tree at a meeting last month after it was found the large post oak had been misclassified in a 2017 tree survey, but their hands were tied because the plans were approved years ago when the land was rezoned for Alexan at The Point.

To save the tree, Trammell Crow Residential would have to redesign the entire site near the intersection of FM 2499 and Silveron Boulevard.

Schiestel said the end-result was “disappointing,” but the vote was unanimous.

“I understand the position you’re in,” Schiestel told the applicant. “I won’t hold you up.”

The Point was approved by town council in 2017. When the original tree survey was submitted, the post oak in question was classified as a multi-trunk tree — two trees that had grown together over time — and was marked to be removed. The size of the separate trunks was not large enough to warrant a tree removal permit.

The developer finished more than 300 apartments and had start construction on 57,500 square feet of commercial space before phase two could start. A 64,697-square-foot Hampton Inn is under construction.

A new tree survey was required with phase two. This time, the post oak was determined to be a single tree with a diameter at breast height of 28.5 inches. A tree removal permit is required for post oaks larger than 22 inches.

Schiestel, who has gone out to the site and walked around the tree, said he didn’t understand how someone could make the misclassification.

“9 years ago, somebody tried to claim this was two trees,” Schiestel said. “For someone to put that on the survey, it questions if that was done in good faith. I don't like that.”

The town reviews each tree removal permit application and a member of the staff makes field visits to the development. Schiestel thinks that if the current Flower Mound Urban Forester Jake Speckhals had been with the town in 2017, the misclassification would not have happened.

“This is unlikely to happen again,” Schiestel said. “We’re more skeptical and we should be.”

The tree is between a planned roadway, which will have utilities running under it, and apartment building. It would likely not survive construction if they tried to work around it, Speckhals told council last month.

The council seemed inclined to deny the tree removal permit last month, but was pulled into a closed session by the town attorney for consultation. After talking with him, the council tabled a vote.

By the time Trammell Crow came back before the council on Monday, they said tweaking the site plan was not feasible.

The planned development that was approved by town council in 2017  spans 52 pages of requirements that the developer has to follow to the letter. The part that affects the post oak tree is a “build-out-zone.” There must be 13 feet between the street and building.

If the street was moved to the northeast, it would impact a three-acre park where other trees are marked for preservation. A shift to the southwest would jeopardize the rest of the development.

“I don’t believe there’s a way without completely redesigning the site,” said Lexin Murphy, the town’s director of development services.

Tommy Mann, senior vice president at Trammell Crow, said he realized the outcome wasn’t popular.

“We know people like trees more than apartments, trust me,” he said.

To mitigate the removal of trees, Trammell Crow is required to plant 42 trees with a diameter of 3 inches. They plan to plant 62.

They are also working with the town to grown post oak trees on site through the Acorns to Post Oaks program.

“I do see a sincere effort to reforest. That goes a long way,” said council member Janvier Werner, who initially wanted to preserve the tree.

Werner said she’d like the lumber from the tree to be reused, not chopped to bits. She wants the developer to coordinate with Michael Rowan’s woodworking class at TECC-West. The class has a wood mill and has funding to begin construction on a lumber drying kiln.

Assistant Town Manager Tommy Dalton said the town would coordinate to get Rowan’s contact information to Tramell Crow.