John Craft wasn’t happy this week when his new neighbors at 11th Street and Haskell Avenue cut down a stand of cottonwood and elm trees on the floodplain property. Neither were city officials.

But, officials said, there’s not much they can do about it.

“You can’t put the trees back,” said city planner Mark Wilson.

The land, 3 acres north of a maintenance shop for the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, is being purchased by Mike and Greg Polk. The Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission on Wednesday approved a four-lot industrial subdivision for the land.

Before Wednesday’s meeting and without getting a permit, the Polks had the trees knocked down. Thursday, great piles of trunks were clumped around the property site for burning.

Craft, who lives across the railroad tracks from the property, complained to the planning commission Wednesday. He said he would miss the screening the trees would’ve provided between his home and the industrial subdivision.

“I’m very irate they bulldozed the trees,” he said.

Craft said the tree removal also chased out homeless people who had lived in the woods for years. People at a nearby camp would not talk to the Journal-World on Thursday.

Planning Director Linda Finger told commissioners Wednesday the Polks should have applied for a permit to remove the trees because the land was in the floodplain. Floodplain development regulations don’t explicitly talk about trees as a regulated item, she said Thursday, but any action that changes the grade or elevation of floodplain land is covered.

“I would include tree removal as grading,” she said.

Mike Polk disagreed.

“The only thing I can’t do is haul dirt in there,” he said. “I can do anything I want with the trees.”

He declined further comment.

Finger said the point was nearly moot, because the only action the department now can take is to require the developers to go back and get the permit.

There aren’t any penalties beyond that, she said.

“The action,” she said, “is a hand slap.”