November 20, 2019 - By the removal of one of the remaining two large pine trees Pinus Pinea from the former garden of the Hotel "Mimoza" on the waterfront in Tivat, the destruction of this once valuable horticultural entity continued, which from the beginning follows the realization of the Mimoza Group project - construction of a condo-hotel with by the same name on the site of the first Tivat hotel. In addition to the outraged citizens, the drying and removal of the pine tree caused the reaction of the Municipality of Tivat, which seeks action by the competent inspection services.
The Municipality of Tivat condemns this way of treating natural values and urges the competent institutions to sanction those responsible for the decay of one of the oldest and most beautiful trees in the city center of Tivat, says Tamara Furtula, the secretary of the Secretariat for Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development.
Workers were using a crane to cut and remove a large pine tree that had completely dried up in recent months, after a Russian investor destroyed its root, digging land near a tree and building two floors of underground garages. After this, there is only one more large pine tree left in the eastern corner of this plot, but the citizens of Tivat suspect that it will soon be destroyed as its lower branches "enter" space where the second floor of the new hotel should be.
The former Mimoza Hotel Garden, Photo by Sinisa Lukovic Most of the herbs in the formerly luxurious park of the Mimoza Hotel have been cut since 2016 when the old Mimoza Hotel and a 4,600-square-foot plot of land were sold to a new owner, Mimoza Group, behind which stands Russian capital. They demolished the old hotel, which paid 6.5 million euros, and in its place, after changing the planning documents according to their wishes, began the construction of a new condominium hotel with the old name.
The Municipality of Tivat has repeatedly addressed the inspection bodies regarding the devastation of the green area on which the dried pine-tree is located, as it has been recognized through the spatial-planning and environmental documentation as a green area that needs to be preserved and upgrade. Specific protection of the trees at this location was to be ensured through compliance with the measures prescribed by the Environmental Impact Assessment Study, developed for the project of the new hotel, the Municipality of Tivat pointed out.
"For the construction of the Hotel Mimoza 5 *, an Environmental Impact Assessment Study was prepared and approved by the Agency for Nature and Environmental Protection, within which landscape taxation was carried out - a description of the vegetation at the subject site was given, and categorization of trees was performed. On this occasion, it was determined that the two largest pine trees with trunks over 1m in diameter, one of which has recently dried, fall into category A - high-quality trees (for conservation). Within the landscape taxation, the so-called "root protection zone," indicating how far the tree can be approached when excavating without the risk of root damage. Both imposing specimens of pine nuts by the Environmental Impact Assessment Lab are scheduled for on-site conservation," reads a statement sent by the municipal information service.
According to the Municipality of Tivat, the company "Mimoza Group" on October 8, 2019, addressed by letter to the Secretariat for Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development, stating that the pine tree had dried, that it was a danger to passersby and construction site workers. They asked for consent to remove that tree as soon as possible.
"The Secretariat for Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development is not competent to issue the required permit, and given the severe damage to the landscape, ambient and horticultural values of the city center, this authority has submitted a report to the Inspection Directorate - Department for Environmental Inspection. As the authority responsible for controlling whether the project developer implements the measures prescribed by the Environmental Impact Assessment Study to which the consent has been issued, the Tivat Municipality explained.
The company "Mimoza Group" then again addressed the Municipality of Tivat with a letter informing about the removal of the dried pine tree, after which the Secretariat for Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development back submitted a report to the Directorate for Inspection - Department for Environmental Inspection. The Secretariat also addressed the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism - Directorate for Inspection and Licensing, requesting an inspection of project documentation and control of activities carried out in the field. The Municipality suspects that the area of root protection was not respected during the execution of works, which led to root damage and subsequent drying of the tree.
"I expect the inspection authorities to take appropriate measures to punish those responsible for the immeasurable damage to the city. I declare that such a case of damage to natural values will not go unpunished," said Secretary of the Secretariat for Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development, Tamara Furtula.
