The iconic live oaks in front of Clyde’s on Highway 144 where it intersects with Highway 17 in Richmond Hill are sick and will be removed, according to city officials.

It’s unclear when the oaks will be taken down, but Planning and Zoning Director Scott Allison told members at Tuesday night’s meeting of the Richmond Hill City Council that though neither tree currently poses a risk to public safety, arborists with both the Georgia DOT and a member of the Coastal Bryan Tree Foundation who was contacted by the city have agreed they’re dying and need to be cut down.

"They're not going to die tomorrow, but they are dying," Allison said. "The fact they're dying, there's going to become a time when they will pose a risk to public safety."

The trees are estimated by some to be at least 200 years old, and the largest are seldom over 250 years along the Atlantic coast, according to the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia.

As recently as 2013 city officials worked to save the trees by changing the design of the right turn only lane from 144 onto 17, and at Tuesday’s meeting city council members said removing the trees was sad but necessary for public safety.

As a result, Allison said the oaks could be removed later this year during upgrades at the intersection, which will include landscaping as part of the city’s receipt of grant money to spruce up the “gateway” into the city. Other plans are to upgrade the signals at the intersection, perhaps the most congested in Richmond Hill.

The trees in front of Clydes are estimated to be at least 200 years old, and the largest are seldom over 250 years old along the Atlantic coast, according to the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia. Some have been reported to be 500 years old, however.

As recently as 2013 city officials worked to save the trees by changing the design of the right turn only lane from 144 onto 17, and at Tuesday’s meeting city council members said removing the trees was sad but necessary for public safety.

More on this story in Thursday’s Bryan County News.