Atlantic Beach residents can now apply for free trees, nominate heritage trees for official city designation and explore interactive canopy maps through a new online portal built as part of the city's 100th anniversary celebration.

The dashboard, called AB Trees, went live Thursday, Aug. 13, at tree.coab.us. City IT Director Ron Bautista coded the platform in-house without outside software, according to Beach Gazette, which first reported the launch.

The site is free to use.

The portal ties into Atlantic Beach's centennial tree campaign, which aims to plant 100 trees for the city's 100 years. An interactive map on the site tracks how many have gone in the ground so far.

"Our centennial tree campaign tells you how many trees we've planted so far," Director of Neighborhoods Amanda Askew said. "Our goal was 100 trees for our 100 years, and there's a map that you can zoom into as well."

Askew said tree placement for the free program will depend partly on the species a resident selects. The portal is also accessible through the city's main website, coab.us, under the environment tab.

City Manager Kevin Hogencamp said Atlantic Beach holds more than $600,000 in its tree preservation fund. The city's budget workshop on Wednesday, Aug. 19, at 6 p.m. in the City Commission Chamber at City Hall, 800 Seminole Road, will include plans to tap that fund for new plantings.

Atlantic Beach updated its tree protection code in July after a 200-year-old live oak was removed earlier this year, according to News4JAX. Hogencamp said staff members are now integrating those new regulations with plans to add trees citywide.

Bautista said the city will continue expanding the portal to include historical records, detailed public tree data, photos and real-time canopy health data. A link to view all active tree permits and the current balance of the tree fund are also planned additions.

Upcoming community events

• Wednesday, Aug. 19: Atlantic Beach budget workshop, 6 p.m., City Commission Chamber, City Hall, 800 Seminole Road
• Thursday, Aug. 20: North Beaches Art Walk, 5–9 p.m., Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach and Jacksonville Beach
• Through Sunday, Aug. 23: "Atlantic Beach 100" centennial exhibit, Beaches Museum, 381 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville Beach
• Wednesday, Sept. 2: Parks Master Plan public meetings, Atlantic Beach Environmental Stewardship Committee