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<p>Greetings, </p>
<p>I agree that this discussion has been valuable. I am pleased to know that some municipalities in Canada are setting priorities that reflect the policy vision set out in tree conservation by-laws. </p>
<p>If I had found this to the the case in the city of Ottawa during the last 7 years, I would be a much calmer and happier person. </p>
<p>It was astounding to me, and other citizens who were keeping an eye on it before I got involved, that Forestry Services here decided when the by-law for private property was enacted in 2009 that the first order of business was "education." The program they embarked on lacked rigour and its impact was, as far as I know, never reported on. In 2010 when the onslaught of infill in my neighbourhood began, people involved in the development committee of our community association took on the job of educating developers, property owners, and contractors about the tree protection by-law. These people were running their businesses without any inkling that such a bylaw even existed. </p>
<p>It's heartening to hear that other municipalities are setting priorities that will address implementation and enforcement at the start. </p>
<p>Something that has not been discussed yet in this forum is the need for regular reporting on implementation of tree protection by-laws. This has been sorely lacking in Ottawa where Forestry Services branch issued a "preliminary" report on implementation of the by-law in the fall of 2011. The report essentially said; we have nothing to report. Give us chance to get our sh-t together. Stay tuned.</p>
<p>Left to its own devices, Forestry branch issued no further report on how it was implementing this by-law.</p>
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<p>In 2014, Kitchissippi ward (ground zero for destruction of mature trees in this city) elected a sympathetic city councillor, and Forestry services was mandated (via special councillor's request filed in May 2015) to prepare a report on implementation of the by-law. The report was to be tabled at the Environment Committee in December 2015. Staff did not meet that deadline. A new deadline of April 2016 was set (March 31 was an impossible deadline due to March break for school children--seems that staff were on vacation!). Not having collected baseline data, and not having ever had the intention of reporting on implementation, Forestry Branch scrambled to pull something together. The report was abysmal, and we said so the day it was tabled at Environment Committee. </p>
<p>Within our activist group, we seriously considered sending a letter to the city's Auditor to ask that he conduct an investigation into the workings of Forestry Services. We did not feel that the department was operating in a way that met even basic standards on reporting and accountability.</p>
<p>We also considered launching a civil law suit against the city for non-enforcement of its tree protection by-law. An environmental law group at the University of Ottawa advised this would be a difficult suit to win because the courts generally rule that municipal levels of government have discretionary powers when it comes to by-law implementation. </p>
<p>Are things better now than they were? Yes, it is good that trees will now appear on site plans for building permits, and that the other changes outlined by Ms. Neilson when she posted to this group have been rolled out by the city. In fact, the recent website info (based on actions taken in May 2016) is more comprehensive than anything that appeared previously on tree protection.</p>
<p>I am not happy with the disconnect between the city's legal department and Forestry or by-law implementation staff when it comes to tracking infractions. This needs to be fixed. </p>
<p>In late 2016, Forestry Services was rolled into a larger department within the city and the former head of Forestry was reassigned to other duties within the city. It's hard for me to greet this change with enthusiasm. Being a small part of a large department may not bode well for Forestry's increased resilience. </p>
<p>Do I feel that the city where I live cares about preserving its forest canopy? The destruction, one by one, of mature and healthy trees so that Ottawa can increase its tax base via infill development is an abomination. Many people who care about the environment, about mitigating climate change through sound municipal governance, and about the quality of life in neighbouhoods with mature trees feel that this city's will to act on "green" issues is non-existent. The cynical say "developers run the city" and the fact that the planning department is funded by development fees points to the adage that "he who pays the piper calls the tune." I fear that in the nation's capital many of us hear only discordant notes.</p>
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<p>---------- Original Message ---------- <br />From: Councillor Laura Dupont via CANUFNET <canufnet@list.web.net> <br />Date: January 17, 2017 at 6:51 PM <br /> <br /></p>
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Thank you all for this extremely valuable discussion - you are giving us policy makers some very good ideas.
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Councillor Laura Dupont
<br /> City of Port Coquitlam
<br /> 2580 Shaughnessy Street
<br /> Tel. 604-927-5410
<br /> Cell. 604-328-8026
<br /> www.portcoquitlam.ca
<hr />On: 17 January 2017 07:09, "Naomi Zurcher via CANUFNET" <canufnet@list.web.net> wrote:
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Hi all:
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While I was a private Consultant and Urban Forester, never working for the municipality itself, I always found many ordinances and by-laws ineffectual because they were unenforceable.
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I would like to suggest that any by-laws that restrict damage to or removal of healthy publicly owned trees be tied to the building permit. If the building permit stipulates the restrictions, then a possibility of enforcement is pulling the permit, which would bring the entire project to a halt.
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Another question of concern is the value placed on the trees that fall within the work footprint. If trees are undervalued, then they are a throwaway for the developer / construction company and any resulting fines, etc are negligible. If, however, healthy mature trees are valued for all the Ecosystem service benefits they provide to the municipality and that value is stipulated in the pre-construction tree inventory, then the developer / construction would have to contend with that amount for damages.
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Last and most important is requiring the project in its design phase to adopt "building WITH trees" strategies such as augering or tunneling under existing roots, wherever they might be, project oversight by a Consulting Arborist or equivalent, pre build tree protection installation that includes adequate fencing for the entire tree and penalties for removal of the fence without prior approval, installation of modular ground surface protection mats to reduce compaction, the use of pneumatic excavation to access roots that require root pruning along with a protocol for the management of exposed roots.
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When the cost of replacement as established by the value noted in the inventory is compared with the cost of retaining the tree and building WITH it, retaining the tree is no longer that expensive and so worth considering.
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As to the roots of publicly owned trees extending into private property, does Saskatoon have a right of way determination which always extends into the part of private property that abuts public rights-of-way. If so, that can be applied to trees' roots and thus their protection.
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Hope some of this helps.
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best
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naomi
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On Jan 16, 2017, at 2:47 PM, "Chartier, Michelle (CY - Parks) via CANUFNET" <
<a href="mailto:canufnet@list.web.net">canufnet@list.web.net</a>> wrote:
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Hi all,</span>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">I’m trying to track down samples of city policies or bylaws related to tree protection that effectively balance the protection of established trees and new in-fill building. Saskatoon is currently seeing several large building projects and homes being built in established neighbourhoods where the work site is surrounded by large valuable City trees. We currently have a City Council policy in place that provide Urban Forestry with direction related to tree protection. As part of this policy we do not remove large (>15cm” diameter) healthy trees for development. However we are finding ourselves in a difficult position of attempting to work with construction companies hired to build what does not reasonably allow for preservation or protection of the existing tree(s). In some cases the building footprint requires excavation that will result in ~40%-50% root removal. Often the damage is done on the private property side when our City trees are close to property lines or in some cases straddle property lines (funny how tree roots just don’t respect property lines).</span>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">I know there are several cities that have tree protection bylaws and some also protect private trees. I’m wondering if anyone knows of a really good example that might include standards that include what can and can’t be done on private property adjacent to City trees. I’d also like to know if anyone can share their experience or views (what has worked and what hasn’t worked) with existing Bylaw or policies.</span>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Thanks, </span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Michelle Chartier</span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">City of Saskatoon</span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Community Services, Parks Division</span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Superintendent - Urban Forestry/Pest Management</span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Ph: 306.975-2537 Fax: 306.975.3034</span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><a style="color: purple; text-decoration: underline;" href="mailto:michelle.chartier@saskatoon.ca">michelle.chartier@saskatoon.ca</a></span>
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