[CANUFNET] tree protection

[Naomi Zurcher via CANUFNET]

Hi all:

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

Hope some of this helps.

best
naomi
On Jan 16, 2017, at 2:47 PM, "Chartier, Michelle (CY - Parks) via CANUFNET" <canufnet at list.web.net> wrote:

> Hi all,
>  
> 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).
>  
> 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.
>  
> Thanks, 
>    
>  
> Michelle Chartier
> City of Saskatoon
> Community Services, Parks Division
> Superintendent - Urban Forestry/Pest Management
> Ph: 306.975-2537  Fax: 306.975.3034
> michelle.chartier at saskatoon.ca

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