Vaughan developer charged after trees destroyed without permit
Cam Milani and two companies are charged with destroying a trees without a permit.

TheStar.com
Sept. 8, 2016
Noor Javed

The City of Vaughan has laid charges against a developer and two companies after an investigation found that at least 10 mature trees were chopped down on private property without a permit.

The incident took place in early July, the same month dozens of trees were chopped down at a property along Bayview Ave. in Toronto, prompting Mayor John Tory to call for a “seven-figure” fine to send a message to developers.

Motivated by Tory’s comments, Vaughan residents and one politician are calling for changes to their tree protection bylaw, which they said needs to be overhauled to be effective.

“Our current fines are so low that they are not a deterrent but rather an incentive to clear-cut any parcel of land in the city,” said Vaughan Councillor Marilyn Iafrate, who added that she has asked staff to come back with a report about strengthening the bylaw in the fall.

“It’s simply the cost of doing the business in the city. And it’s such a minimal cost,” she said.

The city’s tree protection bylaw says an individual who cuts down a tree with a trunk size of 20 cm or more, without a permit, can face a fine of $1,000 per tree or a maximum of $10,000, whichever is greater. Corporations can face a maximum fine of $25,000.

In comparison, Toronto’s bylaw states anyone removing any tree with a trunk larger than 30 cm, about the size of a telephone pole, can face a maximum fine of $100,000 per tree and allows for a separate extra $100,000 penalty which has never been levied, the city said.

“It’s (the bylaw) a joke,” said Vaughan resident Robert Kenedy, who notified the city about the tree removal in early July.

Kenedy said that he and neighbours saw heavy machinery being used to knock down trees and pull out the stumps on a heavily forested piece of land at 1600 Teston Rd., and reported it to the city.

“It was a professional job,” said Kenedy. “The trees were cut down, the stumps removed and then the holes filled. You can’t even tell it happened.”

Last month, the city’s bylaw and compliance department charged three parties with “committing the offence of injuring or destroying a tree. . . without a permit.”

Local landowner Cam Milani, Elmwood General Contractors Ltd. and Teston Sands Inc. are facing 10 charges each, one for each tree. Teston Sands Inc. is a new company that was incorporated the same week the incident took place, according to Ontario corporate records.

Milani did not respond to requests for comment for this article. Milani’s mother Lucia, who is listed as president of Teston Sands Inc., also did not respond to requests for comment for this article. A man who answered the phone at Elmwood General Contractors Ltd., and didn’t want to give his name, said he didn’t know about the charges, and then said he had no comment.

The charges and fines will be dealt with in Provincial Offences Court on October 6, said a City of Vaughan spokesperson.

Matthew Cutler, a spokesman with the City of Toronto’s Parks, Forestry & Recreation department, said Toronto convictions in provincial offences court usually yield fines of about $5,000 to $12,000 per tree. The July incident, where at least 30 trees were chopped down without a permit in North York, including a Linden tree thought to be 150 years old, is still under investigation, which could take anywhere from four weeks to four months, he said.

Most municipalities have a lengthy permit process for removing trees, which can include: getting an arborist report, paying a fee and applying for a permit. According to the City of Toronto, tree removal requests are approved 94 per cent of the time.

That’s why it makes little sense to go about it without the proper approvals, said Todd Irvine, an arborist with Bruce Tree Expert Co., who has done work for developers. He said that in 99 per cent of cases, developers follow the rules.

“When they don’t get permits, they look bad, and they piss off their neighbours,” he said, speaking generally. “In most cases, they are just being inconsiderate and probably think they will get away with it.”

In Vaughan, the neighbours are asking why the city had a pre-application meeting with the owners of 1600 Teston Rd., for an application of 121 single detached homes, while the investigation into the trees was ongoing.

“The message that this sends is that a developer can go ahead and cut trees with impunity and then proceed with a development application as if nothing abnormal had occurred,” wrote local activist Richard Lorello, in an email to staff and council last month. “Toronto Mayor John Tory and his Council has made it abundantly clear that he will not tolerate this type of conduct in his city. Personally I would like to see Vaughan Council take the same position and send the same message of zero tolerance to illegal tree cutting.”

Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua said he takes the “protection of our trees seriously and that is why we require a permit to remove privately owned trees within the City.” He did not respond to questions about if he would support a motion to strengthen the city’s tree bylaw.

Iafrate said the irony is that the city has invested millions this term in a program to replace trees that were damaged due to the 2013 ice storm and the invasive emerald ash borer.

“We can’t be spending millions upon millions of dollars to replace boulevard trees damaged by storm and disease and then shrug our shoulders when dealing with trees damaged/removed by humans,” Iafrate wrote in an email to council soon after Tory’s comments were made public. “We must be consistent and our residents expect it.”