City tree plans taking root

Stcatherinesstandard.ca
March 24, 2017
By Karena Walter

In an effort to boost its tree population, St. Catharines is considering offering residents trees at a reduced cost and implementing public and private tree bylaws.

The ideas, discussed at city council this week, come as the city struggles to keep up with tree losses attributed to the Emerald Ash Borer.

“We feel that there’s strong community interest and a high degree of homeowner awareness of the benefits of trees and stewardship practices,” said Phil Cristi, acting director of parks, recreation and culture services.

“We certainly want to leverage that momentum and build on that.”

The city’s urban tree canopy is currently at an estimated 14-16 per cent, down from four or five years ago, mainly due to the Emerald Ash Borer.

Its target is 30 per cent based on standards set by the International Society of Arboriculture.

Cristi presented a tree management framework to councillors that touched on inventory, regeneration, tree stewardship and protection.

The city wants to promote more tree planting on private property to leverage its resources and increase the rate of the urban forest.

He said one way to do that is with a two-year pilot program that would help citizens buy trees at significantly lower rates. The city would use 3.5 per cent of the current tree planting budget, which amounts to $12,250, to help subsidize the trees.

Residents would get trees for cheap and the city would see its dollars stretched further.

“It would be a nice problem for us to have to come back to council and say we’d like to be able to direct more (money) because the program was so successful,” Cristi said. “We’d like to gage interest, we’d like to create momentum and certainly would like to use up all of that money by helping people have access to trees.”

Cristi said coupling a discounted tree program for the public with the city’s own annual tree planting program would allow it to stay ahead of the tree removal numbers.

In the last three years, the city has averaged 800 to 1,200 tree removals a year mainly as a result of Emerald Ash Borer.

“We would like to stay ahead of that number,” Cristi said. “The more creative we can get in terms of being able to plant more trees, the better off we’re going to be in the future.”

City council referred the pilot program to the budget committee to sign off on the re-direction of funds and determine if 3.5 per cent is the right amount.

Councillors also asked the budget committee to look at the costs of partnering with a service provider to engage the public to help create and maintain an inventory of trees on private property.

Cristi said the city completed its inventory of trees on municipal boulevards in 2015 but has no data for trees on other municipal lands like parks and watercourses. It has no inventory for trees on private property, where the majority of St. Catharines trees are located.

Councillors also directed city staff to prepare comprehensive bylaws that address trees on public and private property by June.

The draft bylaws would still have to be passed by council and get public input.

While staff only recommended the public tree bylaw for now, Merritton Coun. Dave Haywood asked that the private bylaw also be prepared.

“We’ve had more than enough time to study this issue and I think we should have something before us,” Haywood said.

Developing a private bylaw was recommended in 2011 in the urban forestry management plan and was the subject of two consultation meetings and a survey in 2014 by the urban forestry advisory committee.

The bylaw would cover trees that are on a significant tree species list, have been nominated as significant trees or have a girth greater than 36 inches. The bylaw would take into consideration the health of a tree, property limitations, number of trees on a site and the owner’s reason for wanting to remove it.

But St. Patrick’s Coun. Mat Siscoe, the lone vote against drafting a private tree bylaw, said he didn’t think it was appropriate.

“This is a negative move forward because it’s once again city hall stepping in and saying you can’t do what you want to do to your own property,” he said. “I think it’s overreach.”

He said if they move forward with a private tree bylaw, the canopy percentage will decrease because people considering the removal of a tree will go ahead and do it now rather than deal with a layer of bureaucracy.

But fellow St. Patrick’s Coun. Mark Elliott said only significant trees would fall under the bylaw and council needs a bylaw drafted that they can debate.

“To have this report come back that doesn’t address a private property tree bylaw after six years of work on it, is not only a disappointment but an insult to all those people who put in their time to get there.”