Council approves plan to buy North York house to save what may be Toronto’s oldest tree

Thestar.com
July 30, 2018
David Nickle

Toronto council has given city staff the go-ahead to negotiate the acquisition of a North York house that is home to a 350-year-old oak tree--believed to be the oldest in the city.

Council approved the plan to enter into negotiations with the owner of 76 Coral Gable Dr. last week. There was no debate Wednesday when councillors voted to go along with recommendations from the city’s government management committee from earlier this month.

The tree has been around longer than Canada, easily predating Confederation in 1867, according to an arbocultural assessment.

It has, however, been a problem for the property since 2015, when the owners complained that the giant tree’s root system has been damaging the house’s foundation.

The tree, about 24 metres tall with a circumference of about five metres, towers over the bungalow at its base.

In April, realtor Waleed Khaled Elsayed told the Star the tree’s roots are threatening the structural integrity of the house’s foundation, and have cost the homeowner thousands in “lost opportunity.”

The owner of this North York home, seen here in a Nov. 2, 2015, file photo, had complained the oak tree's roots were threatening the house's foundation.

Elsayed estimated the property is worth about $750,000.

The oak is protected under the city’s Municipal Code, which requires homeowners to get approval from council before chopping down a tree. It’s also recognized as a heritage tree.

Will city step in to save what could be Toronto’s oldest tree?

Neighbour Edith George, 65, said the property once belonged to a man who fought on the Loyalist side during the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837.

“There is absolutely no way we should be saying no to buying this land in an effort to save this magnificent tree,” Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti (York West) said in April.

The council vote authorizes staff to negotiate a purchase price with the owner. Once that is determined, the city will commence a fundraising campaign to raise half the amount.