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2- The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday April 23, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Start Shopping! Opinions vary on tree bylaw Continued from page 1 Online Auction April 21 - May 8 Appleby's Online Auction is o pen to the public. Bid on hundreds of spectacular items: travel, jewelry, art, spa packages, cuisine, home decor and more! bylaw, protecting Oakville's trees is not only about ensuring a healthy tree canopy for the future, but also preserving the treasures that Oakville already has. "During the last century tens of millions of elm trees were wiped out by Dutch Elm Disease. At the corner of Trafalgar and Cornwall stood a survivor, a healthy resistant elm. The owner of the property was unaware of the importance of this tree and cut it down last September," said Catherine Kavassalis, Chair of Oakville's Heritage Tree Community. "This is a loss that should not have happened and could be prevented if you pass the bylaw at hand. The question we need to ask ourselves is what are we willing to lose." Despite having around 1.9 million trees and shrubs in Oakville, Kavassalis said the Town's tree canopy is under assault with many of the large trees, which exist on private property, being taken down and replaced with trees that either do not survive or are ornamental and will not grow large enough to replace what was there before. Kavassalis noted there is an environmental dimension to these removals, as large trees are able to take more pollution out of the air than their smaller counterparts. "You drive through southeast Oakville, and I will gladly take any of you on a tour to see the number of trees that are com- "Why would anyone plant and or suffer the cost of caring for trees if ultimately they lose control over them?" Doug Hauser, of NTBiN, No Tree Bylaw is Necessary or Ideas that Work! $1199 A At York, we've developed a furnace that modulates, or adjusts itself in 1% increments. 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A co-operative initiative, rather than saddling us with another intrusive bylaw." Hauser said the vast majority of property owners are on the side of tree protection and their tree husbandry efforts are responsible for Oakville's existing tree canopy. "Indeed, we are insulted that we are being called irresponsible," he said. "A private tree bylaw is offensive, for surely we are not the culprits here." While the potential bylaw goes too far for Hauser, for others it does not go far enough. Oakvillegreen President Liz Benneian asked council to pass a stronger Private Tree Protection Bylaw that would not permit the removal of so many trees. "We believe that allowing property owners to remove four trees per calendar year with no fee and no permit is too many. This actually allows the removal of eight trees between December and January," she said. With all viewpoints on the issue heard, the matter fell to council to decide whether to send the proposed bylaw to staff for further consideration. As each council member said their piece, it became clear their opinions were as diverse as those in the audience. "It is my opinion that the town could have planted 10,000 (trees) with the more than $50,000 we have spent on this item to date," said Ward 2 Councillor Fred Oliver. He suggested if a bylaw is engineered it should not be strictly punitive, but rather work with the community to plant more trees on both private and public property. He also pointed out that enforcing the proposed bylaw would cost the Town dearly as more staff would be needed. Ward 3 Councillor Mary Chapin said she supported the bylaw because she recognized the importance of trees and backed this claim up by noting that she has 47 trees on her lot. Ward 6 Councillor Max Khan said he would support moving the process forward to see what kind of bylaw staff can come up with, but also "We believe that allowing property owners to remove four trees per calendar year with no fee and no permit is too many. " Lis Benneian, Oakvillegreen president voiced reservations on the property rights issue." "We can't dismiss private property rights, they are instrumental to our society," he said. "They can be infringed upon, but only if certain conditions are met." Ward 2 Councillor Cathy Duddeck had similar concerns. "I'm not convinced that the fees or fines will affect the outcome with developers. They'll just absorb those fines into the cost of doing business, especially when they can turn around and sell a house for more than $2 million," she said."So, who is going to be inconvenienced or punished? The private homeowner who, in many cases, paid for the tree and planted it themselves." In the end council voted 93 in favour of charging staff with investigating the feasibility of creating a Private Tree Protection Bylaw. Oliver, Duddeck and Ward 3 Councillor Keith Bird voted against moving the process forward. For Ward 5 Councillor Marc Grant getting the proper information was worth a yes vote. "The greatest fear is the fear of the unknown," he said. "Let's shed some light on this subject, let's see what there is to a bylaw and then decide if it's a bad thing or a good thing."