The Blue Mountains council has uprooted a draft tree preservation bylaw by voting against it this week.
At its meeting on Oct. 10, council voted 4-3 to stop the controversial tree preservation bylaw from coming forward for approval.
Deputy Mayor Peter Bordignon and councillors Gail Ardiel, Alex Maxwell and Shawn McKinlay combined to stop the bylaw in its tracks.
The final vote came after a complex set of procedural moves saw council vote to reconsider a Sept. 18 resolution to bring the bylaw forward to the Oct. 10 meeting for consideration.
The draft bylaw proposed new permitting requirements for tree cutting in the designated settlement areas of the town. The requirements would apply only to lots half a hectare in size or larger and a permit would be required only if a property owner was removing five or more trees or a tree with a diameter larger than 30 cm. The regulations would not apply to trees on agricultural or specialty agriculture land.
The vote on Sept. 18 saw council vote 4-3 to approve bringing the bylaw forward for approval at the Oct. 10 meeting. However, Ardiel later announced that her vote in favour was a “grave error” and she brought a notice of motion to have council reconsider its earlier vote.
In a 5-2 vote, council approved Ardiel’s request for a reconsideration. A reconsideration resolution requires a minimum of five votes to pass.
The approval of Ardiel’s motion put the resolution to bring the actual bylaw forward for a final vote back on the table for consideration and set off a lengthy discussion and debate.
The tree preservation bylaw has been one of the most contentious items on the current council’s agenda, after the previous council punted a decision on the matter late in its term.
The bylaw’s origins date back several years and the matter has been through multiple rounds of public consultation. Prior to council’s discussion, several members of the public, both in favour and opposed, spoke to council about the issue.
Coun. Paula Hope said it was time to make a decision and get the bylaw in place. She acknowledged there was a “diverse range of views” and “lots of passion” on the topic.
“We do have to move forward,” said Hope.
Coun. June Porter also favoured adopting the bylaw and said there is plenty of time for the town to adjust to any issues that may arise. She said it was fruitless to hope for a bylaw to come forward that had zero flaws.
“I don’t think any of our bylaws are perfect,” said Porter. “It is better than what we have.”
Bordignon continued to state his opposition to the bylaw as written. He said he didn’t think it is appropriate for the town to pass a flawed bylaw with the intention of fixing issues that arise at a later date.
“That’s not the way to do a bylaw,” said Bordignon, who said the current draft does not address the original concern that led to the development of the bylaw, which was the clear-cutting of trees on lands to be developed in the future. “We’re not there yet.”
McKinlay said he understood the bylaw was “started with good intentions”, but said it still needed work.
“I think we can all agree there is quite a lot of room for refinement in this bylaw,” he said, and suggested the town put the matter on hold and strike a working group to improve the current draft.
Ardiel said the draft bylaw runs the risk of putting agricultural property owners at risk.
“It’s creeping into the agricultural (areas),” she said.
The regulations in the draft bylaw apply only to the town’s settlement areas and there are also agricultural exemptions written into the document. However, a number of members of the agricultural community have stated concerns about the rules in the bylaw expanding to their areas of the community.
Coun. Alex Maxwell said he spent the Thanksgiving weekend receiving a number of phone calls about the matter.
“Government programs have a nasty habit of becoming bigger than they were intended,” said Maxwell. “I’m yet to be convinced that this tree bylaw in its current state is going to address clear-cutting.”
Mayor Andrea Matrosovs also expressed her support for the bylaw. She said she is comfortable with the provisions in the bylaw to limit the regulations to the settlement areas and the exemptions for agricultural activities. She also noted that the resolution to adopt the bylaw had a one-year time lag in order for town staff to develop enforcement measures.
“It will not take place tomorrow. There is an on-ramp,” said Matrosovs.
The defeat of the resolution in a 4-3 vote meant that council did not consider the bylaw for adoption. However, immediately following the defeat of the resolution three members of council signalled their intent to introduce tree-bylaw-related motions at council’s next meeting. Bordignon said he would bring a resolution forward to set up a working group to study the bylaw further. Porter said she would bring forward a resolution to develop a clear-cutting bylaw. Ardiel said she would bring forward a resolution to develop a memorandum of understanding for agricultural areas of the community with regard to the tree bylaw.
All three resolutions will be considered at council’s meeting on Oct. 30.
