Two weeks ago, a plot of land in the south end, on Regina Terrace just off Beaufort, included a grove of venerable oaks. The oaks had seen over a century of human progress, withstanding everything from property development to Hurricane Juan. Some had trunks thicker than two people could hold hands around.
Now they’re gone, removed by chainsaw, the result of a new property owner’s need for a driveway.
“They’re over there chopping it all up,” says Karine Renton, whose home is directly adjacent to the lot now distinctly lacking in oak trees. Her family has lived on the land for generations. “Those oaks were huge when we were children.”
Renton is part of the Regina-Beaufort Residents’ Association, “12 or 14 houses” that have formed with concern for the green canopy in mind. They’re hoping to see enacted a tree preservation by-law, which would allow for community input before major changes to privately owned greenery takes place, and an urban design standard for subdividing, to curb the trend to cut up larger properties and construct new buildings closer together.
Having owned the formerly oak-lined property since 1975, Janet Doyle is part of the association in spirit. Doyle recently sold that Halifax lot and moved to Victoria, BC, and sees what that city does to protect its greenery. “Here we have a tree by-law,” she says, promoting a regulation that also exists in Vancouver and Toronto. “You can’t take down a tree of a certain size unless it’s in the footprint of a proposed and approved house.”
Of course, the move to increase urban density and encourage development means resistance to this sort of by-law. Naysayers will suggest that a prosperous south end community is trying to maintain elitist standards. And no one likes to be told what they can or can’t do with their own property, especially by the government. But everyone can agree that a city worth living in, one with both a quality-of-life and an environmental agenda, protects its green infrastructure. It’s simple, even in dollar-and-cents speak: Property values rise, and people want to live, on streets with lots of trees.
Last week the Regina-Beaufort Residents’ Association met with the city. Both John Simmons, the HRM urban forester, and Sue Uteck, District 13 councillor and deputy mayor, attended.
Simmons says by-law T-600 protects municipal trees. “To have an HRM tree removed is quite an onerous deal,” he says. “It happens very rarely.” But he has no control over private trees under the Municipal Government Act laid out by the province. “That parcel of land down there was zoned in such a way to be subdivided. There are no regulatory controls over it.” Simmons is working on the HRM urban forest master plan to form a strategy on how the city will manage its green spaces in the future. “We are going to look at changes in the MGA, and council will direct if they want to try to control trees on private lands, if that’s what they want to see.”
Agreeing that amendments to the MGA are needed, Uteck says it isn’t the first time she’s highlighted the issue. “I brought this up in 2001 and Linda Mosher brought it up on 2002. I was denied because they thought I’d be interfering with the forest industry…I realized I was dealing with largely a rural cabinet that doesn’t understand municipal issues. They now understand where I’m at and this is going to be before the fall legislature.”
Uteck has seen the results of development next to her home near Barrington and Inglis, where two 46-year-old magnolias and a century-old lilac were cut down. “I know exactly what’s going on,” she says.
Don’t just hug a tree, email carstenk@thecoast.ca.
This article appears in Aug 16-22, 2007.