June 1, 1998

 To:To Chairman and Members of Scarborough Community Council

 From:B. F. Fleury, RDMR

 Subject:Request for Changes to existing Tree By-Law Number 25150

 Purpose:

 The purpose of this report is to inform the Scarborough Community Council of a request to change the existing Tree By-Law #25150. Please refer to the attached document.

 The request has been discussed with the staff from Law Department and Planning and Buildings Department.

 It is the opinion of staff that only by amending By-Law #25150 to apply to all trees, including the trees on property on which a single family dwelling is located, can the request expressed in the attached letter be satisfied.

 Ms. Hanan Jibry, P. Eng. wishes to address the Scarborough Community Council on June 24, 1998 at 5:00 p.m.

  Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

 Not applicable at this time.

Recommendations:

  For information of Scarborough Community Council.

Background History:

 On June 24, 1997, City of Scarborough Council passed a Tree Protection and Conservation By-Law # 25150 to help protect significant trees on private property. Under the by-law, a permit is required to injure, destroy or otherwise cause damage to any tree having a diameter of 30 centimetres or greater on private property. In the Scarborough region, however, the Tree By-Law does not apply to single-family homes which includes single detached, semi-detached and street town-houses.

 The Tree Protection and Conservation By-Law # 25150 has been in effect since August 11, 1997. Over the past nine months the By-Law has been implemented successfully in more than seventy planning applications. From these applications:

 < more than forty trees have been protected through the development process;

< fifty or more have been planted as compensation for those the By-Law was unable to protect.

 In one particular application, as a result of the Tree Protection and Conservation By-Law, a new road was redesigned to accommodate the protection of a significant Red Oak.

 Other significant results from the implementation of the Tree By-Law include:

 < the fielding of hundreds of calls, at least half of which can be attributed to calls from single family home-owners;

< public education and increased awareness, and;

< the inspection of every planning application by the Tree By-Law Coordinator.

 Providing this public service has been a tremendous success but there has been some confusion and discomfort among the general public regarding the applicability of the By-Law.

 Although the Scarborough Tree By-Law is similar to the (former) City of Toronto Tree By-Law, Toronto=s applies to all private property, including the trees on single family home properties. As a result of this variation within the Scarborough Region By-Law, significant trees in Scarborough have not been protected from removal on properties where a single family home exists. Exempting single family homes has presented difficulties in the execution of the By-Law in such planning circumstances as Consent Applications which deal with severances where an applicant may be dividing a lot on which there is a single family home into two or more lots. The Tree By-Law is also ineffectual when someone is building a new house on a property where a single family home currently exists. In these examples, applicants may remove any or all trees without a permit prior to the completion of the severance or demolition of the old house.

 The application of the Tree Protection and Conservation By-Law to single family homes would result in the same process of permit application for the removal of significant trees as with other private property. A Notice Board would be posted on the subject property for a period of fourteen days giving the community an opportunity to comment on and/or object to the removal of the tree(s) identified. This would be a method of controlling the destruction of significant trees on all private property within the Scarborough region and would also provide the public with a sense of having a Asay@ in the shaping of their community and some awareness about the importance of trees in their City.

Contact Name:

 Victoria Jeffery

Tree By-Law Co-ordinator

Telephone: 396-8733

Facsimile : 396-5399

E-Mail : jefferyv@ city.toronto.on.ca

Contact Name:

Tom Tusek, Director

Parks, Planning and Urban Forestry

Telephone: 396-7377

Facsimile: 396-5399

E-Mail: tusek@ city.scarborough.on.ca

 TOM TUSEK, Director

Parks, Planning and Urban Forestry

 BRUCE F. FLEURY, RDMR

Commissioner