Burlington Committee Tables City-wide Private Tree Bylaw Report

 Update: On Oct. 28, during the Council meeting, we voted unanimously as a Council to table the roads, parks and forestry report regarding a proposed city-wide private tree bylaw to be considered at the Committee of the Whole meeting to be held on Dec. 2, 2019 for approval; and Consider the potential operating and capital budget impacts for the administration of a private tree bylaw through the budget process. Council voted unanimously to carry the full motion. Public input is still needed and valued on shaping the bylaw. Earlier this week, on Oct. 7, the Committee of the Whole voted to table the staff report on a city-wide private tree bylaw in order to protect and increase our local tree canopy and bring the coverage to 40 per cent. Earlier this year, a private tree bylaw pilot was implemented in the Roseland community.Click the link to view the full staff report on a proposed city-wide private tree bylaw here: RPF-15-19 City-Wide Private Tree Bylaw Implementation.If you missed the discussion in Council Chambers on this report, the meeting minutes and a recording are available online (click the link) and here: Post-Meeting Minutes - Committee of the Whole_Oct07_2019.This preliminary report was intended to be tabled for review and discussions of the options it lays out. It will be brought back for a decision on a recommendation by committee on Dec. 2 and voted on during the regular meeting of Council on Dec. 16. I fully expect we will have a bylaw in place by then.During the committee meeting, we also directed staff to consider the potential operating and capital budget impacts for the implementation of a private tree bylaw through the budget process.I brought forward a direction for the Director of Finance to include the required operating and capital funding needed (a business case) for a city-wide private tree bylaw within the proposed 2020 budget's 3.99% tax increase. It failed to be carried by committee.The rationale behind my staff direction was this: I personally feel that this is the most important decision we are going to make as a council with respect to climate mitigation — our tree canopy is green infrastructure, it is flood mitigation, it is cleaning our air. A discussion around the committee and council table does not carry the same force as a motion to tell staff this is so important that it has to be part of the initial business cases brought forward in our 2020 budget. And that's more than mere symbolism, more than a statement to the public, it is actually what we are about as a council. Many people have made the comment before, you look to a council's vision not so much in their strategic plan but what they place in terms of their budget. I think it's that important to direct staff to include it in the initial budget to be brought forward with the other business cases.Public engagementCity of Burlington staff engaged the public in several ways through the "Get Involved Burlington page" and an online survey and Citizen Action Labs that facilitated discussions following the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) principles.

• Survey - open for approximately one month with 300 responses from mostly homeowners (93%) relatively evenly distributed across all 6 of the City's wards.
  • 77% of the respondents support the protection and enhancement of the tree canopy
  • 67% of the respondents support the development of a private tree bylaw City-wide
  • 36% of the respondents’ support cash in lieu fees of $700 per replacement tree as compensation, and an additional 26% think it should be higher
  • 51% of respondents recommend the mandate for development projects to incorporate tree planting into their designs, and an additional 30% recommend expanding the scope of the City’s tree planting program
  • General themes from the survey comments included:
    1. Incorporating a multi-faceted approach to increasing the urban tree canopy, which include a combination of a tree bylaw; increased tree planting; and mandated tree planting for development projects.
    2. Incorporate a list of exempted species that are prone to disease or are known to be invasive.
• Citizen Action Labs - approximately 30 people engaged with City staff and the questions "How might we protect the City's Tree Canopy while respecting private property rights?"
  • The majority of attendees supported policy that protects and preserves trees on private land
  • Four main trends in how to increase the canopy cover in Burlington emerged (click the link above to read the report for more on each trend):
    1. Tree planting incentive programs/tree subsidy
    2. Increased public education
    3. Engagement with Volunteers and Community Groups
    4. Private Sector Partnerships

Comparison of local municipalities with Private Tree BylawsCity staff connected with several neighbouring municipalities that have a Private Tree Bylaw to learn more about how their bylaw is administered, understand what improvements should be made, and understand what resources are needed to successfully implement the bylaw.

Municipality	Size of Tree Protected	Permits Received	Staff	Bylaw	Recommendations
City of Cambridge	>20 cm	2018: 31 (6 months)	2 part-time, contracted services	Private Tree Bylaw	Incorporate short-form wording/ticketing into bylaw
Town of Oakville	>15 cm	2018 1,149 (612 approved / Avg: 95 per month)	6 full-time	Public & Private Tree Bylaw	No recommendations from their current program
City of Mississauga	>15 cm	2018: 1622017: 2362016: 275	4 full-time	Private Tree Bylaw (No public tree bylaw)	Lower the size; 1 permit per tree; improve permit application process; ensure adequately resourced
City of Toronto	>29 cm	>6,0000	20 full-time	Public & Private Tree Bylaw	Improve tracking of replacement trees to ensure compliance/success

Four OptionsThe purpose of the staff report was to outline the options to consider in following the City's Vision to Focus plan and the City’s declared climate emergency:

• Focus Area 3: Supporting sustainable infrastructure and resilient environment
  • Trees sequester carbon and reduce the impacts of emissions
• Focus Area 4: Building more citizen engagement, community health, and culture
  • Protect and increase the tree canopy city-wide

I had asked staff during Committee if the intent is to bring the Roseland Private Tree Bylaw as is and apply it city-wide, or would there be some changes? The response from staff was that there would be improvements in the city-wide bylaw that would capitalize on the lessons learned from staff's research of other municipalities around the Greater Horseshoe Area.I also asked staff to look into a way to prevent the clear-cutting of trees on privately-owned sites ahead of a submission of a development application to the City - suggesting perhaps a time-frame, where if clear-cutting of trees takes place, a development application could not be submitting until after a certain number of years. Staff responded that they would look into that and come back to committee with some information.Staff has also noted, as part of the recommendation report to council, part of the role of the five new staff (part of Options 3 and 4 in the report) within the forest protection branch would be to review development applications from a forestry perspective to ensure the proposal is not going to impact the canopy cover within the City, while providing a timely response to applicants. This includes both single and multi-unit residential.The four options are their respective pros and cons are listed in the table below. In the report, staff are recommending Option 4 for implementation with a tree size of greater than or equal to 20 centimetres in diameter at breast height as this would provide a high level of protection for private trees city-wide. Staff recommended a reduction from 30 cm (in the Roseland pilot) to 20 cm because that is "the sweet spot when trees begin to provide the most eco-benefits."

OPTION 1	Status quo
	A status quo approach was considered as part of this report. This wouldallow the current Pilot Private Tree Bylaw in Roseland to run the original 2 years it is scheduled for.
Pros:	Allows for more time to evaluate the pilot, set to expire in March 2021.
Cons:	This does not consider the implications of a declared climate emergency,and delays protection of trees citywide.
Financial Impact:	None.

OPTION 2	Expand the Bylaw to Ward 4 Only
	The expansion of the bylaw to Ward 4 was considered as part of thisreport. The staff requirement would be reduced to 1 full time staff, withassociated cost reductions.
Pros:	Provides for a slightly larger pilot area.
Cons:	This does not consider the implications of a declared climate emergency,and delays protection of trees citywide.
Financial Impact:	The operating budget impact is $95,000 for 1 full-time tree protectionofficer. The capital budget impact is $51,000 including the purchase of 1 electricvehicle and charging station.

OPTION 3	Repeal the Pilot Private Tree Bylaw (that goes to March 2021) and approve a bylaw for the urbanarea only
	This option would protect all private trees within the urban area of the Cityand exclude all agricultural and rural areas north of Highway 5/407.
Pros:	Provides protection for private trees in the most populated area of the City.
Cons:	Does not provide protection for residential properties in the rural area thatare not covered under the Regional bylaw for woodlots.
Financial Impact:	The operating budget impact is $300,000.00 including 5 fulltime staff (1 supervisor and 4 tree protection officer)The capital budget impact is $250,000 including the purchase of 5 electric vehicles and2 charging stations to be installed at the City’s Operations Centre.Business cases have been submitted for consideration in the 2020 budget process.

OPTION 4	Repeal the Pilot Private Tree Bylaw (that goes to March 2021) and approve a city-wide private tree bylaw
Pros:	This option provides the highest level of protection by including the entirecity.
Cons:	Increased resource requirements in both operating and capital budgets.
Financial Impact:	The operating budget impact is $300,000.00 including 5 fulltime staff (1 supervisor and 4 tree protection officer)The capital budget impact is $250,000 including the purchase of 5 electric vehicles and2 charging stations to be installed at the City’s Operations Centre.Business cases have been submitted for consideration in the 2020 budget process.

MY TAKE:For the city-wide bylaw, I am looking for further reduction in the diameter, and a way to prevent clear-cutting, particularly ahead of a development application. I think the people have spoken. This is the third term of council we’ve had this discussion — there is no room for ambiguity. We’re following what our public, for a very long time, has asked us for. It is interesting to note that a 2014 special report by TD Economics titled "The Value of Urban Forests in Cities Across Canada" found that every $1 invested in trees by the major urban centres studied yielded $1.35 to $12,70 in benefits returned. (Link to report: TD Economics 2014 Special Report Urban Forests In Canadian Cities.)I have heard discussion around where are we going to put these all trees in order to get to 40% tree canopy coverage. Along our highways, roadways would be the first place to start and exactly where we need them - places where there is kilometre after kilometre of asphalt where we can extend the life of that land. There are a lot of places, even just in the downtown, where we can be planting. There are individual property owners we can ask to plant trees. I’ve already had people contacting me saying they volunteer to plant a tree on their property; that they'd want to sit on a task force that decides where tree plantings should occur. This city-wide bylaw is the right thing to do. I also want to thank all our community partners for their support in the past with hosting tree-plantings in our City — we’ll need your help in helping pay for trees and planting trees. We know what we need to do. I want to thank staff for their work on this report — I am clearly, very much supportive of it.— Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward--*Posted by the Mayor’s Media and Digital Communications Specialist, John Bkila