Residents oppose cutting trees for new homes

By Rick Vanderlinde Innisfil Journal Sept 24, 2012 

ALCONA — Bremont Homes has already ticked off a number of Alcona residents by mistakenly cutting down dozens of mature trees without a permit.

Now the builder wants to level even more large trees, which were to be used as a five-meter buffer to create privacy between the existing houses and a new 35-home subdivision. The development, to be called Forest Edge, is bordered by Leslie Drive, Adullam Avenue, Lebanon Drive and Spring Street.

Residents who attended a planning meeting last week opposed the builder’s request to cut the large trees along the backyards of about 15 homes on Lebanon Drive.

“I totally disagree with the removal of the trees. Now we’ll be getting much smaller trees,” Lebanon resident Mark Cyr said. “First we were told the trees would stay, now two years later when they already ripped down some trees they want to change it. We can complain but we know it won’t do any good anyway.”

The builder had to pay a $300 Simcoe County fine — a penalty residents called “a joke” and a “licence” to cut without a permit — after the town placed a stop work order on the tree cutting.

“$300? That’s disgusting. I think it should be $300 per tree. They’ve been cutting them down all summer,” Lebanon Drive resident Cathy Nicholl said after the public meeting. “I’ve got all kinds of dead animals — coyotes, rabbits — back there since the forest was cut.”

The county has the option of taking the builder to court with the potential for a maximum fine of $50,000 under Simcoe’s tree preservation bylaw. But the county can also use the set $300 fine depending on the severity of the situation, Simcoe County forester Graeme Davis told the Journal.

Bremont’s urban planner Kristine Loft said while the trees were cut by mistake, they were within the “footprint” of the new subdivision and would have been felled anyway once the proper permit was obtained.

Now Bremont wants to cut down a mature tree line to allow for better drainage and a privacy fence, Loft said.

Young trees will replace the original trees and will take 15 to 20 years to grow to maturity, Loft said.

“In five to 10 years you’re going to end up with a better vegetation buffer than you have today because those trees that are there now aren’t going to survive the construction very well,” Loft said.

Coun. Rod Boynton asked town staff to determine the health of the existing trees and find out if they will survive once construction begins.

“Is it really true that they would die? That’s something I need to know before making a decision,” he said.

The new trees would not be planted until the development has been graded and approved by the town’s building department. That typically takes about six months to a year after the homes are constructed.

Innisfil council must now decide if the existing trees will be cut down as requested by the builder.