Some municipalities are less interested than others in ensuring that trees are protected from the ravages of construction.

Count Richmond Hill among the places that don’t seem particularly interested in tree protection, says a frustrated resident who’s been trying to get the town to adopt tougher tree protection measures.

Glen Wedlock has been sending us and the Town of Richmond Hill emails about construction sites in need of tree protection, noting that builders are getting away with damage that would not be tolerated elsewhere.

“We in the Town of Richmond Hill do not have an adequate tree protection policy that some of our more mature neighbouring cities, such as Markham and Toronto (have),” said Wedlock. “Any policy we do have is not enforced.”

As a case in point, he sent us photos of a “100-year-old black walnut that is an integral part of the neighbourhood,” on Church St. S., where an infill development of townhouses was recently completed.

“Large branches were broken and ripped off the tree by construction cranes. The roots were ripped up by backhoes while the soil was trampled and compressed by construction vehicles. “Over three feet of soil was removed from around the tree.

“The neighbourhood is disappointed. After numerous complaints to the town staff and councillors, absolutely nothing has been done to protect this tree.

“I personally have written to the Commissioner of Planning and senior Council members asking for assistance on the minimal tree protection plan that our town has. Again, nothing.”

We went there and found that the area around the tree has been dug out, which severed many of the roots and left them exposed. The remnants of a tree protection fence surrounded it, but it was crumpled.

STATUS: We reported the situation on Church St. to the town and asked for an explanation on what it does about tree protection. Spokesperson Lynn Chan said the town indeed has a tree protection bylaw, explaining that it “first attempts to bring builders into compliance. Compliance may involve retaining an arborist to undertake an assessment of the situation and implement recommendations for the mitigation of tree damage and protection of the tree moving forward. If compliance cannot be achieved, charges may be issued. As indicated in the Town’s tree preservation bylaw, a person convicted of an offence is subject to a minimum fine of $300 and may also be required to plant a new tree or trees.” We also asked how often the town has penalized builders in the previous two years for failing to protect trees. “In 2017, the Town laid three charges against builders/developers for failing to implement required tree protection measures. In addition, there were numerous occasions when the Town took enforcement action to bring sites into compliance; however, we do not track the frequency of this type of enforcement.” Sounds like Wedlock has a point.

What’s broken in your neighbourhood? Wherever you are in Greater Toronto, we want to know. Send an email to jlakey@thestar.ca. Report problems and follow us on Twitter @TOStarFixer.

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