KITCHENER - Work to cut down a woodlot at an Ottawa Street property was shut down by the region after the owner allegedly failed to observe restrictions on a clearing permit.

On Oct. 4, work was shut down at 2219 Ottawa St. after resident Bruce Burgoyne complained a buffer was not maintained and trees were cut down illegally.

"At the least we want what was cut down illegally reforested back with reasonable-sized trees, not little saplings, and secondly we want to make sure that the penalties that are issued for this deter other developers from doing the same," Burgoyne said.

He lives on Woodridge Drive opposite the Trussler Road side of the Ottawa Street property.

The three-hectare property is owned by Stephen Moxey. He purchased it in 2012.

Moxey told The Record the issue is that he didn't erect silt fencing, as required by the permit. Asked if he cut down trees he wasn't supposed to, Moxey said no.

"By the end of this week, we should have that fencing in place and we'll continue the cutting," he said.

Not so, said the Region of Waterloo's manager of licensing and enforcement.

Angelo Apfelbaum said it could take weeks to complete the investigation.

"We will investigate, determine what all the offences are and then make a determination on what to do, whether that be issue charges or not," he said.

He wouldn't comment on the violations, but markers at the site show where trees should have been left standing but were cut instead.

If the matter went through the court system, Apfelbaum said one of the penalties could be to require reforestation for trees that weren't supposed to be cut down.

Located at the southeast corner of the intersection of Ottawa Street and Trussler Road, the property is about 9.6 hectares (24 acres), according to the region. Of that, about 4.8 hectares (11.9 acres) is vegetated and about 3.4 hectares (8.4 acres) will be cleared.

The property is split into two blocks by an old road allowance. There is a home, pool and barn on the property.

Region of Waterloo politicians approved the permit for woodlot removal in August after staff recommended the move, saying the mostly red pines were in poor condition.

Coun. Jane Mitchell chairs the licensing and hearings committee, made up of five councillors, which voted unanimously to allow the cut to go ahead.

She said the situation was "sad," adding this isn't the first time tree-cutting has been an issue.

"They just start cutting and before you know it the trees are gone and it's just a lack of respect for our environment and the neighbours too," she said.

Coun. Geoff Lorentz spoke favourably of the approval in August. He said he was surprised to hear about the stop-work order.

"A guy comes forward and makes a request, it sounds reasonable . You take people at their word," he said.

Several conditions were placed on the application in August, particularly to protect a wetland on site.

Conditions included:

• A 30-metre buffer was to be left around the wetland

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• Silt fencing was to be erected at the buffer area limits prior to tree removal

• Regional approval was required to remove any trees within the buffer area

• No trees could be removed during bird breeding season

• An assessment of ecological functions, especially in regard to wildlife of the plantation's wetland, was to be undertaken prior to the tree removal. If required, any recommended mitigation was to put into effect

• Wherever possible, healthy trees on slopes were to be retained to provide protection from erosion.

Moxey needed regional approval to take the trees under the woodland conservation bylaw because the woodland was designated as a core environmental feature in the region's official plan, which guides land planning.

The plantation is believed to have been established by the former property owner in the 1960s, but it was not maintained.

In 2014, Moxey received permission to remove 0.53 hectares (1.3 acres) of trees on the northwest edge of the plantation.

Moxey then sought the full woodlot removal application and retained consultants to complete studies supporting the request.

Consultants argued the trees were in poor shape and that the woodlot does not meet the definition for protection in the region's official plan.

Staff agreed because the majority of trees are non-native species.

Currently the property is currently zoned agricultural by the City of Kitchener. With a new zoning bylaw currently in the works, 2219 Ottawa likely will be rezoned to mixed use, low-rise residential and natural heritage conservation in the next couple years.

Those designations for the property have already been made in the official plan, which won't be fully implemented until the zoning bylaw is complete, sometime in the next couple years.

Moxey said about 75 per cent of the trees to be cut have been cleared.