The Town of Collingwood received its first tree-clearing permit request since 2019, and town staff decided to push it to council to make a decision on it this week.
During their committee of the whole meeting on Oct. 21, councillors considered a motion to approve a permit to destroy trees at 125 Findlay Drive. The lot is currently vacant aside from the trees, however is zoned as a residential lot under the town’s zoning bylaw and Official Plan.
The request for the permit came as part of the developer’s pre-consultation with the town on a future application by Hanesh Developments to come forward at a later time. The permit has been requested as the developer needs to clear some of the trees on the lot to do drilling and geotechnical investigation as part of studies required to support a future development application.
The Town of Collingwood currently has a bylaw on the books – in place since 2012 – regulating the destruction of trees and typically, tree-clearing permits do not require council approval.
“Given the priority that the community and members of council have placed on tree conservation and protection and for heightened transparency purposes, the director has elevated this permit to be a decision of council,” said planning manager Lindsay Ayers.
Hanesh had consultant Cambium Inc. prepare a tree analysis and preservation plan to inform the request to identify which trees on the 2.2-hectare piece of land are the most mature on the site to avoid them when choosing trees to take down. There are 81 trees on the site evaluated through the plan, the majority of which are Green Ash, Trembling Aspen and Black Walnut. Of the trees assessed, 35 are in healthy condition, 37 are in poor condition and nine are dead. No natural heritage features have been identified on the site to date.
All the trees to be taken down will be less than 15 centimetres in diameter at breast height.
In the motion approved by committee of the whole, the tree removal can’t take place during the active nesting period between April 1 and Aug. 31 and a visual sweep of the site must take place prior to tree clearing to ensure there are no active bat roosting sites. Measures must be taken to minimize impacts to surrounding vegetation, the permit must be posted on the site and the permit will remain in effect for 12 months after it is issued.
Coun. Deb Doherty put forward an amendment compelling the developer to replace the live trees removed on the site at a minimum two-to-one ratio determined through a scientific method if a planning act application doesn’t come forward from the developer within one year of the tree-clearing permit expiring.
Some councillors questioned whether it made sense to have trees replanted on a lot that is set to become a residential development in the future, however, the amendment was passed by a 6-3 vote.
Council voted unanimously in favour of the full motion as amended with the conditions. All matters voted upon during committee of the whole must be ratified at the next regular meeting of council before going into effect.
