Evidence that controversy around White Rock’s tree management bylaw still exists was highlighted late last month when workers arrived to remove a fir tree from city property on Royal Avenue.
As the sound of a chainsaw echoed through the neighbourhood, tempers flared when it was suggested the conifer was the victim of foul play.
“Don’t sit there and make accusations,” area resident Doug McGinn told neighbours Donna Sweet and Mason Parkes June 26, as limbs fell from the tree and opinions differed as to why the step was needed.
Neighbours were advised by the city a week earlier that the Douglas fir had been deemed a hazard, McGinn told Peace Arch News.
“This had nothing to do with us,” he said.
Sweet, on the other hand, said tree cutters told her the tree had been poisoned.
“The people for the views will be happy,” she said.
Sweet was among those who protested last year’s removal of three trees from city property in the same area; the 15100-block of Royal Avenue. It was McGinn’s application to have the trees’ “considerable” growth addressed – which the city first denied, then allowed on appeal – that sparked the debate.
But while the controversy led city officials to revise the rules, McGinn – who said he waited years for the city to act and abided by the rules along the way, including paying $6,500 to have the trees assessed – said the effort has not prevented people from ignoring them.
He noted with frustration that the city will soon have to remove a tree from public property at Cypress Street and Cliff Avenue after unauthorized pruning went too far.
“After all that we went through… what are people doing now? Why would they go through the same circus we had?” he said.
McGinn said that until fines for unauthorized cutting are stiff enough, or until steps are taken to prevent cutting or planting of trees on city property, the problem will continue.
“If a tree falls in White Rock, does anybody hear? I guess it depends where you live.”
City manager Dan Bottrill acknowledged trees are a sensitive issue and said efforts are ongoing to improve communication.
At the same time, “not everybody’s going to agree with what we’re doing,” he said.
Regarding the Royal Avenue Douglas fir, Bottrill said he received no indication from staff that it had been poisoned. Falling limbs from the near-dead conifer posed a threat to pedestrians and neighbours, he said.
Safety is also behind a plan to remove three hazardous trees in Centennial Park, he said. Advertising in the June 28 Peace Arch News notes the large, mature trees are “at high risk of failure due to the presence of rot at critical growing points.” They are to be removed “in the near future,” it states.