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Dozens of trees cut down by mistake in Saanich park

The District of Saanich says “penalties are likely” and a stop-work order has been issued after dozens of trees were mistakenly cut down in Cuthbert Holmes Park, where work is being done on a future daycare.
Cuthbert Holmes treess down
Dorothy Chambers and Julian Anderson, where trees were cut down behind Pearkes Recreation Centre. July 2020

The District of Saanich says “penalties are likely” and a stop-work order has been issued after dozens of trees were mistakenly cut down in Cuthbert Holmes Park, where work is being done on a future daycare.

Dorothy Chambers, an environmental advocate with Friends of Cuthbert Homes Park, said she was “apoplectic” when she found out 93 trees were cut down behind the Pearkes Recreation Centre on Tuesday.

“In the world of environmental and urban forestry, this is a huge mistake,” she said.

However, the contractor hired by Saanich Neighbourhood Place to build the daycare disputes that count, saying the District of Saanich was aware some trees had to be removed for the project.

Saanich Coun. Judy Brownoff said “everyone in Saanich is devastated over what’s happened.”

“This was a good news story to get more daycare spaces in this community, and now it’s become an environmental degradation.”

Brownoff said when the previous council approved a development permit for the daycare in 2017, there was no indication a large number of trees would have to come down because the facility was to be built on a parking lot behind the arena.

The non-profit organizationis building a 49-space, 7,200-square-foot daycare at a cost of $1.9 million.

A 2017 staff report on the proposal said “little or no change to the natural topography is proposed [as] the building would be located on the site of an existing parking lot in order to retain as many trees as possible.”

Saanich parks staff are still working to determine exactly how many bylaw-protected trees were removed, district spokeswoman Megan Catalano said in an email.

Saanich Parks gave contractor Knappett Construction a permit to remove one bylaw-protected tree, Catalano said.

Catalano said an unspecified number of non-bylaw-protected trees also need to be removed for the development, but the contractor is not required to report those trees.

Any tree on Saanich property is protected under Saanich’s Tree Protection bylaw.

The trees removed are believed to include black cottonwoods, aspen and Garry oaks. 

“Unfortunately, the contractor made an error and removed trees which were not in the area where tree removal was to occur. A stop-work order was placed on the site,” said Catalano.

Penalties are likely under Saanich’s Tree Protection bylaw, Catalano said.

Corinne Hilton Bains, executive director of Saanich Neighbourhood Place, said in an email that a tree-protection plan and removal permit, prepared by licensed, experienced arborists, indicate there are six protected trees within the daycare site, none of which were affected by the cutting.

Bains said the tree-removal plan was approved prior to any work being done. Saanich Neighbourhood Place has asked Saanich for written clarification as to why the stop-work order was issued and how to resolve the issue, she said.

Chambers said she was contacted Tuesday by a neighbour whose backyard backs onto the park and who was concerned that trees were being taken down. Chambers, who has been closely following the daycare project since it was proposed in 2015, told the neighbour she was sure no trees were meant to come down for the project and speculated that the sound might be the construction of protective tree fencing.

When she went to the park Wednesday morning to see for herself, she saw dozens of tree stumps and counted 93 trees that were felled. Chambers contacted the District of Saanich and parks officials went to the site and issued a stop-work order.

Chambers said compensation needs to be made because said every tree is valuable in terms of its absorption of carbon dioxide and protection of wildlife.

Catalano said Saanich Parks and Saanich Neighbourhood Place staff met with the project arborist in June to identify the areas that would be protected under the permit.

Saanich Parks staff are now in the process of meeting with the contractor to outline the problem and provide next steps to the contractor to have the stop-work order removed, she said.

Coun. Rebecca Mersereau, chairwoman of Saanich’s environment and natural areas committee, said whatever the reason behind the non-permitted tree removal, the incident is

“tragic for the community and especially for the individuals who have been heavily invested in protecting Cuthbert Holmes Park and the adjacent Colquitz River for decades.”

kderosa@timescolonist.com