Nanaimo-Info-blog: Tree & Riparian Protection Bylaws Meaningful ?

Windley Contracting Fined $10,500
Removing 20 trees Encroaches on riparian leavestrip

A development on Songbird Place in Nanaimo is the site of a local contractor encroaching on a riparian setback area and cutting down twenty trees without a permit.

On a tip from a reader I asked the city of Nanaimo if in fact this had happened, the city replied as follows:

Windley Contracting Ltd. was responsible for the removal of twenty trees from a watercourse leavestrip without a tree removal permit.
The resolution was that Windley Construction Ltd.:

 1) Pay $10,500 in fines – twenty (20) tickets issued @ $500 for cutting 20 trees contrary to Sec. 5(1)(a) Cut Any Tree – Management & Protection of Trees Bylaw 2012 No. 7126 and one (1) ticket @$500 issued for Sec. 6.3.1 Watercourse Leavestrip Encroachment – Zoning Bylaw 2012 No. 4500.

2) Complete a detailed restoration plan, prepared by a qualified environmental professional, to restore the disturbed portion of the 7.5 meter setback and to be reviewed and considered for approval by the City.

Windley Contracting is a long standing Nanaimo firm, in fact they built the new city annex which you may recall was built without going to public tender for $12 million. Given their long association with the city of Nanaimo it is difficult to believe they were unaware of the need to obtain permits before cutting down 20 trees, and the fact that all land within  a 15 metre area from a watercourse, is to be left undisturbed.

I have asked city staff to explain why there were not 20 counts of Watercourse Leavestrip Encroachment since they had cut down 20 trees. It would seem logical that each tree should carry the same encroachment fine.

This raises the question as to whether or not these fines are sufficient to deter a developer from deliberately removing whatever trees he wishes if that removal will improve the end value of his/her property. The fines may be enough of a deterrent for the average property owner, but perhaps there should be a much higher fine levied in the case of a property developer or contractor engaged in the same blatant disregard for the bylaws.