The Town of Qualicum Beach has adopted an interim Tree Protection Bylaw.
After a lengthy debate at its regular meeting on March 22, council voted to give Tree Protection Bylaw N0. 725 first, second and third reading. Council went on to pass the bylaw at a special meeting on March 24.
Coun. Scott Harrison after voting in favour of first reading, walked out of council chambers and declined to participate in the second and third reading process. He cited concerns about potential communication between a quorum of council prior to the meeting on March 22 that he said was not made public. He viewed the situation as “highly suspect.” He was also absent during the adoption of the bylaw.
Mayor Teunis Westbroek, councillors Petronella Vander Valk, Anne Skipsey and Jean Young voted in favour of the bylaw. They also gave second and third reading to the Qualicum Beach Municipal Ticket Information Utilization Bylaw.
Establishing a tree protection bylaw has been in the works since 2016. It was made a priority during the 2023-2026 Strategic Planning session.
“The bylaw has been drafted specifically to find that balance between a bylaw that is very restrictive and has high staffing requirements for implementation,” said Luke Sales, director of planning. “So balancing between that high expectation for regulation and monitoring, with the fact that if you regulate and monitor too much, then it’s likely going to have a financial burden on the town that’s not acceptable.”
The interim bylaw would introduce a tree-cutting permit system. There are exceptions that include allowing one tree removal every two years without permits for single family home owners. Properties larger than one acre would be able to remove one tree per year per acre. So if you own a 10-acre property you will be able to remove 10 trees per year without permit, except for very large trees.
Another exception is if a tree is dangerous, as indicated by a certified arborist. That tree can be removed on an emergency basis and owners provide notice to the town that it was done afterwards.
The enforcement of the bylaw would also require hiring a full-time staff at cost of $100,000.
Harrison was against advancing the bylaw as no public engagement was planned prior to adoption. He said it was like putting the “cart before the horse.”
READ MORE: Qualicum Beach wants to inform estate properties owners of proposed tree bylaw protection expansion
“You usually do consultation before you adopt a bylaw and not after,” said Harrison. “That’s kind of how consultation works. It’s not saying we passed it, do you like it? It’s what do you think? This is going to significantly change the way private property functions for every single family home in town. I am not saying this is a bad bylaw. But to rush through it and then in eight or nine months’ time, we’ll maybe check to see whether you like it or not. It doesn’t really seem like consultation. It certainly not the consultation which is called for in the recommendation from the environmental committee.”
Once the bylaw is adopted, a comprehensive public engagement will be held to determine its effectiveness after one year.
Westbroek acknowledged the importance of public engagement and council’s commitment to it.
“I think this bylaw should be reviewed this year to see how it works and what is not working, and get that public input,” said Westbroek. “It’s obviously for the sake of the trees and the environment. And that’s really what drives us to do this. It’s not about we’re going to save every tree. The reason why we’re undertaking this is because we have heard so much about climate change.”
Coun. Jean Young was not in favour of the town spending $100,000 to hire a full-time staff to oversee the implementation and enforcement of the new bylaw. She prefers the provision of outreach education to promote the preservation of the town’s tree canopy and to advise residents to have the common sense and to be mindful not to remove trees. She added the $100,000 to pay full-time staff could be used to invest on tree planting initiatives.
“I think the money possibly would be a more positive effect for the tree canopy if the environment and sustainability committee look at where we can plant more trees with money given to them to buy trees to plant.” said Young. “This would give us a more positive number to our tree canopy versus we are just saving the trees that we have with this tree bylaw. And what if a natural disaster comes along and it takes away some of the trees, well then we are in the negative.”
Coun. Anne Skipsey replied tree planting is already happening in town. She cited the trees that have been planted at Memorial Golf Course. She also pointed out a request from Streamkeepers to work with Kwalikum Secondary School students to plant some cedar trees at Grandon Creek.
Westbroek pointed out they are already a quarter into their fiscal year and doesn’t expect the cost to be $100,000.
”It would probably be more like $70,000,” said Westbroek. “So perhaps we could have some money to put towards planting more trees. We have to look at that, see how that looks in the budget.”
The bylaw, said Westbroek, will send a strong message to the community that they are serious about addressing climate change.
“It’s better to have this bylaw,” said Westbroek. “And I realize that anything worth doing has a cost.”
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