More than one year of negotiation, political intervention, and an eleventh-hour petition proved successful in tripling the normal tree buffer that will be left intact at least temporarily behind the properties of some Jordanray Boulevard homeowners.
But despite best efforts, the developer who owns the 1.4-hectare parcel of land on the west side of Yonge Street, just north of Mulock Drive, last Friday took down a number of trees at the site as it is legally able to do. The property is adjacent to the Town-owned Mulock Estate, slated to be developed into a year-round, Central Park-type green space.
That’s because the Town of Newmarket does not have a bylaw that regulates tree removal on private property. The issue, which drew heated deputations from local residents, came before council in June.
“It’s a sad day, the trees are coming down today,” Jordanray Boulevard homeowner Edie Andrews wrote in an email to NewmarketToday July 5, after noticing tree-cutting equipment behind her backyard fence.
In an interview earlier that week, Andrews said she and some of her neighbours were “very happy” that Mayor John Taylor and Councillor Kelly Broome were able to negotiate with developer Criterion Development Corp. to leave a nearly 50-foot buffer at the back of their properties.
“It will help to preserve a lot of the separation between us and Yonge Street for now,” Andrews said. “It’s obviously a temporary thing. I still think the Town needs that new tree bylaw to close the loophole that it seems developers are taking advantage of.”
“We did our best, but I don’t know that we can really do anymore right now,” Andrews said of the 37-household petition she presented to council last month. “I’m glad we were able to get something done temporarily, and we’ll just carry on.”
Andrews moved to Newmarket five years ago, after living in Toronto's Bayview Avenue and York Mills Road area for 25 years. She said many of those years were at the height of Toronto's development and the family relocated to Newmarket for a better quality of life.
"Green space plays a big part in that," she said. "If there is anything Brexit, Doug Ford and Trump taught us, it's that nothing that is done can't be undone."
Broome, the area councillor who for more than a year has dealt with Criterion about leaving the trees in place, particularly the rare black walnuts, along with Taylor, have twice been successful in staving off clear-cutting of the land in advance of any development application.
“We’ve worked so hard,” Broome said of the trees that were saved on the property. “We need to move this tree bylaw along and, in this case, I have to agree with the residents that cutting down trees prior to submitting a development proposal should not be allowed and it’s definitely a loophole that the Town needs closed.”
Part of that hard work, Broome added, was a meeting at the property, attended by herself, Taylor, four Town staff, and the developer. Trees were identified based on size and significance to keep in place.
The developer agreed to leave a “a solid 15-metre buffer”, which is three times what it would normally legally need to do, Broome said.
“That will make a huge difference for the residents,” she added.
Criterion also agreed to hire an ornithologist, or bird expert, to inspect each tree last week to ensure there were no nesting birds before cutting them down. A Town staff member also accompanied the expert to record the findings.
For its part, Town development and infrastructure commissioner Peter Noehammer said the tree cutting on the property “is all in advance of a development application that Criterion will eventually come forward with”.
“Criterion has always been interested in developing what they can on this property, recognizing that it does have a significant woodlot, or a tree ban on the south part of it,” Noehammer said.
“The Town’s interest was to preserve as much of that significant woodlot as possible and, through an agreement with Criterion, protect the woodlot and a bumper strip around the woodlot and the backs of the homes of 15 metres,” he added.
Protecting and enhancing the Town’s tree inventory and canopy are a priority, Noehammer said, as laid out in its policy. A bylaw aimed at protecting trees on public property, such as parks, boulevards and woodlots, followed in 2018.
Noehammer acknowledged a bylaw to protect trees on private property is more “contentious”, as it attempts to regulate what people can and cannot do on their own property with respect to taking trees down
Town staff is expected to present a draft bylaw outlining enforceable rules on the subject this fall, after continued public consultation over the summer.
To read the full staff report, Protection of Trees on Private Property, visit here.
