It will be up to the next council to form a standing committee on a Township-wide tree protection bylaw.
On March 19, council voted 5-4 in favour of Coun. Charlie Fox鈥檚 motion to request that the tree bylaw issue be discussed at the council planning and priority workshop after the next municipal election on Oct. 20.The motion also calls for related funding to be part of the 2019 budget discussion.
Coun. Kim Richter, who voted against the motion with Councillors Petrina Arnason, David Davis and Bob Long, said it was out of order, as it would 鈥渉andicap鈥� a future council.
Mayor Jack Froese ruled the motion was in order, and asked Fox to amend the wording.
鈥淚t鈥檚 still not appropriate, this is just plain and simple politicking in the silly season,鈥� Richter replied.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had a very serious request come forward from the public to deal with the matter now. Pushing it off to the next council is not right.鈥�
Coun. Michelle Sparrow said that council does not have enough time to tackle a tree protection bylaw before their term ends.
鈥淚鈥檓 not quite sure how we would be able to create a tree protection bylaw for the whole Township with nine council meetings left. I think that鈥檚 making it become an election issue, versus actually looking at what we can actually accomplish,鈥� she said.
Long said he also thought the motion was out of order, but for a different reason. He noted that council already sent the issue to staff for a report on March 5, after hearing a delegation from resident Hanae Sakurai.
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鈥淭he motion was to refer the issue to staff. So how can we have another motion that says now don鈥檛 refer it to staff, refer it to somewhere else,鈥� he said. 鈥淚sn鈥檛 the motion to refer it to staff good enough? It doesn鈥檛 say when they have to come back (with the report).鈥�
Froese once again ruled that Fox鈥檚 motion was in order.
Fox said his motion does respond to Sakurai鈥檚 delegation by acknowledging that council should take action on this issue, and put a committee together. 鈥淭he delegate requested exactly what I鈥檓 putting forth here,鈥� Fox said.
鈥淎nd to say that I鈥檓 trying to stall it 鈥� not at all. In fact, I鈥檓 trying to bring some structure to it and some value to it. Make an interim tree bylaw to go into effect 鈥� fine with me. But at least there鈥檚 some structure to this.鈥�
Whitmarsh said the tree bylaw will be an expensive undertaking, and agreed that it should be addressed in the 2019 budget.
鈥淚 think this motion is a positive response to the delegation we had last meeting,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here was a request for us to put together a standing committee and to put together a tree bylaw. I think it requires a lot of consideration and discussion, and I think that鈥檚 important to have.鈥�
Arnason, however, thought council should wait for the staff report.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that the nature of the request that we supported (on March 5) was to make sure that we had signed, sealed and delivered a tree protection bylaw for the entire Township of 91原创 by the time the next election rolled around,鈥� she said.
鈥淲hen there is political will for certain things to transpire, I know council could potentially move heaven and earth. And I don鈥檛 think it is unreasonable, under the circumstances, to consider that the community interests would be best served if we just allow staff to come back with their report, and not put the parameters on it to say, 鈥極h well, that鈥檚 for next council to decide on.鈥� I just don鈥檛 support that.鈥�
Davis said he鈥檚 concerned by the timeline.
鈥淭his says, OK, we鈥檙e not going to do anything until Oct. 20, and I think that鈥檚 wrong. Things can creep up, look at Tara (Farms),鈥� he said.
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鈥淚 think we need to get started at it and carry on. It鈥檚 very important.鈥�
Richter moved deferral on Fox鈥檚 motion until after the staff report comes back, but that motion was defeated in a 5-4 vote.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not starting from zero. We have had an interim tree bylaw, we鈥檝e currently got a tree bylaw for the undeveloped parts of Brookswood,鈥� Richter said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not going to take forever and a day to review and strengthen 鈥� if strengthening is needed 鈥� those two bylaws. I mean, this could be done in a period of three months. We shouldn鈥檛 even be passing this motion. It鈥檚 destructive, it鈥檚 not progressive.鈥�
Froese had the last comments before council voted on the motion, and he said he agreed with Fox.
鈥淚 believe that by putting this motion forward, yes it becomes an election issue in a way. It becomes an election issue in that I certainly support having fulsome discussion and getting a group together that can work towards this tree protection bylaw,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e need the community input, we need to find out what the best practices are, and the success and failures from other jurisdictions 鈥� At least this council has said this is important to move forward, and there is no time in the next nine meetings to do this.鈥�
miranda@langleytimes.com
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