Delta’s tree canopy isn’t disappearing as feared.
That was the update provided to council last week from staff.
A survey found that between 2004 and 2016, the canopy in Ladner not only didn’t thin but increased by 2.4 per cent. Meanwhile, in North Delta it was almost unchanged, going up 0.2 per cent, while Tsawwassen it saw a modest 1.7 per cent increase.
Two years ago council was contemplating introducing an even tougher tree protection bylaw. They stopped short of having staff come up with new legislation, instead asking for an update on the tree loss situation and what other municipalities were doing.
Council at the time endorsed a recommendation, however, to allow property owners to prune and maintain trees on private property without a tree cutting permit, provided they follow industry endorsed pruning standards.
It was only three years ago Delta updated its tree bylaw to allow one tree to be cut without an arborist's report, or outside of an emergency, every 24 months instead of one each calendar year.
Some of the other changes included requiring five replacement trees for every tree cut or damaged without a permit or contrary to a permit, and removing the maximum $2,000 permit fee to ensure applications for a large number of trees being cut pay their fair share.
The amended bylaw also provided council with the ability to reject applications for 24 months for properties where trees have been cut in violation of the legislation.
Before those changes, the previous revision of the tree protection bylaw was in 2006.
