November 1 Council Meeting Outcomes

At the Monday, Nov. 1 Meeting of Council, Council was presented with a staff report on the Tree Protection Bylaw Review - Phase 3 Engagement Plan Options.

This meeting followed from the August 16 Meeting of Council, where Council directed staff to bring back an engagement plan, revised work plan, and budget for Council’s review and consideration prior to moving forward to Phase 3 of the Tree Protection Bylaw Review.

The staff report presented on Nov. 1 outlined two engagement options for Council:

  1. to further consult on the draft bylaw as last presented to the public and Council during Phase 2; or
  2. to engage the community on alternatives for the bylaw update or on a revised draft bylaw based on Council direction.

Diamond Head Consulting (DHC) provided a complementary presentation that included a refresher on the key directions and alternatives for consideration (in response to Phase 2 engagement results). The presentation also included options for the work plan in Phase 3, including two options for further public engagement.

After the presentation and discussion, Council directed staff to proceed with additional bylaw research with DHC, approve the $8,970 expenditure, and report back independently of deliberations related to further engagement.

The research work includes further work on:

  • interviewing other local governments on the use of tree minimums
  • Statistics on number of trees removed per address, area, and per hectare
  • Researching the use of incentives in other tree bylaws

DHC indicated that they would be able to report back to Council by Nov. 29 with a summary memo.

Council also noted that this particular bylaw review is technically complicated and suggested that staff explore ways to clearly communicate what the current tree protection bylaw (adopted in 2002) regulates, and what changes are recommended through the draft Tree Protection Bylaw.

Ultimately, Council deferred further discussion regarding engagement options for the Tree Protection Bylaw Review to Nov. 29, at a Special Meeting of Council dedicated to the topic.

Further, Council moved they increase the expenditure to $10,000 for the additional tree protection bylaw research, to include consultant attendance at the November 29 meeting, and further directed staff to report back with funding source options.

You can view a recording of the presentation and discussion about the Tree Protection Bylaw Review by clicking on the "VIDEO" tab (starting at ~1:32:39).

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