Councillor Sharman: ' this private tree bylaw is still rushed and ill-conceived'.

By Pepper Parr

January 28th, 2020

BURLINGTON, ON

It has taken more than nine years for the city to get to the point where they could pass a bylaw that Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman could vote for with some discomfort.

In his remarks to council he said:

I will be voting in support of the private tree bylaw with some discomfort. I do so only out for respect of the fact that my colleagues were willing to approve amendments that I brought forward that made significant improvements to what was perceived, in December, by me and many members of the public, as not only rushed and ill-conceived, but also completely unreasonable.

Paul Sharman – less than happy with what he is hearing.

It was driven by some sort of emotional and inadequately informed logic. The original iteration of the bylaw in December was premised on the idea that Burlington, which has perhaps a 15% urban tree canopy, should aim to increase it to 30%, including the already well canopied northern rural section of the City.

This was despite any adequate supporting information such as an accurate inventory of trees, an urban forestry plan, or even any understanding what the tree canopy percentage is or has ever been. Keep in mind that that it is likely that the tree canopy in the urban area has increased since many of the houses were built 20 to 65 years ago.

Further, the proposed private tree by law is premised on the Roseland pilot bylaw that was not allowed to run to completion. The December wording of the proposed tree bylaw was not understandable. It included a highly egregious financial burden on home owners who may wish simply to improve their existing homes, many of which under utilize the property on which they are built.

Essentially, the proposed tree bylaw required an owner to pay the city $7,000 for 10 replacement trees in exchange for cutting down a single 50 cm tree. Add to that license fees, removal costs and the need to provide scale drawings of the tree location, the costs may exceed $10,000. This was going to be applied to the entire urban area plus all rural Burlington, all the way up to Derry Road, which was absurd.

We managed to get the Rural area removed, hopefully permanently, and the comparable cost to remove a 50 cm tree down to $2,000 plus fees and removal. We also got agreement that staff will deliver a proper urban tree management plan, a proper inventory and a list of standards so that residents could understand the logic of arborist’s decisions.

Paul Sharman arguing the position he has taken

The price I will pay for the amendments and improvements is to support the amended bylaw for now, but make no mistake, this private tree bylaw is still rushed and ill-conceived and I expect it will be revised or removed when some disciplined, fact-based logic is finally available.

I fully expect that residents affected by this private tree bylaw will still be very angry with this Council when they discover the consequences of this decision.

Sharman has always been conservatively inclined.  He will always push for “more data” and tends to think strategically about decisions he makes on behalf of his constituents and in terms of his own political future – and there is most certainly a strategy on how he advances his role in the political direction of the city.  The Chain of Office can be adjusted for anyone who earns the right to wear it.

Paul Sharman during his 2018n election campaign.

The Paul Sharman we are seeing now is a much different man than the person who served on the 2010-2014 and the 2014-2018 city council where he had support from former Councillors Craven and Lancaster who tended to follow the Sharman lead.  With that support gone and a much harder election win in the October 2018 municipal election we are seeing a much different Councilor.

While reading his comments into the record Councillor Shawna Stolte raised a point of order and asked Sharman to stick to the issue on the table.  That was not a move he expected from Stolte – the stunned look on his face was something a usually confident Sharman does not display.