Dear Editor:
I am writing to express grave concerns with certain aspects of the proposed Urban Forestry/Tree Management bylaw being developed by the Town of Osoyoos, which I regard as a completely unwarranted intrusion into private property rights.
If I understand the Requests for Proposals (RFP) correctly, it contemplates extending the bylaw’s scope to cover all public and private properties.
Therefore, private property owners are specifically impacted by portions of the RFP relating to requiring tree cutting permits), tree replacement requirements including securities and tree inventorying for the bylaw’s application.
I am advised by Alain Cunningham, the town’s director of planning and development, that shrubs are to be included with trees within the bylaw’s purview, therefore, including rosebushes, barberries, junipers and numerous other species.
Private properties are now subject to many bylaws, which often act to ensure our neighbour’s quiet enjoyment of their own properties are not impacted by actions we may/may not undertake on our own property.
This includes zoning, unsightly premises, weed control, open burning prohibition, excessive noise and the list goes on.
All of these were put in place for very good reasons and I have no issue with them.
However I, and I suspect many other property owners would agree, strongly oppose requiring the town’s permission to remove/replace trees and/or shrubs on my own private property.
Unlike some of the constraints in the other bylaws cited above, I fail to see how such activity impinges upon or unfavourably impacts our neighbours.
Therefore, and in keeping with what I believe goes beyond all reasonable bounds in terms of exerting control over private property, I respectfully request Cunningham and Jim Dinwoodie, the town’s director of operational services, be directed to remove all references to private property before continuing with the RFP and any ensuing bylaw.
In the lead up to the proposed bylaw, I do note concerns about invasive species on all lands, public and private, and emphasize that I have no issue with a bylaw addressing this.
However, rather than extending the reach of the Urban Forest/Tree Management bylaw to cover private lands, I suggest the matter could be more appropriately handled by amending Good Neighbour Bylaw No. 1277 (Section 3.1.d regarding private property maintenance) by adding a simple amendment to the list of weeds, etc. that owners must control/remove. This could include “invasive tree, shrub, and grass species as may be prescribed from time to time.”
Ken Murray
Osoyoos, B.C.
