The Town of The Blue Mountains has launched a public survey to gain feedback from residents regarding updates to the current Municipal Tree Preservation By-Law 2010-68. The purpose of the survey is to gain feedback regarding the Town’s role in tree protection and preservation in the community.
The survey can be accessed by visiting the project webpage: https://yourview.thebluemountains.ca/municipal-tree-by-law-update.
The launch of the public survey follows the joint Public Open House hosted on March 24, 2021 with the County of Grey, which provided residents the opportunity to share their input on the direction future policy changes or by-law updates should take. Comments and feedback collected will assist in developing any policy changes or a proposed tree by-law.
To watch the recorded (Virtual) Public Open House, please visit: Link to archived Public Open House – Municipal Tree By-Law Update.
The proposed tree by-law will be presented at a future Public Meeting and will give another opportunity for the public and stakeholders to provide comments. No decision will be made until both the Town Council and the County of Grey Council have considered all comments received.
“Community engagement is a vital part of the process in the Town’s consideration of a Municipal Tree By-law update,” says Councillor Matrosovs, Chair of the Agricultural Advisory Committee and Co-Chair of the Sustainability Advisory Committee. “The series of engagement opportunities will focus on the extent of the Town’s role in the protection of a wider range of trees within the municipality and the direction of future policies for the management of trees as a natural asset in our community.”
Background Information
In May 2017, Bill 68, entitled Modernizing Ontario’s Municipal Legislation Act, 2017, was enacted by the provincial government and requires all municipalities to adopt and maintain policies to protect and enhance the municipal tree canopy by March 1, 2019. While the existing policies and by-laws currently in place meet the legislative requirements of Bill 68, Council is seeking to establish additional policies to further increase tree preservation and canopy enhancement in the Town.
In July of 2019, the Town hosted a Public Meeting to obtain public feedback on proposed revisions to the Municipal Tree Preservation By-law 2010-68, as is currently in force and effect, in order to extend interim protections on tree cutting on select private properties within the community. Comments received at the Public Meeting were generally supportive of the proposed revisions. However, as a result of additional comments received prior to the proposed revised by-law being considered by the Committee of the Whole, a Public Open House was scheduled to take place in the spring of 2020 to receive further feedback from the public. This Public Open House was cancelled due to COVID-19 in March 2020.
The Tree By-law Update project is now restarting and the Town and the County of Grey are now seeking further feedback and comment from the community regarding the direction and scope of tree protection policies in the Town.
The project's community engagement will focus on whether or not the Town should take a more active role in the protection of a wider range of trees within the municipality, potentially including those located on privately owned properties. Input and comments received from the public will help to guide the scope and direction of any future policies and/or by-law updates regarding tree preservation in the Town.
For more information, please contact:
Travis Sandberg
519-599-3131 ext. 283