Gisele Merineau

By Chelsey St-Pierre
The Suburban

Pointe-Claire resident John Kilpatrick has a tree on his front lawn that he believes is dangerous to his neighbours, the public and his home. He says that the city of Pointe-Claire is ignoring his concerns by refusing to let him cut down the tree. According to Kilpatrick’s understanding of the city’s by-laws, he claims that he meets the city’s requirements to cut down the tree in his front yard and presented his findings at the April 2 public meeting.

“The mayor refuses to listen and let me explain. I am a responsible person and I would not cut down a tree without a valid reason.” Kilpatrick told The Suburban. Mayor Tim Thomas says that according to his understanding, the trained professionals both from the city as well as a third party company have conducted their evaluations and have decided that the tree does not need to be cut down. “In an environmental crisis, the best thing we can do for our fellow human beings is to not cut down trees that do not need to be cut down,” Thomas said to The Suburban.

Pointe-Claire arboriculturalist Gisele Merineau made the recommendation that the resident have his tree assessed by an independent company following his disappointment with her assessment stating that his tree was healthy and provided him with a list of approved companies in an e-mail. Kilpatrick agreed to provide a report from one of the six companies approved by the city. According to the report, the tree should be cabled and requires 40% pruning to make it safe. The report does not state that the tree should be felled.

According to Pointe-Claire’s by-law (PC-2775), it is prohibited to fell a tree other than if the tree is a danger to people or property due to the risk of falling branches and pruning or guying would not make the tree safe but Kilpatrick says that the city will only allow him to prune 20% of the tree and pointed out that the by-law does not account for tree cabling.

“What it boils down to is that the city inspector said the tree is safe but the independent arborist says the tree requires cabling and significant pruning to become safe,” District 8 councillor for the city of Pointe-Claire Brent Cowan told The Suburban. “The by-law is outdated and was created for aesthetic reasons, not environmental reasons. One tree on private property is not an environmental issue.”

Kilpatrick says that assuming the costs associated with cabling and pruning rather than felling the tree is punitive and that assuming that expense with no guarantee that the tree will even last another 10 years before it potentially starts to degrade is unfair. “The city is requiring him to take the more expensive option. If a rule is applied for the ‘public good’ then the individual should not have to absorb the expense,” Cowan explained to The Suburban. n