Tree Protection Bylaw update – agenda available for Dec 13 Committee of the Whole Meeting

The District of North Saanich is reviewing its Tree Protection Bylaw. The Bylaw was adopted in 2002 and has not been substantially updated since then. However, the challenges facing North Saanich’s community forest, as well as best practices for its management, have evolved since the bylaw’s adoption.

Tree protection has benefits for the whole community by supporting biodiversity, ecological connectivity, ecosystem function, and overall ecosystem integrity.

Council will meet to discuss the Tree Protection Bylaw Review at a Committee of the Whole Meeting on Monday, December 13 at 7 p.m. The meeting agenda has been published at northsaanich.ca/council-meetings.

The purpose of the December 13 meeting is for Council to:

• Discuss engagement options for Phase 3, and consider approving an increased budget to support the completion of the associated deliverables; and   
• Review the additional research prepared by the project team in response to Council’s request at the November 1, 2021 Council Meeting, including:
  • providing more information about other municipalities implementing a tree minimum approach in their tree bylaws,
  • summarizing tree removal and canopy cover trends in North Saanich, and
  • compiling information about tree retention and planting incentives found within tree bylaws and in other municipal incentive programs.

As always, we welcome public participation and input at this meeting by:

• Submitting written correspondence pertaining to items on the agenda to corporateservices@northsaanich.ca by noon on Monday, December 13. This correspondence will be considered by Council as a “late item” for inclusion on the agenda. 
• Attending in-person to speak or watch by pre-registering, by noon on Monday, December 13 via email to corporateservices@northsaanich.ca.  Up to 40 in-person attendees; masks must be worn at all times.
• Attending virtually to speak by pre-registering, by noon on Monday, December 13 via email to corporateservices@northsaanich.ca. Each person has 3 minutes to present their perspective. 
• Attending virtually to watch through the livestream at northsaanich.ca/council-meetings.

Please share with your networks and subscribe to project updates at www.connectnorthsaanich.ca/tree-bylaw.