Proposed changes to tree ordinance intended to support 28% urban tree canopy goal - Vancouver, British Columbia

Vancouver Voice - Common canopy:
The pending changes would provide a definition of the word “destroy.”

“For the purposes of this Chapter, ‘destroy any tree’ shall mean: to damage, disfigure or cause injury or death which may include, but not be limited to topping, excessive pruning not consistent with nationally-accepted standards, poisoning, and trenching or excavating in such a manner as to make the tree root system not viable,” the proposed text states.

David Robertson, a Vancouver Heights resident, believes the added definition is needed,

“You have people that get told they can’t cut a tree down, so they cut off all the branches and claim they just pruned it down to being a stump or they will water the tree with anti-freeze until it dies,” Robertson said.