Environment: What Environment?
Greenspace and trees must be a Council Priority
There is no doubt that development is impacting the Urban Forest and green space in Oak Bay neighbourhoods. A recent Times Colonist Article (Attachment #1) explains how vital these are to a healthy urban environment:
“Other studies have shown that neighbourhoods with lots of greenery tend to be more cohesive and social communities and experience less youth crime and domestic violence".
“These ecosystem benefits, directly benefit residents’ health and their wallets. The more Nature is allowed to do the work ……………, the less infrastructure a municipality has to build — and tax residents for — to provide those services”.
There have been many complaints about loss of trees and green space since we changed Mayors in 2011. These have continued through 2018. There is plenty of visual evidence to support resident’s concerns. A number of “Tree Symposiums have drawn crowds and demonstrated community interest. Oversight was removed and now we have no Environmental Committee to turn to. The Committee was disbanded by the current Council shortly after being elected in 2014. Oddly enough, this coincided with impending zoning bylaw changes, and the Official Community Plan (OCP) implementation that would turn out to spur new development, both of which were “in the works”.
So what has Council done to protect trees and green space since 2011/2014? Standard policy seems to be lot line to lot line excavation, expanded building footprints, and 2-for-one (long term projected) replacement trees. However, we are expected to believe that very small trees, many of which will not survive, is proof positive that the Urban Forest goal of increasing Oak Bay’s BC-leading, tree canopy from 33% to 40% will be realized.
Oak Bay Watch Perspective
Political rhetoric, green space and soil loss aside, we must look at the decades these new small trees will take to reach maturity. Then consider the number of trees that are falling under the chainsaw through expanded lot coverage, condo and subdivision development etc. We really need some hard data to convince us that, while we are definitely worse off in the short term, will Oak Bay be much greener in the long term.
Some other variables to consider: the development rate could easily increase (current data not provided); we have been informed the OCP .05% annual growth rate is merely a projection); many of us will not be alive to witness if the new tree crop is providing the promised benefits in the distant future. There will be no one to be held accountable if the District follows Victoria’s and Vancouver’s tree loss record that has resulted in an 18% tree canopy. Everyday observations should match the District’s Urban Forest statement: “Development is only impacting the Urban Forest (which by the way is defined as all vegetation) by a small percentage”.
See Attachment #2 for of expanded lot coverage examples.
Time for a Change
----------------------------------------------------------
*******Please help us continue to provide you with information about Community concerns and Council decisions and actions. Oak Bay Watch members also help community groups with their specific development concerns. Donate to Oak Bay Watch - even $5 or $10 dollars provides expenses for door- to- door handouts and helps us maintain our website. Oak Bay Watch is committed to ensuring the Community gets the full range of information on budget, governance and all key development issues – a well informed opinion cannot be made without this.
Please See Donate Button - bottom of oakbaywatch.com Home Page)
Keep informed please sign up for our newsletter – bottom of Newsletter Menu Item.
Attachment #1
Green Space Essential to a healthy urban environment.
Recent Times Colonist Article:
During the past decade, it’s become clear how important green space is to cities. Many studies have uncovered links between access to green space and residents’ improved physical and mental health. In a 2017 study, for example, researchers used census and tax data to track 1.3 million Canadians living in the country’s 30 largest cities, including Victoria, from 2001 to 2012.
Measuring the amount of greenery from trees, shrubs, grass and other plants within 250 metres of the study subjects’ homes, the researchers found that as the amount of greenery increased, risk of premature death from natural causes decreased. The researchers also found that just having trees around makes a big impact on health.
Other studies have shown that neighbourhoods with lots of greenery tend to be more cohesive social communities and experience less youth crime and domestic violence.
Many municipalities now factor into their planning how urban forests — the trees and bushes along roadways, on boulevards, and in parks and other public places — reduce erosion, flooding, pollution and city heat. These ecosystem benefits directly benefit residents’ health and their wallets. The more Nature is allowed to do the work of absorbing rainwater and preventing flash floods, or lowering air-conditioning costs in buildings, the less infrastructure a municipality has to build — and tax residents for — to provide those services. The City of Victoria’s stormwater-management initiatives acknowledge this.
Public and private green spaces with diverse vegetation attract birds, pollinators, and other small critters to the city, increasing biodiversity. This helps to keep mosquito, tent-caterpillar and tree-boring beetle numbers in check, as well as adding to quality of life of all residents — including those with zero, two, four, six and eight legs.
Another study, published in March, looks more closely at the role city soils play in keeping the area’s natural systems working. Carly Ziter, a Canadian studying in Wisconsin, gathered soil samples from cemeteries, golf courses, botanical gardens, and lots and lots of backyards around the city of Madison and analyzed them to see how well soils from these sites helped with carbon storage, water quality regulation and flood mitigation.
Among her results, she found that the kinds and degree of ecosystem services provided by city soils varied widely — from street to street, from house to house, even from front yard to back yard.
She also found that all green areas contribute to carbon storage. What was unexpected, however, was how much carbon is stored in the soils of highly developed green spaces. Lawn-dominated areas such as public parks and people’s yards stored more carbon, on average, than the agricultural soils in the surrounding region did. In fact, soils in city gardens were found to store substantially more carbon than soils in urban forests or grasslands did.
Which is not to say that Victoria-area residents should crank up their chainsaws and turn their backyard Garry oaks and Douglas firs into firewood and lawn. Urban forests, after all, store most of their carbon above ground in tree trunks and branches. The study also confirmed that soils in urban forests and grasslands help control flooding. Instead of running off the ground into streets or storm sewers, water falling or flowing in urban forests and grasslands seeps into the soil, where roots help to store it. City forests also improve water and soil quality by providing natural filtration and vegetative cover that minimize erosion. They also provide shade in summer, which makes lolling about on — and mowing — lawns that much more pleasant.
© Copyright Times Colonist
Attachment #2
Expanded lot coverage examples.
Greenspace and trees must be a Council Priority
There is no doubt that development is impacting the Urban Forest and green space in Oak Bay neighbourhoods. A recent Times Colonist Article (Attachment #1) explains how vital these are to a healthy urban environment:
“Other studies have shown that neighbourhoods with lots of greenery tend to be more cohesive and social communities and experience less youth crime and domestic violence".
“These ecosystem benefits, directly benefit residents’ health and their wallets. The more Nature is allowed to do the work ……………, the less infrastructure a municipality has to build — and tax residents for — to provide those services”.
There have been many complaints about loss of trees and green space since we changed Mayors in 2011. These have continued through 2018. There is plenty of visual evidence to support resident’s concerns. A number of “Tree Symposiums have drawn crowds and demonstrated community interest. Oversight was removed and now we have no Environmental Committee to turn to. The Committee was disbanded by the current Council shortly after being elected in 2014. Oddly enough, this coincided with impending zoning bylaw changes, and the Official Community Plan (OCP) implementation that would turn out to spur new development, both of which were “in the works”.
So what has Council done to protect trees and green space since 2011/2014? Standard policy seems to be lot line to lot line excavation, expanded building footprints, and 2-for-one (long term projected) replacement trees. However, we are expected to believe that very small trees, many of which will not survive, is proof positive that the Urban Forest goal of increasing Oak Bay’s BC-leading, tree canopy from 33% to 40% will be realized.
Oak Bay Watch Perspective
Political rhetoric, green space and soil loss aside, we must look at the decades these new small trees will take to reach maturity. Then consider the number of trees that are falling under the chainsaw through expanded lot coverage, condo and subdivision development etc. We really need some hard data to convince us that, while we are definitely worse off in the short term, will Oak Bay be much greener in the long term.
Some other variables to consider: the development rate could easily increase (current data not provided); we have been informed the OCP .05% annual growth rate is merely a projection); many of us will not be alive to witness if the new tree crop is providing the promised benefits in the distant future. There will be no one to be held accountable if the District follows Victoria’s and Vancouver’s tree loss record that has resulted in an 18% tree canopy. Everyday observations should match the District’s Urban Forest statement: “Development is only impacting the Urban Forest (which by the way is defined as all vegetation) by a small percentage”.
See Attachment #2 for of expanded lot coverage examples.
Time for a Change
----------------------------------------------------------
*******Please help us continue to provide you with information about Community concerns and Council decisions and actions. Oak Bay Watch members also help community groups with their specific development concerns. Donate to Oak Bay Watch - even $5 or $10 dollars provides expenses for door- to- door handouts and helps us maintain our website. Oak Bay Watch is committed to ensuring the Community gets the full range of information on budget, governance and all key development issues – a well informed opinion cannot be made without this.
Please See Donate Button - bottom of oakbaywatch.com Home Page)
Keep informed please sign up for our newsletter – bottom of Newsletter Menu Item.
Attachment #1
Green Space Essential to a healthy urban environment.
Recent Times Colonist Article:
During the past decade, it’s become clear how important green space is to cities. Many studies have uncovered links between access to green space and residents’ improved physical and mental health. In a 2017 study, for example, researchers used census and tax data to track 1.3 million Canadians living in the country’s 30 largest cities, including Victoria, from 2001 to 2012.
Measuring the amount of greenery from trees, shrubs, grass and other plants within 250 metres of the study subjects’ homes, the researchers found that as the amount of greenery increased, risk of premature death from natural causes decreased. The researchers also found that just having trees around makes a big impact on health.
Other studies have shown that neighbourhoods with lots of greenery tend to be more cohesive social communities and experience less youth crime and domestic violence.
Many municipalities now factor into their planning how urban forests — the trees and bushes along roadways, on boulevards, and in parks and other public places — reduce erosion, flooding, pollution and city heat. These ecosystem benefits directly benefit residents’ health and their wallets. The more Nature is allowed to do the work of absorbing rainwater and preventing flash floods, or lowering air-conditioning costs in buildings, the less infrastructure a municipality has to build — and tax residents for — to provide those services. The City of Victoria’s stormwater-management initiatives acknowledge this.
Public and private green spaces with diverse vegetation attract birds, pollinators, and other small critters to the city, increasing biodiversity. This helps to keep mosquito, tent-caterpillar and tree-boring beetle numbers in check, as well as adding to quality of life of all residents — including those with zero, two, four, six and eight legs.
Another study, published in March, looks more closely at the role city soils play in keeping the area’s natural systems working. Carly Ziter, a Canadian studying in Wisconsin, gathered soil samples from cemeteries, golf courses, botanical gardens, and lots and lots of backyards around the city of Madison and analyzed them to see how well soils from these sites helped with carbon storage, water quality regulation and flood mitigation.
Among her results, she found that the kinds and degree of ecosystem services provided by city soils varied widely — from street to street, from house to house, even from front yard to back yard.
She also found that all green areas contribute to carbon storage. What was unexpected, however, was how much carbon is stored in the soils of highly developed green spaces. Lawn-dominated areas such as public parks and people’s yards stored more carbon, on average, than the agricultural soils in the surrounding region did. In fact, soils in city gardens were found to store substantially more carbon than soils in urban forests or grasslands did.
Which is not to say that Victoria-area residents should crank up their chainsaws and turn their backyard Garry oaks and Douglas firs into firewood and lawn. Urban forests, after all, store most of their carbon above ground in tree trunks and branches. The study also confirmed that soils in urban forests and grasslands help control flooding. Instead of running off the ground into streets or storm sewers, water falling or flowing in urban forests and grasslands seeps into the soil, where roots help to store it. City forests also improve water and soil quality by providing natural filtration and vegetative cover that minimize erosion. They also provide shade in summer, which makes lolling about on — and mowing — lawns that much more pleasant.
© Copyright Times Colonist
Attachment #2
Expanded lot coverage examples.