Newsletter June 4, 2022 Where is the logic?
Council’s May 24, 2022 approved motion “that the District of Oak Bay adopt a plan to phase out, over a three-year period, the use of gas-powered garden equipment, including leaf blowers on all residential properties in Oak Bay beginning in 2023”, is not at issue. However, what is at issue is, to paraphrase the song title “where is the love?” – Where is the logic?
Well ahead of the benefit of removing the pollution these gardening tools produce, at the very same May 24, 2022 Council meeting, Council approved an application for a new “14,103 sq ft” Uplands single-family home that requested removing 23 trees. Thirteen of the 23 trees that will now be cut down were protected under the new Tree Bylaw (4742).
Many of the protected trees are within the new home’s building footprint. It is not clear however, from the reports, if the already generous zoning bylaw’s lot coverage was expanded for the new home design by using any or all of the bylaw’s 14 exemptions. The exemptions, that allowed even more lot coverage were part of the controversial 2014 Floor Area Ratio (FAR) Committee’s recommendations that were approved by Council .
If our zoning allows a residential lot to be built out with a big house, double garage, and possibly an accessory building, these is little room for anything else – let alone existing or new replacement trees. It’s as simple as that.
The Arbor Day Foundation* “It is also crucial to note that it can take decades for saplings to absorb as much CO2 as mature trees. For this reason, it is more important to leave our current trees standing than to plant more trees.”
* The Arbor Day Foundation is a non-profit Conservation and Educational Organization that states its programs are, “To make our World greener and healthier.
Also, well before eliminating the pollution from gas-powered leaf blowers and lawn mowers, Council will soon be moving ahead with their densificaion initiatives: multi-tenant secondary suites and infill in single-family neighbourhoods.
If: the zoning is changed to allow these secondary untaxable residences and the and the following information is anything to go by: the Secondary Suite Consultant’s estimate is correct; the Provincial Secondary suite Guidelines’ information (that indicates limited registration applications) and other communities increased numbers of unregistered suites and infill, this Council’s densification will result in significantly more Oak Bay commuter traffic, contributing to the already alarming effects of climate change.
This is not to say banning leaf blowers is not a step in the right direction however, according to Brian Palmer an environmental Journalist, and a writer for the Natural Resources Defense Council*, and Washington Post, “Leaf blowers are less of a concern with regard to carbon dioxide emissions. The numbers (of leaf blowers) vary widely, but a leaf blower uses significantly less gasoline per hour than a car, and they spend far less time in use.”
* Natural Resources Defense Council works to safeguard the earth - its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends.
Oak Bay Watch Perspective
It make no sense to legislate phasing out gardening equipment to combat climate change on the one hand, and continue to destroy so many of our natural assets (trees and vegetation) with the other hand. Protected and mature trees are much more effective to counteract climate change. “Stop Cutting down Trees: believe it or not, cutting down trees is the prime reason of the climate change.” (Earth Eclipse)
How many mature trees has our community lost in the last decade and a half due to the ill-advised 2007 zoning bylaw change? How have the cumulative impacts of this destruction detrimentally affected the environment, neighbours and our infrastructure?
It equally makes no sense to increase the number of commuter cars and trucks in the District – gas-powered vehicles are also a primary cause of climate change.
It is not clear to us that, because the (referenced above) new Uplands house will remove so much of the Urban forest, why was it only sent it to the Advisory Design Panel and not the Advisory Planning Commission (ADP)?
After all, the ADP is mandated to advise Council on environmental concerns that may result from development, as is the Parks Department: for some reason, failed to comment on the significant amount of tree loss.
It seems to us that there is a disconnect between Council’s commitment to climate change and the actions they are implementing Io combat it.
Nothing is inevitable if you are paying attention” Oak Bay Watch
Oak Bay Watch is a volunteer community association and its members have a variety of professional backgrounds in both the public and private sector.
*******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.
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(Please use Donate Button at bottom of oakbaywatch.com Home Page)
HomeKeep informed and sign up for our newsletter – bottom of Newsletter Menu Item.
Council’s May 24, 2022 approved motion “that the District of Oak Bay adopt a plan to phase out, over a three-year period, the use of gas-powered garden equipment, including leaf blowers on all residential properties in Oak Bay beginning in 2023”, is not at issue. However, what is at issue is, to paraphrase the song title “where is the love?” – Where is the logic?
Well ahead of the benefit of removing the pollution these gardening tools produce, at the very same May 24, 2022 Council meeting, Council approved an application for a new “14,103 sq ft” Uplands single-family home that requested removing 23 trees. Thirteen of the 23 trees that will now be cut down were protected under the new Tree Bylaw (4742).
Many of the protected trees are within the new home’s building footprint. It is not clear however, from the reports, if the already generous zoning bylaw’s lot coverage was expanded for the new home design by using any or all of the bylaw’s 14 exemptions. The exemptions, that allowed even more lot coverage were part of the controversial 2014 Floor Area Ratio (FAR) Committee’s recommendations that were approved by Council .
If our zoning allows a residential lot to be built out with a big house, double garage, and possibly an accessory building, these is little room for anything else – let alone existing or new replacement trees. It’s as simple as that.
The Arbor Day Foundation* “It is also crucial to note that it can take decades for saplings to absorb as much CO2 as mature trees. For this reason, it is more important to leave our current trees standing than to plant more trees.”
* The Arbor Day Foundation is a non-profit Conservation and Educational Organization that states its programs are, “To make our World greener and healthier.
Also, well before eliminating the pollution from gas-powered leaf blowers and lawn mowers, Council will soon be moving ahead with their densificaion initiatives: multi-tenant secondary suites and infill in single-family neighbourhoods.
If: the zoning is changed to allow these secondary untaxable residences and the and the following information is anything to go by: the Secondary Suite Consultant’s estimate is correct; the Provincial Secondary suite Guidelines’ information (that indicates limited registration applications) and other communities increased numbers of unregistered suites and infill, this Council’s densification will result in significantly more Oak Bay commuter traffic, contributing to the already alarming effects of climate change.
This is not to say banning leaf blowers is not a step in the right direction however, according to Brian Palmer an environmental Journalist, and a writer for the Natural Resources Defense Council*, and Washington Post, “Leaf blowers are less of a concern with regard to carbon dioxide emissions. The numbers (of leaf blowers) vary widely, but a leaf blower uses significantly less gasoline per hour than a car, and they spend far less time in use.”
* Natural Resources Defense Council works to safeguard the earth - its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends.
Oak Bay Watch Perspective
It make no sense to legislate phasing out gardening equipment to combat climate change on the one hand, and continue to destroy so many of our natural assets (trees and vegetation) with the other hand. Protected and mature trees are much more effective to counteract climate change. “Stop Cutting down Trees: believe it or not, cutting down trees is the prime reason of the climate change.” (Earth Eclipse)
How many mature trees has our community lost in the last decade and a half due to the ill-advised 2007 zoning bylaw change? How have the cumulative impacts of this destruction detrimentally affected the environment, neighbours and our infrastructure?
It equally makes no sense to increase the number of commuter cars and trucks in the District – gas-powered vehicles are also a primary cause of climate change.
It is not clear to us that, because the (referenced above) new Uplands house will remove so much of the Urban forest, why was it only sent it to the Advisory Design Panel and not the Advisory Planning Commission (ADP)?
After all, the ADP is mandated to advise Council on environmental concerns that may result from development, as is the Parks Department: for some reason, failed to comment on the significant amount of tree loss.
It seems to us that there is a disconnect between Council’s commitment to climate change and the actions they are implementing Io combat it.
Nothing is inevitable if you are paying attention” Oak Bay Watch
Oak Bay Watch is a volunteer community association and its members have a variety of professional backgrounds in both the public and private sector.
*******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.
Newsletters
(Please use Donate Button at bottom of oakbaywatch.com Home Page)
HomeKeep informed and sign up for our newsletter – bottom of Newsletter Menu Item.