Toronto wants me to pay $318 for permit to cut down dead tree!

[hugh]

I am a resident of Etobicoke Central who after the winter realized that a tree in my backyard is dying. In my estimation the tree could be a hazard to surrounding neighbours as well as my house.
In a pro-active effort to remove the danger, I contacted a tree cutting service for an estimate.

Imagine my surprise when I learned that I would have to pay $318 plus the cost of a certified cheque to the city of Toronto and an arborist to simply get a “permit” to cut it down.

I understand a desire to protect healthy living trees but this is offensive, ludicrous and absurd example of tax gouging.


Interestingly, we were going to replace the tree with a new one but absolutely will NOT now.
Has anybody fought this ?

[NeilN]

Hugh, see http://www.toronto.ca/trees/private_trees.htm

A permit is not required to remove trees which are dead, terminally diseased or hazardous. However, to confirm that a tree is exempt from the by-law due to its condition, a detailed arborist report must be faxed to your local district office at on of the following fax numbers: Etobicoke York: (416) 394-5406, Scarborough: (416) 396-4248, North York: (416) 395-7886, or Toronto and East York: (416) 392-7277. You also do not require a permit to prune a tree in accordance with good arboricultural standards. For any tree work, we encourage you to retain the services of a Certified or Registered Consulting Arborist, a Registered Professional Forester or others with similar qualifications. You may find professional tree care companies listed under "Tree Service" in the Toronto yellow pages.

So, you may not have to pay for a permit.

[barter]

Just go cut it down it the middle of the night and report it to the police as a act of vandalism in the morning, and smash a couple of beer bottles around to make it look believeable..

"Some drunk teens cut down a tree in my backyard"


If anything gets damaged you can aways claim it on your insurance.

[hugh]

NeilN, my tree is only dying (half the limbs are dead and leaves only cover half the tree) and likely won't be "dead" until the end of the year.

The guy who gave me an estimate said I would need a permit. I will be getting another estimate so I will speak to the other company about the need for a permit but I sense that I am going to be forced to pay the tax

The other thing is even if you don't need a permit, you still need to purchase an arborists report which is a $100. This report simply says the tree is dead.

[Mexicanuck]

While I understand that you are unhappy, I think that on reflection you will consider that what you or I think to be a dying tree may well not be dead or dying. (This parrot isn't dead; it's pining for the fjords. - M. Python)

We have numerous trees on our property as do neighbours. I have seen trees that were dead-to-me revive and be wonderfully healthy. In fact, sometimes they have looked better after a period of domancy following ravaging than they did before.

We have an arbutus on our property that burned almost to the ground a few years ago. I noticed this spring that it is sprouting growth all over. A person about a kilometer away had an arbutus cut off at the ground less than two years ago. It is now about two meters tall.

If your tree survives you can count it as another contribution to a carbon sink.

[hugh]

Branches are falling off it and the arborist says its toast by the end of the year. I'll trust his opinion!

[Ricketty Rabbit]

I understand why some municipalities have bylaws to protect trees, but sometimes the legislation and the tree huggers that support it go altogether too far. Our municipality requires a permit to remove trees more than 20 cm in diameter at the butt. Our neighbourhood is full mature trees -- many over 30 m tall. Some of them were blown down on people's homes during last winter's unusual storms, causing major damage. With a few more winters like last year, we'll end up with a great view of the downtown skyline!

When any of our trees gets to 19 cm, we make a "keep or kill" decision and get out the Swede saw. My B-I-L had a major row with a neighbour when he decided to legally remove a misshapen plum tree from his yard. The neighbour literally hugged the tree, preventing him from cutting it. But her bladder finally let her down, and B-I-L did the dirty deed while she heeded the call of nature. How ironic!

We've cut down 3 trees and planted more than 50 in our yard. All were chosen partly based on how big they'd be when they matured. Too many people plant trees without thinking about how that nice little sapling will look in 25 years when it's 20 or 30 m tall and 10 m wide. And even when they do, they don't prune and shape them, so the trees end up like neglected teenagers -- unruly, annoying, and making you want to move out.

Ricketty

[hugh]

I don't have a problem with paying $100 or so for a permit to take down a healthy tree but $300 for essentially a dead one!

[Jayme]

I am not sure how things work in toronto.In ottawa we have what they call property line trees.We can not cut these trees down live or dead.If the tree is %100 dead we have to pay the city $250 to cut it down.

[Mole]

That is a great scam. Leave it to the political centre of the country to come up with that one.

[Danster]

Just paint it green and play dumb saying it's still looks lively to you and pay $100 for the permit.

[bgclarke]

Contact Bell and see if you can obtain the services of Frank and Gordon

[hugh]

I have now spoken to several neighbours and they are all quite shocked. We all agree in principle that perserving old growth trees in the urban environment is a commendable goal, however, we brainstormed at least 4 or 5 ideas that would be far superior solutions.

[Hurricane]

Originally Posted by hugh

Imagine my surprise when I learned that I would have to pay $318 plus the cost of a certified cheque to the city of Toronto and an arborist to simply get a “permit” to cut it down.

I understand a desire to protect healthy living trees but this is offensive, ludicrous and absurd example of tax gouging.

Not sure what prpoerty tax increases in Toronto have been like, but this is a prime example of a municipality that claims they aren't increasing taxes, but instead increase or add fees to a number permits.

[hugh]

Agreed.