Mission – The City has drafted a new Land Clearing Management Bylaw focused on preventing the clear-cutting of large forested areas in advance of land development applications.
“Unchecked land-clearing is becoming an increasing concern in our City, especially on properties with development potential,” said Mayor Paul Horn. “Because of issues like rerouted watercourses and landslides, Council feels it is important to express the community’s safety and environmental expectations.”
Mission currently does not have city-wide regulations for vegetation removal activities unrelated to development. This means that trees and other vegetation on private lands can be cleared without consideration of the tree canopy, air quality, biodiversity, slope stability, and our changing climate.
In the fall of 2020, the City drafted a comprehensive Tree Management Bylaw and sought feedback from community through an engagement process. While this draft was generally opposed during this consultation, one common theme that emerged in participant feedback was a desire for a specific Bylaw to protect against expansive clear cutting, whether it is for pre-development purposes or not. Feedback from the previous consultation has been used to inform the current draft Land Clearing Management Bylaw.
“This new bylaw expects developers to properly plan and prepare before they take down vegetation so that we can safeguard habitat, streams, and slopes,” added Horn. “We have more work to do when it comes to keeping our community green, but this is an important first step to support our new Environmental Charter.”
Community members are invited to read a draft version of the Bylaw and give their feedback on Engage Mission until September 7.
