'O April 5, 1989 News 985-2131 Classified 986-6222 Distribution 986-1337 52 pages 25¢ an rallies to stop cutting of trees A NORTH Vancouver City woman who stared down whirr- ing chainsaw blades Monday in an unsuccessful bid to save trees being felled on Tobruck Avenue to make way for aew development is organizing a citizen’s group to lobby for more effective natural conservation legislation on the North Shore. Said Tobruck Avenue resident Lena Warrington, ‘‘I’ve seen 30 or 40 trees go down here in the last two months. They just go down one by one. When they're on private property you can’t do any- thing about it. But when they started on the maple tree at the edge of the property | went out.’” Tobruck Avenue is bounded by Cumberland Crescent to the north, 16th Street to the south, Hamilton Avenue to the west and Fell Avenue to the east. Over recent years the area has been transform- ed from an area of Second World War-era single-family housing to an enclave of new townhouses. According to Richard White, North Vancouver City assistant director of planning, the Fell- Hamilton area is approximately 90 per cent redeveloped. The city adopted development guidelines for the area in 1984, in response to a redevelopment process already under way. In a section addressing landscap- ing guidelines, the city document states, ‘'The existing landscaping is an attractive feature which can be utilized to facilitate the transition of the area from single family to higher density residential. Existing prominent landscaping features such as mature trees and hedges should be retained wherever possi- bie." North Vancouver City's heritage mventory includes landscape that designates specific trees and such plants as giant cow parsnips in the municipality as having heritage value. But said White, “The guidelines are only guidelfines. They are in- tended to provide people with an idea of what the city wants. We've encouraged people to retain trees where possible, but that’s not always possible. Landscaping preservation hasn't) been our highest priority. Our priority bas been to see that fivable housing goes into the area, There are no MICHAEL News Reporter designated heritage trees in that area.”’ But Warrington argues trees like the 50-foot maple tree that was cut Monday are often being taken down unnecessarily. “In this case,’’ she said, ‘‘a gen- eral letter of permission was issued to the developer stating that trees obstructing the development could be cut down.”’ The maple tree had een determined as being in the way of a proposed driveway. But while Warrington was con- fronting the workers hired to remove three trees in the area, city design engineer Tony Barber determined the maple tree was ac- tually positioned on the city boundary line. *“*They cut down three big ones right on the city boundary line,’’ Warrington said. ‘‘The city dan- gerous-tree bylaw states that if a tree is not considered dangerous and it’s going to be removed, a petition has to be signed by people living within 200 feet of the tree. This wasn’t donc.*’ Said Lance Napier, who has liv- ed on Tobruck for [1 years and has also seen the landscape change, “It would be nice to save the trees burt if they gotta come down, they gotta come down. | think it’s a shame when I see them all being whacked down, but like the wife says, they're a pain ... when they drop their leaves and they hang over the road."’ Warrington has booked the Cedar Room at recCentre Lons- dale for Tuesday, April 11 at 7:30 p.m. to bring together concerned North Shore residents interested in joining Citizens for Trees. Said Warrington, We're point - ing the finger at the rain forest people in Brazil, yet we're doing it here with logging and this kind of destruction.” ural -—— m7 eo Po ET TOBRUCK AVENUE resident Lena Warrington (left) and others IcoX on as North Vancouver City staff and 2 townhouse development contractor determine the fate of one of several mature trees straddling city ff property which were cut down on Tobruck Monday. Upset by the number of trees cut down fo make Way: for new developmeni in her neighborhood, Warrington hes decided to form a citizen’s actioa: group to : lobby for more effective natural conservation legistation on the Novih Shore.