DocumentsBylawApr 15, 2024Page 61
CITY OF LANGFORD BYLAW NO. 2179 (City of Langford Tree Protection Bylaw No. 2179, 2024)
Text of the proposed Tree Protection Bylaw No. 2179 establishing prohibitions/definitions and rules for cutting trees within the City of Langford; proposed to replace/extend temporary bylaw 2136 until Dec 31, 2024.
Key facts
- Title: City of Langford Tree Protection Bylaw No. 2179, 2024
- Defines 'Tree' as woody perennial with trunk diameter >20 cm measured at 1.4 m above grade
- Establishes definitions including 'Cut Down or Cutting' and 'Dangerous Tree' and application/exception framework
- Intended to carry forward terms of Bylaw No. 2136 with updated repeal date to allow completion of UFMP
CITY OF LANGFORD
BYLAW NO. 2179
A Bylaw to Prohibit the Cutting of Trees
WHEREAS Section 8(3)(c) of the Community Charter allows a local government to prohibit and/or regulate the cutting of trees;
AND WHEREAS the Council for the City of Langford wish to regulate the cutting of Trees in the City;
NOW THEREFORE the Council of the City of Langford in open meeting assembled enacts as follows:
1. TITLE
This Bylaw may be cited for all purposes as “City of Langford Tree Protection Bylaw No. 2179, 2024”.
2. DEFINITIONS
In this Bylaw, unless the context otherwise requires:
“City”
means the City of Langford and includes, where the context requires, persons employed by or acting as agents of the City;
“Cut Down or Cutting”
means to remove a Tree or Trees by any means or the undertaking of any action which results in the death of a Tree or Trees or could reasonably be expected to result in the death of a Tree or Trees, and includes, without limitation pulling up, pushing up, pulling over, or otherwise felling a Tree;
“Damage”
means (a) poisoning, burning, or pruning in a manner not in accordance with arboricultural best practice, including removal of more than 25% of the tree’s total live foliage or bud bearing branches or limbs, (b) topping, unless the tree in question has been previously topped and regenerative growth has a high likelihood of failure due to weak branch attachment, excessive branch elongation and end weight, or the formation of extensive decay or cavities that cannot be mitigated other than by re-topping the tree, (c) shearing, harming or undermining the roots of the tree, (d) denting, gouging, drilling, harming, or affixing anything to the branches or the trunk of a tree, (e) removing bark from a tree, or (f) doing anything that would cause the tree to die.
“Dangerous Tree”
means a Tree, identified by a certified arborist who has training in tree risk assessment, which could reasonably be expected to present an imminent hazard to the safety of persons or to the public or to private property;
“Tree”
means a woody perennial plant of any size with a trunk diameter greater than 20 centimeters measured at a height of 1.4 meters above the undisturbed grade of the land where the Tree is located.
3. APPLICATION OF BYLAW
Subject only to the exceptions set out in Section 4, no person shall: