DELTA - Delta municipal council is replacing its Tree Cutting Regulation Bylaw with a new one that will see more trees preserved within the municipality's boundaries.
The new Delta Tree Protection and Regulation Bylaw received third-reading approval from council last week. Council also approved an urban reforestation project that aims to see 1,150 trees planted in Delta within the next year, with some of them planted along Nordel Way.
"I think it's going to work," Mayor Lois Jackson said.
Under Delta's new tree bylaw, council can reject development applications for two years concerning property where a tree has been illegally cut.
It does away with the $2,000 maximum for a permit fee for cutting trees, to make sure applicants seeking to cut a large number of trees pay their full share of the costs. It will require that a tree cutting permit be prominently displayed on property where trees are
being cut, and allow for only one tree to be cut without an arborist's report, or outside of an emergency, every two years instead of each calendar year.
The property owner must under the new bylaw contribute $100 to Delta's tree replacement fund. The bylaw also requires that property owners provide two replacement trees, or $500 for each tree, for every tree cut within a two-year period on any given property after the first tree is cut within a two-year period.
Further, the Delta Tree Protection and Regulation Bylaw requires five replacement trees for every tree that's cut or damaged without a permit, or contrary to a permit, and that all fees or fines owed to Delta be paid before a tree cutting permit will be issued.