We are contacting you with respect to your decision to allow a road to be built through the Essex Street Park.
We applaud your decision to choose an alternative road alignment in an attempt to protect the trees on the site. We remain concerned about the
trees that will be closest to the road alignment and hope that appropriate protections will be taken before, during and after construction to assure their survival. For example, some of the strategies required by the City of Waterloo are:1. To protect the trees with fencing located at a minimum of 1.5 times the crown radius of the tree from the dripline
2. If root cuts are necessary, the cuts should be smooth, flush cuts supervised by an Arborist. Then the roots should be backfilled and watered before the roots have a chance to dry out.
3. No storage of materials or equipment on the roots of the tree
4. Sanitation pruning, root feeding, barrier installation, watering during dry spells, and other tree protection measures should be carried out prior to, and/or during construction
5. It is best not to disturb original grades around trees and in areas of protective fencing, and road grades should match the topography at
the curb lines. When the grade must be raised, trees should be thoroughly aerated before increasing the grade.We understand that Guelph does have some guidelines for construction
around trees, but we do not know if they are currently enforced. We would ask that these guidelines be re-examined, that improvements be made where found deficient, and that improved protective measures be required for construction sites. In any case, we request that, since the trees in question are on City land, the most stringent of protection measures be employed.We remain disappointed that public green space has been sacrificed for a road and that the time, money and public involvement to prepare an Environmental Assessment to decide the best use for this area was superseded.
We note that the City’s new strategic plan has a goal of “A biodiverse City with the highest tree canopy percentage among comparable municipalities.” We look forward to continuing to work with city council and staff to maintain and increase the health, integrity and area of Guelph’s urban forest.
GUFF