Failure to address net loss of urban trees

DEAR EDITOR:

Recent land use, zoning and development variance decisions to densify Kelowna's urban core and urban centres have resulted in a net loss of urban tree numbers.

Vancouver has developed a plan to solve this problem and is making it available to other local governments to use to help improve the liveability of B.C. cities and reduce the impacts of climate change and global warming.

Decisions to redevelop urban areas cannot be one-sided in favour of growth. Those decisions require trade-offs to be made based on identifying and understanding long-term consequences of urban growth on local and regional environments.

City staff need to provide council and the public with assessments and mitigation plans for each land use zoning and variance permit application that they support.

One important biometric to consider is the net loss in the number of urban trees that will result from each application.

It is clear from historical aerial images that Kelowna has lost a significant number of urban trees in its urban core and suburban core during the past 20 years. The Ponds and McKinley Beach areas show huge net losses of trees.

I urge council to direct staff at the earliest possible opportunity to provide critical assessment and mitigation planning reports to support their recommendations for land use, zoning and variance approvals.

Urban growth results in more density, more people, more cars and less carbonefficient building. The net result is an increase in greenhouse gas emissions, more pollutants and hotter urban temperatures. More trees are needed to offset these impacts.

Council needs to make the best planning decisions it can to ensure Kelowna is meeting its long-term commitments to address climate change and global warming and to meet its greenhouse gas emissions targets.

Failure to address net tree loss will make Kelowna a far less attractive, liveable and sustainable city by 2040.

Richard Drinnan

Kelowna