City hails tree- cutting fine as win against ‘rogue developers’
An Ancaster property owner has been hit with $420,000 in fines for illegally clear-cutting dozens of trees four years ago on a lot at the corner of Golf Links and Southcote roads.
Jim McNiven, described as a real estate agent in a City of Hamilton news release, was found guilty Wednesday on 56 counts of cutting down trees without a permit, related to an incident that took place in August 2014.
Each count carried a fine of $6,000 for a total of $336,000, plus an additional $84,000 in victim surcharges.
McNiven has been given two years to pay the fines and two years probation, according to the city’s news release.
“I am pleased that we have taken a strong stand against indiscriminate and illegal tree removal,” Ancaster’s Ward 12 Coun. Lloyd Ferguson said in a statement. “Many of the trees that were cut down were more than 75-years-old.
“The dozens and dozens of trees on this 25-acre lot are irreplaceable,” Ferguson added. “This has got to stop and we are sending a clear message to any rogue developers that we will take severe action for anyone who removes trees without appropriate approval.”
McNiven could not be reached for comment. His well-known family once owned a farm covering much of the area around McNiven Road.
McNiven was charged under City of Hamilton By-Law 2000-118, which prohibits heritage trees larger than 45 centimetres in diameter from being cut without a permit. The lot is south of Golf Links Road just after it crosses Highway 403.
“Clear-cutting healthy trees is irresponsible and unacceptable and I am delighted that the courts have upheld our bylaws,” Hamilton mayor Fred Eisenberger said in a statement.
In December, city council approved plans for a 380-unit retirement facility to be built on the lot, despite the angry objections of nearby residents who fear traffic chaos in an already congested area.
According to a city report on the site plan last year, a Nova Scotia-based company called Shannex Ontario Ltd. had entered into an agreement to purchase the property from McNiven.