Land owner could face fines after trees cut down
A landowner in western Notre-Dame-de-Grâce could be facing a fine for cutting down dozens of mature trees on his property.
“There was a cut-down in western N.D.G., kind of part of the falaise St-Jacques, but on the north side of Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue Blvd., between the McDonald’s and the old Motel Raphael,” Peter McQueen, borough councillor for Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, told the Montreal Gazette.
McQueen noted the trees were not cut as a result of work on the Turcot Interchange construction project.
“It wasn’t Transport Quebec that did this. It was a private landowner there,” he said. “There was some dumping on his land, so there was an order from the city to clean up, and then he went and cut down all the trees, which he’s not allowed to do, and now he’s getting fined, probably the maximum of $5,000 for that number of trees.”
“It’s a real shame,” added McQueen, who will try to lobby government bodies to help replant some trees.
“Of course, activists are going to want to know what we (at the city) can do and what Transport Quebec can do to replant these trees quickly.”
As for the landowner: “We’re fining him, no question,” McQueen said.
“It’s $500 per tree, up to a maximum of $5,000, and he crossed the maximum.”
The tree-cutting did not sit well with Lisa Mintz, founder of Sauvons la falaise, an environmental group aimed at protecting the falaise St-Jacques eco-territory, a four-kilometre escarpment between the Turcot Interchange and Montreal West.
Mintz said the trees were felled on private land that is considered part of the escarpment.
“Technically, it’s not (part of the escarpment), but ecologically it is,” she explained. “It’s not the designated eco-territory part, but it is part of the falaise.”
Mintz said birds and other wildlife will be affected by the cut.
“My concern as a birdwatcher is that it’s migration time and the birds are coming back. The same birds come back to the same area every year.
“They’re going to have flown thousands of kilometres (to find) somebody destroyed their home while they were away.”
McQueen said the issue of replanting new trees and other concerns will likely be discussed Monday night at the Turcot Neighbourhood meeting. The public meeting is set for 7 p.m. at the St-Raymond Community Centre, 5600 Upper Lachine Rd.