The Dwight Avenue trees are not safe. This Thursday, the Infrastructure & Environment Committee will reaffirm Toronto's target of 40% tree canopy cover by 2050. And then it will approve the destruction of an entire block of trees on Dwight Avenue, just to make installing a sidewalk as cheap as possible. 

In October, your action convinced Councillor Mark Grimes to postpone destruction of the trees, but the city has now decided to proceed with removing them after all. Take action again! You can convince the committee to save these trees by sending the following email (or your own words):

To: iec@toronto.ca 

Cc: councillor_mckelvie@toronto.ca, councillor_pasternak@toronto.ca, councillor_layton@toronto.ca, councillor_colle8@toronto.ca, councillor_perruzza@toronto.ca, councillor_minnan-wong@toronto.ca, councillor_grimes@toronto.ca 

Dear Councillors

I am submitting these comments for distribution to the Infrastructure and Environment Committee regarding the agenda item IE26.14, Missing Link Sidewalk Program - Dwight Avenue Sidewalk Installation, to be considered on 2 Dec 2021, and also available here: http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2021.IE26.14 

I am a signatory on this petition: https://www.change.org/dwighttrees which currently has over 1300 supporters. I do not find the report delivered by city staff in support of their recommendation to be satisfactory. The newly updated petition describes in detail numerous alternative designs that could enable the successful retention of some or all of the trees while installing a sidewalk at this location. These alternatives have been suggested by consulting tree protection arborists and other experts. The city staff report does not adequately explore these options, but rather seems to be the absolute minimum required to satisfy the motion previously passed by City Council on 2 October.

I request that the committee reject this recommendation and instead direct city staff, in consultation with the school, the TDSB, and local residents, to produce an alternate street improvement plan for Dwight Avenue that better meets the community’s needs.

Thank you for considering this matter.