URGENT INFORMATION FOR PROPERTY OWNERS IN MISSION BC

The District of Mission has drafted a Tree Management Bylaw that is scheduled for 1st, 2nd and 3rd reading on November 16, 2020.
It is scheduled to be adopted on December 7, 2020.

There are quite a few items detailed in the bylaw that will significantly impact your ability to manage the trees on your own property and with the proposed application and report fees it will quickly become quite expensive to manage.

- Staff indicate that we would see a 0.36% INCREASE in property tax as well as revenue from fees and penalties.
- Non-compliance and violation of the bylaw can lead to a fine of not more than $50,000.00 and each day that a violation is allowed to continue, constitutes a separate violation
- Requirements to meet Firesmart standards recently implemented by the DOM will cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars for those of us in rural areas
- They will require us to have permits to clear underbrush and prune our trees and bushes. Those permits may require additional reporting by professionals that will add significantly to the cost of maintaining our own trees.
- Dead standing trees will also require permitting and additional reporting
- Required reporting will include having to provide surveys, assessments and plans such as: qualified tree risk assessment, arborist report, a tree management plan, an erosion control plan, geotechnical report, fire interface report, wind-firm boundary report, bird nesting survey, proposed planting plan for replacement trees.

There are many other items in this draft bylaw that are causing some significant concern.

We need to send this bylaw back to staff to have these issues resolved. This bylaw as written does NOT address the concerns and needs of our rural areas. There has not been enough thoughtful community engagement and rural properties are seemingly forgotten.

This WILL cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars annually for those of us living on rural property and we cannot allow it to move forward to its adoption date of December 7, 2020. 
Just a few short months away

Please see the full draft bylaw here: https://engage.mission.ca/tree-management-bylaw?fbclid=IwAR0wwQOQxlQBvAwp9OZ1DcllQRChZrE7v3mzzJVk_D6cTi0PKx5Dj4gxIZM