Should you cut a tree down in America's Vancouver?

[Waterbuffalo]

Wouldn't just be a hoot if someone planted their Christmas tree in their yard and the next year for some reason they cut it down. Then the City comes along discovers this and gets out the ticket book/code enforcement for cutting that tree down without a permit or tree plan.

What do you guys think? Could this happen?

Hope no one has neighbors with an axe to grind.

[Chief]

For starters, even a bagged and balled christmas tree isn't going to grow big enough in a year to be considered a part of the "urban canopy".

Next, most of the attention is on old growth trees, like those down along the Old Evergreen Highway that someone recently chain-sawed to improve the view.

Anything can happen, but the odds are pretty slim on this one...

[Waterbuffalo]

Chief,

From my watching of the Code enforcement activities the city has been doing, they target more than "old growth.." There have been some situations recently along the Columbia River they have been going after that has not been in the local paper.

If you get to watch the code enforcement hearings, its more than old growth.

[Chief]

I stand corrected. I'm not up to speed with all aspects of this, and am a victim of my own prejudice based on what little I've heard. Please recall that during the runup to the City Council elections Charlie Stemper sent the City off on a wild goose-me chase over this very thing, so I tend to eye things like this by default. There's a lot of misinformation floating around about trees here in Vancouver.

I still question how realistic your scenario is. I think I would be in more danger of a code violation if I prune the trees along the street without a permit, than if I prune the old Christmas tree we planted out back...

[tefen]

Well, it'll be interesting to see. I've got a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorbus">mountain ash</a> which may have poisonous berries. I love the way it looks, but the wife is saying it must go if we're going to have kids.

[Waterbuffalo]

Tefen, just to be fair to you, I'd give Charles Ray a call before you cut that tree down so you can find out what you need to do before you cut the thing down.

Code Enforcement here in the land of fairies and trees is complaint driven, so if a neighbor has any concerns or some one sees one cutting down a tree without the proper things in order one can face some nice fine. Did I mention I just saw on the VMC codes that were updated for more stiffing fines for cutting down trees?

To Chief, you might be right that I am using the original comment to an extreme but when you see some of the stuff that the City is doing at the "Code Enforcement level" and some of the VMC's they are changing related to enforcement and appeal of fines, I might just get my coat and walk out of Vancouver if it gets any stupider or worse..

[tefen]

Well, I like the tree. In researching this afternoon, the worst that I could find was that it may result in an upset stomach and rash. But those symptoms are rare (like 1 in 4,000 cases rare). In fact, the berries are used to make jellies and jams!

Now to convince the wife...

[Chief]

If worse comes to worse and the tree comes down, save some of the bigger pieces if you can. Ash is nice wood to work with once it dries and you can whittle all kinds of things out of it...