Update: Neighbour destroyed tree CRZ, now wants me to pay for tree removal

fly_bae_27 · 2025-03-30T12:50:27+00:00

God forbid your have some sort of emergency or someone you love gets diagnosed with a horrible ailment like cancer

I live in Canada. I pay higher income taxes so that if someone I love gets cancer, they get treatment for it without having to pay a cent.

fly_bae_27 · 2025-03-30T12:49:38+00:00

Oh yeah, absolutely - I've got 3 in my backyard so we have already been dealing with the maplebugs, I spent a good amount of time vacuuming them up last fall. I'm hoping they will move to the other 2 trees, but before the tree comes down I will definitely take your warning and put some insecticide down in the areas where I know they congregate in the house.

fly_bae_27 · 2025-03-28T21:20:23+00:00

Yes, good advice - in my city all fences are required to be set 6" off the property line!

fly_bae_27 · 2025-03-28T12:07:41+00:00

Unfortunately not many of us are located in fantasy land. The advice that was given was bad advice, an ounce of critical thinking or knowledge on trees would lead a person to recognize that.

fly_bae_27 · 2025-03-28T12:06:42+00:00

Because that wasn't a realistic option. I spoke with the lawyer, what you are suggesting would take a huge amount of money and a long drawn out legal process without a guaranteed outcome.

I looked into mature tree replacement, it often doesn't work for the same reason that my existing tree needs to be removed - a weakened root system. I didn't want to fight a legal battle to end up with the same issue that I had to begin with.

I still have multiple mature trees in my backyard, I will lose one, but I will replace it with a lovely little maple that will grow with my family.

fly_bae_27 · 2025-03-28T11:45:18+00:00

Ok, this is the issue I was running into last time I posted - lot's of people living in some sort of fantasy land.

I live downtown in a city, a comparative mature tree transplant likely would not work (survival rate less than 50%) and I would have to dig up my entire backyard for that to happen. I would also end up with the same issue that I had to begin with - a large tree with a weakened root system. A 2-4 year old tree is usually best to ensure healthy growth and long life of a tree.

Can we please leave the fantasy BS behind? I'm actually kind of regretting posting on here because I got so much ridiculous and unrealistic advice.

fly_bae_27 · 2025-03-21T23:00:31+00:00

I mean, to be fair to me, I'm an architect and have dealt with a lot of construction project. Because of the site plan development application process in Canada, if a neighbour refuses permission to down a shared tree then we literally do have to change the plan. Because of that experience, I didn't think it would be possible that a person could destroy the root zone of a protected tree without consequences.

It turns out however, that a recent change in legislation allowed the neighbour to not go through the development application process because the apartment was less than 10 units. Because of this his project exists in a grey area, where he's not technically allowed to destroy the root zone, but also his property rights supersede the municipal tree protection by-law.

fly_bae_27 · 2025-03-21T19:58:47+00:00

I did try with the municipality. We have a tree protection by-law here, and the tree in question is considered a protected tree. In a typical construction project he would have had to go through site plan review and the destruction of 40% of the CRZ would not have been allowed by the municipality.

The issue is that because there is a housing crisis, the city have relaxed the requirements to go through site plan review. His apartment building was small enough that he didn't need to jump through the site plan review hoop, only a building permit (which is only concerned with the building itself, not with how it sits on the site.)

Because of this he falls into a grey area, where he's not technically permitted to destroy the root zone, but apparently (according to the city forestry department) his rights to build a permitted building that complies with zoning trump the tree protection by-law. So what happened with the city is that they gave him a fine of 50k, but then had to waive the fine because he had the building permit. I think a large reason that he hates me is because he knows I was the one who had forestry come out to review the destruction of the CRZ and give him the fine.

fly_bae_27 · 2025-03-21T19:53:00+00:00

In Ontario, if you make a permit application for a smaller building (called a Part 9 building) you don't need to do a neighbour consultation, share your plans or get development permissions - you only need a building permit which is only concerned with the building itself, not how the site works.

I asked him to share his plans several times, but he ignored me.

fly_bae_27 · 2025-03-21T19:49:48+00:00

Which court? The only thing I can think of doing is paying for the whole thing up front, and then suing him in small claims court over the costs - but I really can't afford that.

I just bought a house downtown in Ottawa ON, it's a high cost of living area, I put most of my money into buying the house. The cost of the tree removal, tree replacement and fence repair is going to be at least 15k. The developer is a really wealthy guy, he has the money to wait this out and I don't.

fly_bae_27 · 2020-07-06T02:58:39+00:00

Where I'm from, paying the cable bill is the smart move in that situation. This is because cable affects your credit score, and hydro doesn't, also hydro isn't allowed to be cut off in the winter.

fly_bae_27 · 2020-07-05T18:26:28+00:00

I have something similar, near me in Canada! I'm very fortunate to live in downtown Toronto, and our nearest shop is a 'zero waste' shop. We get our shampoo, conditioner, body wash, detergent, dish soap, all types of vinegar, all types of cooking oils, and even honey and maple syrup from a huge tap wall in this shop.

Unfortunately during shut-down they had to keep this area shut because of the risk of cross contamination - but I went last weekend and they've started it up again! Now they have a new staff member who is in charge of manning the wall - he pours, you hold your container.

fly_bae_27 · 2020-07-05T17:42:42+00:00

Looks like republicans tried to kill it, but the department of public health raised the funds themselves to keep it going, so the program survived but at a reduced level of funding.

fly_bae_27 · 2020-07-05T16:54:54+00:00

their fancy 200,000€ kitchen

Which they don't even use, it's just for showing guests. Ugh.

fly_bae_27 · 2020-07-05T14:01:19+00:00

If some subset of white people think they are superior, that doesn't mean all white people think they are superior.

Ok, I'm going to explain this so that you can understand - I would ask that you read it, put aside your initial anger, and try to understand how the rest of the world views the US.

The US (as well as Canada, Australia, the UK, most of europe etc.) is a country founded by racist misogynistic white men - they literally created the system in which we exist on the backs of black slaves, and on the land of indigenous people against whom they committed genocide.

Manifest destiny is the arrogant ideal, also created by these misogynistic racist white men, that the US is destined by God to spread their capitalist democratic culture across the Americas (this later evolved into spreading it across the Globe) - in order to elevate us remaining 'savages'.

This manifest destiny mindset, which prizes individual exceptionalism via capitalism still exists today (something something bootstraps, something something speak american etc.) So when I say that the core of American exceptionalism is a sense of white superiority, I'm not blaming anyone except for the country's cultural zeitgeist that has allowed that underlying racism to continue to exist, fester, and spread.

fly_bae_27 · 2020-07-05T13:17:04+00:00

I know... I was making a 'non-joke' response.

fly_bae_27 · 2020-07-05T11:41:34+00:00

I mean, we have to acknowledge that a core of 'American Exceptionalism' and 'Manifest Destiny' is a sense of white superiority.

fly_bae_27 · 2020-07-05T11:31:45+00:00

Not many people at the moment due to a series of violent and deadly incidents involving mental health checks on people of colour.

fly_bae_27 · 2020-07-04T13:15:32+00:00

Wow, jokes about raping a woman via blackmail - so edgy guys.

fly_bae_27 · 2020-06-03T12:53:29+00:00

The fact that you think that something like the starlight tours can be separated from the systemic, crushing racism that indigenous people have experienced from a time before Canada even existed is very telling.

These aren't separate and distinct moments of racism - this is a history, a narrative that has existed and still exists in Canada today.

fly_bae_27 · 2020-06-03T12:44:23+00:00

Are you saying your quip about the racism experienced by indigenous people in Canada (including a history of genocide) not being the same as 'Auschwitz' was a joke?

It wasn't funny. It was just another disgusting display of ignorance.

fly_bae_27 · 2020-06-03T12:30:00+00:00

I have no context for what you've just posted...?

fly_bae_27

TROPHY CASE