A little patch of forest in the city is gone.
A crew of loggers clear-cut a five-acre lot near Deer Lake late last month to make way for a planned six-house subdivision.
Kerry Tatelman, who has lived next door with his family for 20 years, said the trees have provided a quiet sanctuary.
The recently retired commodities trader said he bought his home in large part due to the connection to nature it provided while keeping him close to work in Vancouver. He said the little forest next door was home to raccoons, coyotes, owls and other birds.
Last year, Tatelman said, a road was cleared through the trees to move a heritage home off the lot. Then a couple weeks ago another crew came in and started cutting down almost every tree on the lot, including some he estimates to have been more than 100 years old.
The clearing came without warning or consultation, he said.
“Obviously, I don't want this kind of decimation to occur, but it's their right to do it because it’s their property,” Tatelman said. “But I don't think it's their right to do it unilaterally with no public consult.”
Because the planned six single-family homes conform to the lot’s existing zoning, there was no rezoning process that would have included a public hearing where neighbours, like Tatelman, could have expressed their concerns.
“There would and there should be a public (consultation), and that isn't to say it wouldn't end up exactly the same, but at least I would be able to gripe and say 'Well, wait a minute, you're devaluing my way of life; you're devaluing my property and the properties of my neighbours for your benefit,’” he said.
Tatelman said he expects to be subjected to five years of loud construction activity just outside his bedroom window, but he instead plans to move with his wife and son. He’s not confident he’ll find another home nearby with a similar connection to nature.
“If I want to replicate this kind of environment, maybe I have to go to Hope,” he said.
But Burnaby’s director of planning and building, Ed Kozak, said there was little the city could do to prevent this subdivision project from going ahead.
Building permits and subdivisions for projects that conform to existing zoning are only denied in extraordinary circumstances, he said.
The city only denies subdivision and building permits for projects that conform to existing zoning in extraordinary circumstances, he said.
When the lot was first zoned for single-family homes “a long time ago,” Kozak said there would have been thorough study and consultation.
Kozak said he understands Tatelman’s concerns, but there was little room for consultation in a process where the developer had legal rights.
“I would sympathise and say that change is always difficult,” he said.
