REPORT TO COMMITTEE(S) OF COUNCIL

INTERNAL ROUTING CHECKLIST

ORIGINATING DEPARTMENT:	DIVISION:
REPORT AUTHOR:	PHONE No.
REPORT TITLE:
REFERENCE No. ACS2005-DEV-
DOCUMENT FILE NAME/PATH:

APPLICANT:

APPLICANT’S ADDRESS:

WARD:

CONTROVERSIAL: Yes No

To Be Presented To			Date of Meeting
Committees
1.			Next or
2.			Next or
3.			Next or
Council			Next or
Other Divisions/Branches Consulted				Forwarded To
Financial Services Unit or Financial Planning				YES xNO
Supply				YES x NO
Legal				xYES NO
Others Bylaw Services				YES NO
Contacted / Consulted / Advised by Department
Elected Official(s) / Ward(s)
Public Groups / Individual(s)
Advertising/Notice
Regular Advertising Required		NO YES Date:
Municipal Act Notice Required		NO YES Date:
For Originating Department’s Use		Approved			Date
1.	Originating Division Director or Delegate - - Report is acceptable
2.	Financial Services Unit Manager, Financial Planning or Delegate (if applicable) – Report Recommended to General Manager
3.	Supply (if applicable) – Report Recommended to General Manager
4.	Other
5.	Program Manager
6.	Manager
7.	General Manager or Delegate – Report approved to leave Department

M E M O / N O T E D E S E R V I C E

To / Destinataire	Chair and Members of Planning and Environment Committee/ Président et membres du Comité de l'urbanisme et de l'environnement	File/N° de fichier: ACS2008-PTE-ECO-0032
From / Expéditeur	Nancy Schepers Deputy City Manager/ Directrice municipale adjointe, Infrastructure Services and Community Sustainability/ Services d’infrastructure et Viabilité des collectivités	Contact Person/Personne-ressource : Carol Christensen, Manager/Gestionnaire, Environmental Sustainability/ Durabilité de l’environnement, (613) 580-2424 x21610, Carol.Christensen@ottawa.ca
Subject / Objet	Accelerated Work Plan for the Urban Tree Conservation Project/ Plan de travail accéléré pour le Projet de préservation des arbres urbains	Date : 14 October 2008 Le 14 octobre 2008

At its meeting on September 23, 2008 to consider the consultation strategy for the Urban Tree Conservation Proj,ect, Planning and Environment Committee (PEC) directed Environmental Sustainability staff to review the possibility of accelerating the timeframe of the Urban Tree Conservation Project project and to provide such information to PEC in an Information Previously Distributed Memorandum.

The original work plan scheduled a report to PEC on a recommended strategy for urban tree conservation in February 2009. Once approved, all components of the strategy would then be prepared, including the by-law, revised guidelines for Tree Preservation and Planting Plans, a schedule for tree compensation, proposals for community partnerships to steward urban trees, and potentially other initiatives proposed during the consultation.

This work plan can be revised to yield Staff now propose toa report to PEC by the end of February containing with the key components of the recommended strategy:

· A by-law regulating tree cutting and tree compensation on private land in the urban area; and

· Revised guidelines for Tree Preservation and Planting Plans.

Environmental Sustainability is working with Legal and By-law Services and the Forestry Division to draft a by-law that allows for the evaluation of tree conservation opportunities in the development review process. The by-law will also outline tree compensation requirements when trees are lost to development, drawing on compensation guides now widely in use elsewhere. The consultation scheduled for late October will indicate whether the public supports protection for Distinctive Trees and whether this component should be included in the January by-law, put forward for further consultation, or removedexcluded from the programconservation strategy. Other components arising from the consultation may require further study, as well.

The homebuilding and development community will be consulted in November on how to integrate the new by-law seamlessly into the development review process, using Tree Preservation and Planting Plans to gain approval for tree cutting and compensation.

Staff will hold the scheduled public consultations between October 27 and November 3, 2008. The Issues Paper on urban tree conservation is now available at ottawa.ca/urbantree and a questionnaire is included to garner feedback on the suggested suite of tools. The consultation findings will be incorporated into the draft by-law in November and will help guide next steps on the overall strategy.

Original signed by

Nancy Schepers