Trees are now an essential element for house building in the city of St. John’s, Newfoundland. The city has changed their landscaping regulations and now require that at least one tree be planted with every newly built home in the city. Deputy Mayor Sheilagh O’Leary says that the regulation comes as a result of an eight-year lobbying effort rife with challenges.
“An economic environment like we have here in St. John’s, anything with any extra cost, certainly, was not looked on favourably,” says O’Leary. “The reality of it is that this shouldn’t be an afterthought in the development, especially a new development. There should be something that should, hypothetically, be implemented in the design of neighbourhoods in the first place.”
The regulation also has teeth — the city takes a $1,000 deposit from every new home built, to be returned once a tree is planted.
“Money always talks,” says O’Leary. “The bottom line for anything, when it comes to development, and obviously running a city, is about cost. That’s the incentive for everybody. If there’s going to be a ding or there’s going to be a holdback on money for not planting trees, then obviously, we know that trees will get planted.”
O’Leary says that the regulation has increased awareness and engagement from the general public of the importance of trees in local neighborhoods. She also notes that, to the surprise of some members of the council and the community, there has been little pushback from development companies in the city.
“It’s been relatively quiet. There was no big fuss from the development community, like everybody had anticipated. Actually, it was very, very positive.”
O’Leary says that having the new regulation in place is vindication for those who have been fighting for these issues for so long. She, and the city’s Environmental Advisory Committee, will now focus on education awareness and areas of the city that are still deficient of trees.
— Matt Jones