The cutting of four Douglas fir trees next to a steep municipal ravine with a watercourse has prompted an investigation by North Cowichan.

The trees were cut on June 25 along Chippewa Road in the Kingsview neighbourhood near Maple Bay.

Rachel Pukesh, manager of development and subdivision for North Cowichan, told sixmountains.ca this week that the municipality has sent a letter to the property owner.

The letter advises him of the “requirement to obtain qualified professionals to assess the adjacent riparian area (creek) and steep slopes abutting it and provide a set of recommendations as to how (if at all), the area needs to be restored….”

The restoration “may include but may not be limited to replanting of native trees and plants to mitigate invasive species creep and stabilize the bank to avoid excessive erosion into the ravine during heavy storm events,” she said.

“This is a standard requirement of all property owners wishing to undertake land alteration within our development permit areas, and also our standard approach for when land alteration has occurred prior to permits being issued.
 
“The property owner responded immediately upon receipt of the letter and is communicating with planning staff on the requirements and appropriate professionals to engage.”

Were all the felled trees on private property? “That will also be part of the property owner’s responsibility to confirm, by having his southern property boundary re-established via land surveyor,” Pukesh said.
 
But the owner of the property, retiree Bent Jensen, originally from Edmonton and a former teacher, has a pretty good idea.

"I now think that one of them wasn't," he told sixmountains.ca on Friday. "So, fair enough. I made a mistake. It wasn't that I was intentionally trying to do anything."

Jensen says he had no idea that a development permit was required to cut the trees next to a riparian area.

When he bought the home in 2019, "nobody told me that I needed a development permit to take down a tree."

He said he felled one of the trees because he was concerned about root damage to his driveway and the other three because he spotted woodpeckers, and a passerby said it was a sign of disease, raising a liability concern.

Removal of the trees did not improve his view.

He wouldn't say what he paid to have the trees cut, only that it "cost a lot."

He reckons it will cost him close to $10,000 to address all the municipality's concerns.

Unlike Duncan, North Cowichan has no tree bylaw. But there are restrictions related to development permit areas under the categories of “natural environment” and “hazard lands.”

The goal is to “establish objectives and guidelines to protect and enhance environmentally sensitive areas, ecosystems and biological diversity, and to ensure development has a positive impact on natural features and functions,” says the municipality.

Natural Environment: https://www.northcowichan.ca/media/817

Hazard Lands: https://www.northcowichan.ca/media/818

Ravines are habitat and green corridors for all manner of wildlife, including raccoons, black-tailed deer, black bears and even cougars, as well as numerous bird species.