Central Saanich tree permits and the Tree Management Bylaw

The District of Central Saanich regulates trees through its Tree Management Bylaw. The bylaw covers cutting, removing and damaging trees, and it sets requirements for replacing them. Its full name is the Central Saanich Tree Management Bylaw No. 2065, 2021.

The bylaw records that Council adopted it on June 28, 2021. District pages give two different start dates. The bylaw enforcement page says it came into effect June 28, 2021. A District notice dated June 29, 2021 says the changes took effect that day.

Section 8(3) of the Community Charter, a British Columbia provincial law, lists trees at paragraph (c) and protection of the natural environment at paragraph (j).

The bylaw calls the trees it protects permit trees. A permit tree is either a protected tree, or a living, erect, self-supporting woody plant with a diameter at breast height (DBH) of 30 cm or more. A tree planted as a hedge does not count under the size rule. The bylaw defines a hedge as five or more trees or shrubs planted in a row, less than 1.25 metres apart.

The bylaw measures DBH at 1.4 metres above the ground at the base of the tree. For a tree with several stems, DBH is the total of the DBH of the three largest stems. To find the diameter, the District's Trees page says to measure around the trunk at breast height and divide by 3.14.

The bylaw calls the six species below protected species. A tree of one of these species is a protected species once it is over 50 cm tall. Every protected species tree is a protected tree, and so a permit tree, whatever its diameter.

The District's Trees page says a fruit tree with a DBH of less than 30 cm can be removed without a permit. Under the bylaw, a smaller tree can still be a permit tree if it is a protected tree for another reason. Examples are a tree on District property, in the Erosion District or in an Environmentally Sensitive Area. Separately, the bylaw does not apply to permit trees that are part of a plantation for an orchard, nursery or tree farm.

• Arbutus
• Pacific dogwood
• Pacific yew
• Garry oak
• Shore pine
• Trembling aspen

Some trees are permit trees because of their species, their size, where they grow or what they are for. The bylaw calls all the groups below protected trees, and a protected tree is a permit tree whatever its diameter.

The District's Trees page describes this list more broadly, as including trees in a development permit area. The bylaw does not name development permit areas in general. It covers trees of any size in Environmentally Sensitive Areas, which it says include the Environmental and Riparian Development Permit Areas.

If your property may have a covenant, or may be in one of these special areas, ask the District before you plan any tree work.

• Protected species, meaning the six species listed above, once over 50 cm tall
• Significant trees, meaning trees greater than 60 cm DBH, other than cottonwood, alder, Leyland cypress or Lombardy poplar
• Trees of any size on District owned or managed property
• Trees planted or kept as a requirement of a development application or tree permit
• Trees protected by a restrictive covenant under Section 219 of the Land Title Act
• Nesting trees, meaning trees with active or inactive nests of birds protected under the Wildlife Act
• Trees of any size in the Erosion District shown in Schedule F of the bylaw
• Trees of any size in Environmentally Sensitive Areas

The District's Trees page says that even permit trees that are dead or dying need a permit. This is the District's summary. The bylaw's size-based definition of a permit tree refers to a living tree, so ask the District before you remove a dead tree.

You do not need a permit to prune a permit tree you own if the branches are less than 10 cm in diameter, or if an arborist does the work. In the bylaw, an arborist means an International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) certified arborist.

In both cases the pruning must follow the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) A300 pruning standard and the ISA's best management practices guide for tree pruning. The bylaw counts topping a tree, or pruning more than one-third of its crown, as damage.

The bylaw's no-permit rule covers only branches less than 10 cm. In the bylaw, cutting includes cutting a tree part, and no one may cut a permit tree except as the bylaw allows. So pruning branches of 10 cm or more on a permit tree needs a tree permit, unless an arborist does the work. The District's Trees page says branches more than 10 cm, which is looser than the bylaw: a branch of exactly 10 cm is not covered by the bylaw's no-permit rule.

Tree removal on land in the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) is exempt from the permit requirement. The owner must give the District a written statement that the trees are being removed for an agricultural use.

The District's bylaw enforcement page says Section 5(3) of the bylaw allows emergency removal of a high-hazard tree before you get a permit. It says nothing in the bylaw or the permit process delays removal of a legitimate, immediate hazard.

The bylaw treats a removal as an emergency when a permit tree is dead, diseased, damaged or otherwise an imminent physical hazard to people or property. After an emergency removal, you must apply for a tree permit within 24 hours. If the removal happens on a weekend or statutory holiday, apply on the next business day. Include photos of the tree taken before it was removed.

The District's Trees page says you must apply for, and receive, a tree cutting permit before you remove a permit tree. You can apply online through the District's Tree Permit Application portal, which is linked from the Trees page. Under the bylaw, the application must be signed by the registered owners, or by an agent the owner has authorized in writing to act for them on the application. If the trunk at ground level grows over the applicant's property line, the application also needs written consent from all adjacent owners on title. Where applicable, the consent can come from the strata corporation.

The bylaw has an exception to the permit rule. You do not need a permit if, after the removal, the lot still has at least 50 permit trees per hectare, worked out with Schedule A of the bylaw. The exception does not cover a protected tree, a tree linked to a development application, or a tree owned by someone else. Protected trees include the six protected species and all significant trees. A significant tree is over 60 cm DBH and is not a cottonwood, alder, Leyland cypress or Lombardy poplar. The other groups listed under Other permit trees are protected trees too.

Some removals need an arborist report or assessment. The Trees page says most native species are protected, so removing an ailing native tree needs a permit and an arborist's assessment to support the application. If you want to remove a tree because it is damaging a driveway, an arborist's assessment must show that the tree is causing the damage.

The bylaw sets the application fees below. Fees can change, so confirm the current amounts with the District before you apply.

In the bylaw, a hazardous tree is one that a Qualified Tree Risk Assessor has identified in writing. The assessor must find that it is likely to fail imminently, or is a high or extreme risk within 2 years. A Qualified Tree Risk Assessor holds the ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualification.

The Trees page says you will need to plant replacement trees if your property does not meet the Tree Density Target after a removal. The bylaw has one set of replacement rules for permits that are not tied to a development application, and another for permits that are. When there is no development application, each removed permit tree needs three replacement trees, but only until the lot reaches 50 permit trees per hectare. A hazardous tree needs one replacement tree, with the same limit. A replacement tree of a protected species, or of a species that can reach 60 cm DBH or more, counts as two.

When the permit is tied to a development application, each removed permit tree also needs three replacement trees until the lot reaches 50 permit trees per hectare. This set of rules has no one-tree rule for a hazardous tree. Trees kept on the lot count toward the total.

Each kept permit tree counts as one. It counts as three if it is a protected species or a significant tree. A significant tree is over 60 cm DBH and is not a cottonwood, alder, Leyland cypress or Lombardy poplar. A kept tree that is dead, damaged, diseased or in decline beyond expectation of recovery does not count. Each replacement tree counts as one, or as two if it is a protected species or a species that can reach 60 cm DBH or more.

Two more rules apply when the permit is tied to a development application. If the removed tree grows in an Environmentally Sensitive Area, three replacement trees of suitable native species are needed for every tree removed. If the trunk of the removed tree at ground level is partly or entirely on District owned or managed property, the owner pays cash instead. The payment is $750 for each required replacement tree, into the Tree Planting Reserve Fund, at three replacement trees for every tree removed.

Schedule A of the bylaw has a table of how many permit trees each lot size needs. For example, a lot of 900 to 1,099 square metres needs 5 permit trees.

For replacement trees, the bylaw requires a security deposit of $500 per tree, up to $10,000 per application. A security deposit is money held as a guarantee. If the replacement trees are part of a landscaping plan approved with a development application, the security is instead the amount set in the approved development permit. One year after planting, the owner can apply to get it back. The District returns it once it approves that each tree is healthy, and it may ask for a report from an arborist or landscape architect.

Section 9(8) of the bylaw covers the owner who decides it is not feasible or desirable to plant the replacement trees on the same lot where the trees were cut. That owner must instead pay the District $500 for each required replacement tree. This cash-in-lieu payment goes into the Tree Planting Reserve Fund. The bylaw says that fund is for planting trees or urban forest stewardship work in places within the District, chosen under District policies.

The District's Trees page says boulevard trees may only be removed if there is no other way to get access. It says three replacement trees are then required, paid as a contribution of $750 per tree to the Tree Planting Reserve Fund. The bylaw itself sets the $750 payment only in its development application rules, described above, and does not mention an access test. The bylaw also does not apply to permit trees on District owned property or highways that the District or its agents cut or remove in approved District operations.

• There is no fee ($0) to remove a hazardous tree when there is no development application.
• Removing a tree that is not hazardous, or any tree when a development application is pending, costs $75 plus $25 per tree, up to $200.
• Amending a tree permit costs $75.

A building or development project may need more than one permit. The District's planning permits page says a site may also need a tree removal permit, a driveway permit or an environmental development permit.

Development permit areas include land with riparian areas, meaning streams, ditches or watercourses, and environmentally sensitive areas. The Official Community Plan has maps that show which parcels are affected.

The bylaw protects trees of any size in Environmentally Sensitive Areas. It says these include the Environmental and Riparian Development Permit Areas set out in the Official Community Plan.

Bylaw enforcement in Central Saanich is complaint-driven. The District responds to concerns raised by residents. Complaints must be made in writing, and the complainant's information is kept confidential.

Under the bylaw, each tree unlawfully cut down, damaged or pruned without a permit is a separate offence, and so is each day a violation continues. A person who cuts down or damages a permit tree against the bylaw must pay $50 for each centimetre of trunk diameter into the Tree Planting Reserve Fund.

The diameter is measured at breast height, or at the stump if the tree has been removed. The person must also plant a replacement tree and give the District a $500 security for one year.

The Bylaw Enforcement department's phone number and email address are on the District's bylaw enforcement page.

Oakstead Tree & Property Care is an arborist consulting firm. We can measure your trees, help you work out which ones are permit trees and prepare the arborist reports and assessments an application may need. For building projects, we prepare tree protection plans and tree maps. We refer hands-on tree work, such as removal and planting, to partner companies.