A Penticton, B.C., couple has found themselves in a dispute with the city, after the city recently floated the idea of cutting down trees along a public pathway. The only problem is that the majority of the trees the city will need to remove if the plan goes ahead is on the couple’s property.
Brent and Judy Richards bought their home situated along Penticton Creek back in 2011, because of the access to the creek and the abundance of trees around the property which provide privacy.
They say the previous owner made an agreement with the city to sell a portion of the land beside the creek in order to put in a public pathway. Part of the deal was that the city agreed to put up a wall and maintain trees along the path.
“When I first met with the city a year ago, they could only find part of page three of the document,” said property owner Brent Richards.
“The rest of the document has disappeared. So, we’ve asked for a freedom of information. The city engineer said, ‘I just received the request, but I don’t think you’ll find that document here.’”
Now they say the city wants to remove the trees along the existing pathway to widen it by a foot and a half, to allow for more access for pedestrians and cyclists.
“Those trees, with the exception of one are on our property,” explained Richards
“It’s needless, it’s heavy-handed and it’s a waste of money.”
Brent has come up with several suggestions for the city, such as putting in a raised boardwalk that would go out towards the creek, as a way to protect the trees and give more access to those who use the pathway.
“I’m not against giving up property to save the trees,” said Richards.
“The problem is the way they’re planning to do it by cutting down the tree roots and destabilizing the trees. I just want to save the trees.”
The City of Penticton, however, says there has been a misunderstanding of their intentions, as nothing has been made official.
“A decision has not been made, I want to reiterate that,” said City of Penticton general manager of infrastructure, Kristen Dixon.
“We continue to work with the property owners to try and find a solution that would allow us to widen that path.”
Dixon added that the reasoning behind looking into adjusting the size of the pathway is to ensure safety for all its users.
“We want to be able to widen that path to meet that minimum standard, but we also place significant value on trees whether they’re on private property or public property,” explained Dixon.
In the meantime, the couple has put up a petition along their fence, looking to collect signatures of those in favour of saving the trees.
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