(Updated, with permit details.) A number of large mature trees were logged at the Vancouver Art Gallery on April 18, 2016. These photos are for the record. The City approved a design that essentially didn’t preserve any of the trees in the square. The above video documents the removal of two of the trees in the square. Another video by ‘zen boy‘ also has footage of one of the trees coming down (Tearing Down the Huge Tree at the Vancouver Art Gallery – Destruction!).
For more information on the City’s Urban Forest Strategy, click here:
http://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/urban-forest-strategy.aspx
The City is asking for public support to “Help us grow our urban forest and reach our goal of planting 150,000 trees by 2020.” The Protection of Trees Bylaw “preserves, protects, and strengthens our urban forest, while permitting property owners to remove trees for property maintenance and development.”
DETAILS OF PERMIT.
The tree removal permits are in the slideshow above. Below are a few excerpts, for the record…
City of Vancouver
Tree Permit
TP-2016-00332
Application date: Apr 16, 2016
Issue date: Apr 16, 2016
– IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 4.8 OF THE PROTECTION OF TREES BY-LAW #9958, THIS PERMIT SHALL BE CLEARLY POSTED ON SITE DURING THE TREE REMOVAL. FAILURE TO DO SO CONSTITUTES A VIOLATION OF THE BY-LAW, ANI) MAY BE REFERRED TO THE CITY PROSECUTOR FOR FURTHER ENFORCEMENT ACTION.
Book inspections by calling 3-1-1 within Vancouver or 604-873-7000 from outside Vancouver.
Permit Fees.
Application $1,966.00
Fee Adjs $-1,966.00
Total: $0.00
Work Description
Removal of eleven trees with new VAG Plaza redevelopment. Trees will be removed prior to Development Permit and Building Permit issuance. Tree removals of City owned street trees TBD with Park Board approval. Tree protection to be determined with Development
Permit clearance. Thirty-six new trees to be planted on Plaza property with building permit.
Trees to be removed with this permit are as follows: Trees #’s 009, 010, 022, 012, 013, 018, 019, 020, 021, 022 and 023.
Trees previously removed under separate permit: Trees # 001, 002, 003 and 004.
Installation Details and Trees
Requested Number of Trees to be Removed: 11
Approved Number of Trees to be Removed: 11
Number of Replacement Trees Required: 36
Terms and Conditions
– Tree removal to be completed in conjunction with approved construction.
Required replacement trees shall be planted and in place prior to building occupancy. If a replacement tree fails or is removed, another tree must be planted in accordance with Schedule D, Protection of Trees By-law Number 9958.
A replacement tree must be planted at least
(a) 1 m away from a side property line, an accessory building and any other structure or thing likely to be affected by the tree,
(b) 1.5 m away from a principle building, and
(c) 2.5 m away from another tree.
CityHallWatch: Tools to engage in Vancouver city decisions 
Our city hall at work ! shameful! and we are losing tree canopy all over the city. I am not impressed. Vote these losers out!
Logged!? Can you have selected a more inflammatory word? The Art Gallery plaza redesign very clearly showed that trees were being removed from the East Side of the Plaza and a gallery of mature trees would form a separation of space on the West Side of the plaza. The idea here, folks, if you haven’t figured it out, is to create a large open public plaza. Just think, it’ll be a nice place for you all to demonstrate your constant refusal to accept any change in this city. Protest away.
What does protest have to do with conserving trees and being selective about which trees to conserver? I work in construction, and it’s amazing the red-tape I have to go through to get a permit to remove even one tree. These trees were mainstays of the visual identity of the Vancouver Art Gallery Plaza and they’ve now removed the majority of them citing a BS claim. City Hall, the Robertson civic government, is a corrupt tool of mega-development and unethical business practices. If I tried to do this using the claims they’ve used in this instance, I’d be run out of the city and never have the opportunity to build here again.
Monogram1, you’re a tool.
Bruce, this is a major redesign of a public space. You have to break an egg to make an omelette. The plan to ADD 32 mature trees to this plaza is completely lost on you I’m guessing. That’s more trees there there EVERY WAS. You’re so blinded by your righteous outrage you can’t see the forest for the trees.
Signed, The tool.