Two noise complaints have been made by a family whose home backs up to a clearcut
Even though officials from the City of Ottawa are looking into dozens of hectares that have been cleared-cut without a permit in the future suburb of Tewin, one neighbor says that loud work is still being done overnight behind her house by heavy equipment.
Shannon Anderson said she first filed a noise complaint with the city on Feb. 16, the day before city officials said they knew about the cutting, because she was “fed up” with the loud sawing and trucking that kept her up until 3 a.m.
The Algonquins of Ontario (AOO) own a piece of land north of Piperville Road. On Wednesday, CBC News published a story with drone footage that showed how big the cut was.
They and their partners at Taggart Group want to build a sustainable community between the growing neighborhood of Findlay Creek and the small town of Carlsbad Springs.
- Neighbors are shocked that Tewin lands are being “deforested.”
Anderson read the article and said that it made her feel better and that she might be able to sleep some nights.
Instead, she woke up later that night and ended up making a video in her backyard around 11 p.m., saying she wanted proof that the property behind her was always making loud noises and having bright lights on.
“I thought, “That’s not right. We can’t let this happen.’ I thought that everything would stop, “Thursday Anderson said.
“City officials were supposed to look at it and really see that this isn’t just cleaning up after the derecho.”
Noise from construction isn’t allowed between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. in Ottawa. On Sundays and holidays, that time goes up to 9 a.m. The city’s bylaw director said that complaints were sent to the department on February 16 and March 1.
Roger Chapman, who is in charge of bylaws, said in an email that “officers did not see any tree cutting activity on either of the two days they were at the location.”
Anderson said that from what she knows, they only went as far as her driveway and then closed the file because they didn’t hear anything. She said she fell asleep after midnight, even though she could still hear the machines working.
order to stop work only for cuttin
A stop-work order from February 22 is still in effect, according to the city’s interim general manager of planning, real estate, and economic development.
“The stop-work order says that no more trees can be cut down on the site. It doesn’t cover taking logs away from the site. In an email statement, Don Herweyer gave more details.
Anderson is upset, like his other neighbors, that the cutting took place without anyone being told ahead of time. They didn’t know about the clearcut until a neighbor flew a drone up to take pictures, since they couldn’t see it from the roads.
She said that when the Tewin project was first proposed, residents were told they didn’t have to worry about building for years.
“If it’s not going to happen in five to ten years, what’s the hurry?” Anderson said.
The land where the trees were cut down is outside of the urban boundary that the city council approved so that Tewin could start building.
Mayor wants to learn mor
Now that Mayor Mark Sutcliffe has seen the footage from a drone, he knows that there are thousands of stacked logs and piles of smaller trees.
He said that he needs to find out more about what happened and if any rules were broken.
Herweyer has said that city officials are looking into how the AOO and Taggart say they plan to farm the land. That is one of the few exceptions to the tree protection bylaw that would work in this case, though the Income Tax Act says it only applies to farming businesses.
- The clear-cutting of Tewin needs to be explained, says the head of the committee.
When asked if he would consider using the special, unlimited fines that the bylaw allows if there is a violation, Sutcliffe said, “I need to find out more to see if that’s right in this case.”
“I promised to plant more trees during my campaign, and I’m not happy to see a lot of trees being cut down,” Sutcliffe said.
“Having a good reason for that would be one thing.” “But if it’s against the rules, we’ll have to do something about it.”