Barrie City Council approved an Ecological Offsetting Policy on October 25, 2023 through motion 23-G-242. The new policy was introduced following motion 23-G-082, Private Tree By-law and Ecological Offsetting Review (April 19, 2023), which gave direction to establish Ecological Offsetting fees in the Fees By-law, Schedule Q and create an Ecological Offsetting Policy.
Ecological offsetting is a strategy where an established fee may be collected by the municipality to compensate for the removal of trees or woodland area for development purposes and applied to the planting of an equivalent number of trees or woodland area in an alternate municipally-owned location within City boundaries to achieve “no net loss” of the natural heritage feature.
The Ecological Offsetting Policy will help maintain a minimum of No Net Loss of terrestrial natural heritage within Barrie. All development applications proposing the removal of natural heritage features on private land must financially compensate for their loss at a 1:1 ratio. Development applicants must demonstrate that all proposed vegetation removal could not be avoided, minimized, or mitigated on site. Some natural heritage features will not be eligible for removals such as forested wetlands or shoreline protection zones.
Background
Since 1990, all trees on private property that are within an ecological woodlot of 0.2ha (1/2 acre) or greater have been protected under the provisions of a Private Tree By-law. To stabilize and preserve Barrie’s current level of ecological function during urban growth, a No Net Loss approach is needed.
In 2018, Barrie’s total tree canopy cover was measured via satellite photography at 30.5% of the lands within city boundaries. Strategies to maintain that canopy have included annual city planting programs and partnerships with local non-profit organizations, community groups and Conservation Authorities to increase canopy cover through naturalization and reforestation projects on public lands.
With the introduction of Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022, conservation authorities are no longer charging ecological offsetting fees for the removal of trees or woodlots for development applications. These fees were collected to fund natural heritage and ecological improvement projects, including reforestation, community planting projects and ecological restoration projects.
Municipalities can now collect these offsetting or tree replacement fees as part of existing Tree By-laws authorized under the Municipal Act, including costs associated with managing and delivering the projects. This has now been implemented by establishing ecological offsetting fees at a set rate of $57,500 per hectare of woodland removal and $500 per individual tree outside of a woodlot within the Fees By-law and the Ecological Offsetting Policy.