Past, Present, and Future

For geotechnical stability, unit 409 is, and always has been, situated in an area where a tree cutting permit is required from Coquitlam. Trees in the hundreds were planted not just for property values and owner enjoyment, but pursuant to restrictive covenants that run with the land. The building envelope contract set out very strong terms for tree protection and preservation, and in this regard the corresponding budget included adequate remedial funding provisions to restore the original landscaping. In fact, only ONE (1) of the seven (7) significant trees cut down around unit 409 was cut down during the building envelope project. The rest of them were cut down before and after said project.

It was mainly large birch and pine trees that were included in the approximate count of 150 trees that were cut down, and it is easy to take a walk about and count how many are left. Without these trees it looks like the rain is not being absorbed into the earth and/or the water table is lower so that trees that were not cut down have been dying. The subsequent destruction of the landscaping was extremely unexpected, reckless, and vast. It was such a shock we didn't know what hit us.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080308/NEWS04/803080377/1004/NEWS03&template=printart

Trying to sound the alarm with the strata council has been like shouting into an empty room. Instead of triggering a complaint to the city, police report, and a claim under the strata corporation's directors and officers liability insurance protection, our stated concerns have been harshly and arbitrarily attacked by Mr. Mac, and called "harassment" and "special" interests not shared by the rest of this "community".

Is it true that it is not just him, but everyone else also, who does not care that in 1988, right after Sunridge Estates was built, unit 409 sunk about 6 inches in the northeast corner from unstable land? Since 2004-2006, when its surrounding trees were cut down, our property has not only been severely devalued, but it has been sinking again as the roots of the lost trees decompose, and it had to be reinforced again with more supporting beams under the back of the building in 2008.

Approximately 300 trees were planted by the strata corporation's original landscape architect when Sunridge Estates was built, creating a rare and beautiful urban forest. Over half of them have now been cut down or destroyed by what I consider to be very destructive landscaping practices, and the problem that is ridiculed in the minutes with suggestions of autopsies rather than remedies.

In 2009 grass was planted in the 200 series.
Fresh Topsoil, and Beautiful Green Grass!

In 2010 dandelions in the 400 series, with roots up to a foot long, went to seed for the 4th consecutive year; there was no new landscaping to worry about then - but now there is.

Just how blatant and costly must destruction of common property, and common assets, be for owners to care?

Open Ears - Growing Fears

(volume must be up to hear these videos, click triangle pointer to play, please scroll down to view postings)

This is what is sounds like - after removal of about 150 trees - when rainfall runs off (with soil) into the ditches instead of soaking into the earth to replenish dropping water tables

http://www.eap.mcgill.ca/MagRack/SF/Summer%2090%20M.htm
Copyright © 1990 REAP Canada. Henry Kock resident horticulturalist at the Arboretum at the University of Guelph wrote in part:
... Now is the time to look back at what happens to the earth when trees are removed over large areas, trees that are the sheltering skin of this earth, that prevent the wind from drying the soil and blowing it away.
There are only two natural deserts in the world, the Atacoma desert in Northern Chile and the Carcross desert in the Yukon... All the other deserts are what is left of what were once grasslands and forested watercourses! Through all of the ages people have ... cut trees... but never planted trees to protect the land...When the wind removes soil moisture the land loses its heat holding capacity. This loss is increased by the use of tile drainage and ditches... Without water's heat holding ability temperatures fluctuate to greater extremes; the land heats up more during the day, steaming off even more water, and cools off more rapidly at night, in creasing the risk of ground frost...rainfall runs off (with soil) into the ditches instead of gently soaking into the soil to replenish dropping water tables.
If the land is sheltered and ground cover is maintained...a gentle soaking rain fall from widespread low level clouds replenishes the ground water...the amount of rainfall does not determine soil moisture so much as the rate at which water returns to the soil, thereby replenishing or not the ground water reserves...
The evidence of a dropping water table can be seen in dead tree tops, trees that have not yet reached half their life expectancy...When a tree is stressed by drought all of the water that it can take up is needed for transpiration - to keep the plant cool. Consequently, there is little water available for photosynthesis. Without energy conversion from sunlight the tree can not feed itself well enough and the root system suffers directly, in turn leading to a downward spiral of reduced health and strength for the whole tree. This is true for any plant...

We believe that most of the trees that died so suddenly in this complex did not die of natural causes.

The protective ground cover that had been planted throughout the complex was destroyed once gardeners used weed whackers and poisoned the soil with chemicals instead of pulling weeds.

Many trees could not survive after they were topped to open up the views for upper units. After the groves they grew in were destroyed many trees died or blew down to the ground in the wind because they could not stand alone.

The following extracts were taken from a Paper Birch fact sheet funded by the S.D. Department of Agriculture, Division of Forestry, Pierre, SD.

http://www.northern.edu/natsource/TREESA1/Paperb1.htm Paper birch is a transcontinental species with a continuous natural range from the Atlantic to the Pacific shore. It is a cold climate species, so it is primarily found in Canada and bordering states... Life Span: Birch, as with many pioneer species , is rather short-lived. In their natural environment, birch generally live about 80 to 100 years. In the stressful environment of a typical lawn, birch only live about 30 to 40 years... Size: Paper birch does not become a very large tree... Planted in a South Dakota lawn, paper birch generally becomes only 30 feet (9 m) tall before dying of birch dieback...characterized by the slow death of twigs and branches until the entire tree is killed. It is due to the stressful conditions for birch in most planted sites...The average yard is too hot, since the soil is not covered by leaf litter. Leaf litter keeps the soil cool and moist, and without this insulating layer, the birch roots become too hot and die... As the roots die, the branches receive less water and they begin to die...Finally, a small boring beetle, called the bronze birch borer (Agilius anxius ) begins to lay eggs on the tree. The eggs hatch and the young larvae burrow into the tree and feed on the phloem , the food-conducting tissue. This combination of stress, warm soils and the boring beetle eventually kills the tree.

Most of the trees that were planted at Sunridge Estates by the original landscape architect were of the Paper Birch type, which seems to be known and described as various names. Planted in groves and surrounded with shrubs and ground cover, as they were, we expected them to live longer than we would - if provided with reasonable care and maintenance.