Braebury Homes clear cuts in Kingston East

Background: The City of Kingston has recently undergone a period of moderate expansion and population growth. This led to number of new developments mostly in the west of the city, but also in former Pittsburgh Township east of Cataraqui River. Consequently developers have been busy building (mostly gray and beige) houses, condo towers and malls.

While population growth is as such desirable and most people don’t object new developments, some city councillors became concerned enough to initiate a bylaw that prevents clear cutting of trees on new developments without permission from the city. The bylaw meant to ensure that watersheds are preserved, and developers cannot arbitrarily cut trees without plans to use the land.

Unfortunately the bylaw has not passed, yet, and developers had a chance to preemptively clear cut vast areas of land. The clear cutting of several hundred acres of forest bordering on residential land is not serving any immediate use; it rather appears to be largely motivated by “teaching City Hall a lesson” - as one city councillor puts it.

This demonstration of power has led to some truly spectacular clear cuts. While not the first one, the clear cut framed by Fay St/ Glenview St. in the west and Rogers Sideroad in the east has residents especially infuriated. Not only were the 153 acres of mixed forest, fields, and ponds home to a large variety of birds, foxes and deer, but they also provide a watershed area in an area that is prone to flooding because of dense clay soil.

Since September 2005 the residents wake up to the sound of chainsaws and are watching the senseless destruction of a unique ecosystem. When the owner of the land, Frances Splinter, was asked to comment, she told the Kingston Whig-Standard (Oct 22^nd, 2005): “The property is owned by me, the trees belong to me and the people [who’ve been using the area] are trespassing and have no rights and no say”. After all she is not breaking any law (yet). Frances Splinter is the wife of Peter Splinter, who owns Braebury homes and is a former president of the Kingston Home Builders Association.

(Note: Peter Splinter emphasized in a poignant email to us that his wife owns the land, and he has no ownership. Incorrect information appeared previously)

Indeed no plans for development have been filed and looking at the devastation one can only wonder who would actually be interested in purchasing land in such an area.

How the Splinters justify the pre-emptive clear-cut to their children and neighbours is their problem. How it can be justified to future clients is another: would you want to buy a house from a company that conducts business in such a way?

Finally, there is the question on how this entire affair will reflect on Kingston developers. The Code of Ethics of the Kingston Home Builders states that “Members Shall plan their sites and homes to conform to the principles of good community planning.” Of course, the question remains, whether this Code is something that the Association is willing to enforce. After all, another item on the (surprisingly short) list is “Members Shall avoid all conduct or practice likely to discredit or do injury to the house building industry”. In the Nov 17^th meeting two the current president of the Kingston Homebuilders discredited the tree bylaw as having no real purpose and being unfair to developers.

Finally, there is the question on whether there may be large-scale developments in the future. Presently the clear-cut site is certainly not fit for development. The tree debris is piled up high, presumably because of the rush to get the damage done before it will become illegal. Also there is no sewer east of the Canadian Forces Base, meaning that the property can be divided into lots of no less then 2 acres. In any case, development has reached a stagnation point, given that the job growth rate is 0.3% (1.5% is average for the 20 largest Canadian cities) and an unemployment level that is constant and high. Finally there was a decrease in the growth of building permits by 20% over the past 10 years. All this indicates that there is no need to clear-cut apart from an uncertain financial gain in the long-term future. Maybe the point is really to teach the public who’s calling the shots in Kingston…

Media Response to the clear cut

A number of articles appeared over the last month in the Kinston Whig-Standard (Mrs. J. Pritchett):

§ Oct 22^nd, 2005

§ Nov 15^th

§ Nov 16^th

§ Nov 17^th

§ Nov 19th

There were two short interviews given to CBC radio (one of them broadcast)

CKWS-TV had broadcast news of the Nov 14th morning protest on Newswatch @ 6:00 and Newswatch @11:00, and also of the City Hall public hearing on Nov 17^th.

A map of the clear cut area: between Glenview/Fay St to the West, Rogers Sideroad to the East and HWY 2 to the south.

FAQ’s

Q: How bad is it?

A: It is pretty bad, check out the photo gallery!

Q: Are the cycling/hiking trails affected?

A: They are either completely destroyed or will be destroyed soon.

Q: Where does city hall stand on this issue?

A: Different city councillors have different opinions, but Leonore Foster (CC for Pittsburgh) has launched the tree-preservation bylaw in the first place and strongly opposes the clear cuts.

Q: Is this environmentally valuable land or simply unused fields?

A: The property is designated as containing sensitive species and woodlands by the CRCA (you can zoom into this pdf map). It contains beavers, coyotes, deer, rose-breasted grosbeaks, white-throated sparrows, Nashville warblers, bohemian waxwings and many other species. Two snake hibernacula (“snake pits”) for ribbon and garter snakes have been found. At least one , black rat snake was sighted in the recent past (Canada’s largest snake). The endangered Henslow’s Sparrow has also been sighted in the past. The beaver pond is home to at least two frog species as well as numerous fish.

Q. What were the cities plans with that part of town?

A: The city has developed an Urban Growth Strategy that includes plans for this area of Kingston. According to this document there is no immediate plan to develop the area east of the Canadian Forces Base into a high-density urban area. It would be impractical anyway, since Hwy.2 does not have the capacity to support traffic from the 1000 new residences that Splinter intends on building. These residences would more than double the number of houses along Hwy2 between Kingston and Gananoque. The Lasalle Causeway is already 25% over capacity. A third crossing would be needed and that is certainly more than 2 or 3 years away.

Q: How about the water drainage?

A: Considerable damage has been done to the pond and to the creek feeding and draining from it. Considering that the soil is a thin layer of heavy clay on a limestone bed the water drainage is already significantly reduced.

Q: Is it likely that the 1000 homes are going to be built?

A: That depends on whether the city decides to abandon the Urban Growth Strategy and let the taxpayers pay for the vastly increased infrastructure in the east end. Think about the cost to put sewers in, the expenses for widening of Hwy 2 , the third bridge, firehalls, public transport, etc… Amendments to the Urban Growth Strategy allowing for more urban sprawl have been made public earlier this month.

Q: So why are the Splinters doing it?

A: Ask them! I haven’t met anybody to whom this destruction makes any sense…

Q: What can I do?

A: For every person who speaks up, there are hundreds who don’t. Make your opinion heard!

Attend the Nov 22nd .Council (6:30pm, City Hall) meeting in which the tree-bylaw will be decided on: (http://www.cityofkingston.ca/cityhall/council/council_agenda.asp)

Write or call:

1. Frances and Peter Splinter of Braebury Homes; they initiated the clear-cut.

When you call them please remind them of their own mission statement:

“At Braebury Homes, we have chosen to build our homes in the most desired locations with careful attention to neighbourhood streetscapes and to meeting the needs of home buyers”

2. Your city councillor. If in Pittsburgh, drop Leonore Foster a message.

3. The Kingston Home Builders’ Association (attn. Mr. Fox, President)

4. Did you know that the “Letters to the Editor” are the most-read section in any newspaper?

Forward this web site to your friends, family, neighbours and co-workers! If you have a web site, please insert a link to this site to make sure the search engines find it.