Burnaby council approved a timeline on Oct. 3 for the Burnaby tree bylaw review, with final decision-making on any changes taking place in fall 2012.
A local tree advocate thinks it is a stalling tactic to make sure it isn't an election issue.
"I feel they are avoiding the issue until after the election," Donna Polos wrote in an email to the NOW. "They are appearing to go through the motions by having a public consultation. . Is that before or after the election? What a ploy!"
Polos spoke to council about the current tree bylaw in June, presenting a petition with 500 signatures to encourage council to update the bylaw, which was introduced in 1996.
She now plans go to the Burnaby Municipal Greens with the report from Burnaby's planning department, which was presented to council on Oct. 3.
"I'm really, really disappointed," she said in a followup phone interview.
Burnaby's tree bylaw from 1996 restricts property owners from cutting down large trees (larger than 20.3 centimetres in diameter) three months prior to applying for a demolition permit for a building on a property and one year afterward.
Polos started collecting signatures with neighbour Thomas Chan when they saw a property in their South Burnaby neighbourhood where all the large trees but one were razed.
She has lived in the area for 30 years and says the landscape has completely changed.
She is concerned that the residential tree bylaw is not strong enough, and she wants the city to look to other municipalities in the region.
Vancouver's protection of trees bylaw includes financial penalties for cutting down a res-idential tree without permission that range from $500 to $10,000.
The City of Burnaby has completed research that takes into account bylaws in other jurisdictions.
However, director of planning Basil Luksun was not available for an interview to clarify what areas were looked at, or the results of the research.
The city next plans to conduct a Burnaby "tree survey," to assess the city's current residential tree resources, according to the report.
"What they're doing is they're randomly looking at residential lots and seeing what trees and everything are there," Polos said, adding it is scheduled for the late fall. "I just think, is this before the election or after the election?"
She would like to see concerned residents at all-candidates meetings before the election in November, asking councillors what they plan to do about the bylaw, as she felt council did not speak to the issue when she came to the meeting in June.
The review includes a public consultation, slated for spring 2012, with the finalized proposal on the review going to council the following summer, and a decision on the bylaw amendment to be made in the fall.
Mayor Derek Corrigan did not respond to requests for an interview on the subject.
Corrigan took offence to Polos and Heather Duff and Joyce Spencer when they brought the issue to council in June, specifically when the delegation said Vancouver was more invested in preserving trees on residential lots.
"I appreciate you're very passionate about the trees, that being said, I'll forgive you for being well over the top," he told the delegation.
"To denigrate the city, the record of the city, is well over the top."
The city has dedicated a higher percentage of space to parkland than Vancouver, he pointed out at the time.
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