Developer gave little warning ahead of Tewin tree cutting, emails show

Ottawa city planning staff were not expecting dozens of hectares of trees to be clear-cut in February at the future Tewin suburb because developer Taggart had made only one inquiry seven months prior to the cutting, documents show.

Neighbours, alarmed that swaths of trees were being logged at all hours of the day and night, had reached out in mid-February to both Taggart and the city.

City staff seemed to be equally in the dark, according to documents released to CBC News under municipal freedom-of-information laws, because Taggart had last reached out in the summer with an inquiry which discussed only a limited plan to clean up from the earlier derecho windstorm.

City staff ultimately concluded in early March that landowner Algonquins of Ontario (AOO) and its partner Taggart were exempt from bylaws governing tree-cutting because Taggart was preparing the site for farming and had been in talks with farmers about potential leases since the previous October.

At the time, community organizations argued the city's tree protection bylaw had failed. Some pointed out development speculators have been known to clear rural land years in advance.

The property does not yet fall within the city's urban boundary, but was part of a larger area the AOO pitched to the city for a sustainable new community in 2021.

GM asked for info Feb. 21 

CBC News recorded drone footage in late February and approximated 70 hectares had been cut, then filed freedom-of-information requests for records involving Don Herweyer, the acting general manager of city planning, who is responsible for the tree protection bylaw. 

The many emails now released show neighbours raised the alarm a week before the CBC asked for information and that loggers doing the work were motivated by a desire to clear the area before nesting season.

From Feb. 16 to 19, residents wrote to their former and current city councillors, the South Nation Conservation Authority, Michelle Taggart of The Taggart Group and a city planner responsible for development applications.

Residents forwarded a neighbour's drone images that showed clear-cutting behind a border of roadside trees. One said they were "shocked and distressed."

On the Tuesday after that Family Day weekend, Herweyer wrote to his staff to ask: "Has anyone been contacted on this or have any insights?"

One planner wrote she only heard about it the Friday before from the conservation authority.

"This is the first I am hearing of it," wrote another, noting the "Tewin team has been good in the past to inform us of any planned site works." 

City forester Mark Richardson said he had spoken Feb. 17 on the phone with the logging contractor hired by Taggart.

"He indicated to me that he had been cutting out there but was told that the area was outside the [urban boundary] and a permit was not required," wrote Richardson.

Richardson also forwarded his boss an email exchange with Taggart's consultant, Peter Hume, from the previous summer. 

"I have not had any further contact over Tewin since then," Richardson wrote. 

Summer 2022 inquiry

In that email sent on July 21, 2022, Hume wrote to Richardson saying he was working with Michelle Taggart on storm cleanup and she had suggested he touch base.

"The plan is to clean up the fallen and falling trees and make sure that the tree line … does not interfere with the hydro lines … and make sure that if future trees fall that we limit the ability to fall on the road," Hume wrote.

Hume was city councillor for Alta Vista ward for more than 20 years and also chaired the planning committee before leaving city politics in 2014, when he incorporated HP Urban.

Hume included a map of the property and wrote, "Just want to make sure you are ok with this plan."

Richardson quickly wrote back advising that the city was allowing landowners to take down hazardous trees without a permit after the 2022 wind storm, but listed four suggestions.

He asked that Taggart inform both him and the area councillor when the tree removal would start.

"If possible, wait until after nesting season; if not, please ensure that you are compliant with the Migratory Bird Convention Act," Richardson wrote. Those laws protect nests that have a live bird or viable egg, a season which tends to last from April to August in the Ottawa area.

He asked that photos be taken in case the city received questions from the public.

"I don't mind meeting you on site either," Richardson told Hume. "I am open to all opportunities to proactively reduce inquiries and complaints."

Farming plans

The day after Herweyer asked his staff to weigh in, tree-cutting temporarily stopped. 

On Feb. 22, Richardson and Taggart spoke, and she followed up with an email that set off another chain of messages at the city. 

Taggart described extensive damage from the 2022 wind storm, but noted much of the area wasn't treed and was "just scrub brush."

"Our intent is to turn this back into farmland as it was previously, and is therefore exempt from the provisions of the bylaw. Our plan is to convert that land into agricultural uses with a long-term farming lease," she told Richardson in an email. 

In the flurry of city emails that followed, one planner observed Taggart appeared to be "trying to invoke the agricultural exemption" and asked if the city's legal department would consider the company an "agricultural operation" as defined by the bylaw. 

The city's director of economic development and long-range planning, David Wise, cautioned that the file had a "public and political lens."

"We will collect the evidence, and we will check our facts," he wrote. "And we will be fair."

Taggart's description of the plan to farm, a week after the first complaints came to the city, were a departure from the prior communication the developer had with both city staff and the public.

Just five days earlier, in a response to a resident, Taggart referred to the land as former farmland but said only that "we are working north of Piperville and Anderson to clean up the areas that were hit the worst by the storm." Taggart also wrote that "city staff are aware of the work."

Taggart appears to have signing authority for the land, which the Algonquins of Ontario Realty Corporation purchased from the Ontario government in 2020.

The documents include an undated, signed statement from its director and secretary, Wendy Jocko, who lost her re-election bid for chief of the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation in March.

"This is to confirm that the board of directors of Algonquins of Ontario Realty Corp. authorizes Michelle Taggart to sign alone agreements and related documentation on behalf of the Algonquins of Ontario Realty Corp. with the City of Ottawa in connection with the Tewin lands," it states.

Forester visits site

On Friday, Feb. 24, Richardson spent an hour and a half in the field with Taggart's logging contractor.

His bullet-point notes described the cut area as "massive" but he wrote he would be unable to estimate how much had been harvested or assess if it was storm-damaged like the trees at the roadside. He didn't see any observable wetlands or cattails.

The contractor had a "significant operation" with several big pieces of forestry machinery, and even planned to buy a $1-million machine to grind stumps and prepare the soil, Richardson wrote.

According to Richardson's notes, the logging company owner said he had a contract to clear the land and prepare it for a farm's tile drains, and had to "finish cutting before nesting season prohibits cutting."

Richardson observed that clearing the area made no sense unless the plan was to farm, given the value of the wood was much less than the cost of removing it.

Taggart, AOO 'fully within our rights' to farm

City staff responsible for trees then met with city lawyers, telling council in a March 7 memo a stop-work order would be lifted. Taggart had been in talks with farmers about potential leases since the previous October, staff said. 

Taggart Group sent a letter apologizing to the community for its "communication bungle" and said it had more work to do to clear land for farming. 

Coun. Sean Devine would later tell environment committee that the farming lease he had seen was dated March 3 of this year — two weeks after neighbours peppered the city with concerns.

In the months since, the property has been almost entirely cleared for farming — staff estimate 180 hectares — and is easily visible from the road.

CBC News asked Michelle Taggart this week if the clearing took place quickly to avoid bird nesting season, and why she told residents the city was aware of the work.

She did not address those particular questions, but wrote, "Taggart and the Algonquins of Ontario (AOO) were fully within our rights to prepare the site for farming use."

"We are continuing to prepare the site for a winter wheat crop this fall, and we will be exercising our right to put those lands to agricultural use, as would any other rural property owner."

Taggart described a community advisory group created for the future Tewin community.

CBC also reached out to Hume for comment about what he communicated in the summer, but he has not responded.

City council on April 12 asked staff to look at changes to the tree protection bylaw that would require landowners to show evidence and get a formal exemption before cutting trees. Staff are to report back this fall.

The Ontario PC government is also asking for feedback on changes to its overarching planning policy. In future, municipalities could change their urban boundaries to add lands for housing without the comprehensive exercise Ottawa has gone through in the past.