KITCHENER – Residents of a Kitchener apartment building have had their views changed, but not by choice.
The people living at the building on Strasburg Road woke up on Tuesday to find that dozens of trees had been cut down in their back yard.
"It's like losing a family member, every tree that fell, a piece of me fell with it," says Deb Jarvi. She's enjoyed looking out at the trees in her backyard for 13 years.
Now, about 30 trees that she used to enjoy looking at have been reduced to stumps.
"He was going for them all. If I hadn't stopped him he would have continued on his merry little way," Jarvi says.
She called the city right away to find out if what was going on was allowed.
"Planning staff responded to the initial concern of the trees being cut down. The owner was advised to cease removals pending resolution of this matter," explains a City of Kitchener spokesperson.
The city tells CTV that the owner of the apartment building was the one chopping down the trees.
The city also says that the trees were on private property, but because the property is larger than 0.4 hectares, anyone looking to cut down trees has to ask for permission and approval from city planning beforehand.
"Our tree permitting process enables us to assess conservation opportunities and make specifications, if possible, for tree retention before trees are removed," the city's website says.
For more information on tree cutting bylaws, you can visit the city's website.
At this point, the city says it's too early in the investigation to determine what trees were removed and which bylaws could apply to the cutting.
The property owner, Cypriot Homes, did not wish to comment on the situation.
