'I was gutted': Cambridge residents shocked over tree removal in nearby park

A group of Cambridge residents were shocked to find a row of greenery lining one side of A. Wayne Taylor Park being removed on Friday.

“I came running out to my backyard and all I saw was this crew that was going gangbusters and just clearing all of the trees,” Samantha Kritz, whose home backs onto the park, said.

“It was shocking as a resident. It was incredibly upsetting and we were very, very angry with the situation.”

The trees and shrubs acted as a privacy barrier for the residents, blocking sightlines from the playground, school and sports fields in the park.

“I don’t necessarily need people looking in on me, and I don’t know that they necessarily need to see me in my backyard, either,” Kritz said.

Residents said they received no notification from the city that a significant change would be made.

“Some consultation prior to it happening would have been great, not getting up on Friday morning and having all the equipment here pulling it up by the roots,” nearby resident Judy Taylor said.

“I was gutted.”

The sightline to these homes used to be blocked by trees. “I don’t necessarily need people looking in on me, and I don’t know that they necessarily need to see me in my backyard, either,” said Samantha Kritz, whose home backs onto the park. (Stefanie Davis/CTV Kitchener)

Mike Hausser, the director of operations for the City of Cambridge, said the residents’ complaints are fair.

“We did not notify the area residents. And it’s part of our process, we’re reviewing to see how to best communicate with residents when we do clean up park areas,” Hausser said.

He said like in some other city-owned parks, the greenery had to be removed for a number of reasons.

“We have a number of spaces where shrub beds have overgrown with invasive species, accumulations of litter, yard waste – a number of other things like that,” Hausser said.

Crews remove the remnants of trees and shrubbery on Tuesday. (Stefanie Davis/CTV Kitchener)

Nicholas Ermeta, the councillor for the neighbourhood, said he found out about the tree removal at the same time as residents and does not agree with the approach.

“Their privacy has been lost. They pay a lot of taxes, they paid a lot of money for their homes and I believe that they do deserve some privacy so I want to work with staff and the residents on that to resolve this and come to a solution,” Ermeta said.

He added in the future, councillors and affected residents should be alerted to moves like this before they happen.

The city said grass will be added to the space and more trees will be planted this fall, but staff plan to meet with area residents to get their input on what they’d like to see.

Those residents say they’re hoping for a quick fix.