A West Vancouver homeowner is calling on B.C. Hydro contractors to silence their chainsaws after arborists clear-cut a swath of trees under power lines on her property.
For the last 20 years, contractors have come in to trim the trees on the land where Hydro has a legal right-of-way.
Last fall, B.C. Hydro hired consultants to come to the neighbourhood and canvas residents for recommendations on future vegetation control, said Darlene Holmes, a Westport Road resident.
But Holmes said the utility apparently ignored residents' opinions.
"B.C. Hydro has always come through and they've trimmed (the trees) and everybody gets pissed off and they go away and that's fine. They've had a change of policy. They're clear cutting," Holmes said.
Holmes came home on Monday to see a stand of 15 to 20 cedar trees that once provided some privacy for her bedroom and deck already gone. Most of the trees cut down were about a foot in diameter and 15 to 20 feet high, said Holmes.
"I was absolutely livid.
"I said 'That's it. No more. You've done more than you said you were going to. If you want to cut you're going to have to cut on top of me because I'm not moving,'" she said.
The crew went to lunch and has done no more cutting since. About half of the original trees remain.
"If they take that canopy of trees out, our privacy will be totally gone. We will look down at clearcut property and Westport Road and wires. That's what we'll see," she said.
One of Holmes' neighbours further up the path of the transmission lines had his property clear-cut last year, which allegedly resulted in his home selling for $200,000 less than he had expected, Holmes said.
"We should have known then to put our foot down," she said.
Now Holmes said she wants the rest of her North Shore neighbours with Hydro lines on their property to know that this may happen to them.
"There's a lot of transmission lines on the North Shore. It's bad enough that we get clearance for new development," she said.
"It's disgusting, it's such an eyesore. Why now? We want to bring awareness that this is happening."
Holmes is now rallying her neighbours and collecting signatures for an online petition to stop future clear-cuts.
But there has been no change in policy, according to B.C. Hydro spokeswoman Simi Heer. She said the trees on Holmes' land had to go.
"In the past, we have done routine pruning in this area but the trees have matured to a point now where the simple pruning is not keeping up. We needed to remove several trees in order to ensure the safety of the line and the reliability of the line," Heer said.
Heer said all decisions are made by certified utility arborists.
"They identify which trees need to be removed and how. ... We need it to ensure the reliability of the system. More than 50 per cent of the outages in a year are caused by trees."
Hydro is now developing a replanting plan for Holmes' property that will restore some of the privacy Holmes has lost and won't impact the transmission lines, Heer said.
