Email dated July 21, 2020 from IMBrown, Subject: #9 Erskine Lane
Ian D. Brown strongly objects to the rezoning, emphasizing the loss of carbon sequestration provided by the existing urban forest.
From: IMBrown Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2020 10:42 AM To: Mayor And Council Email mayorandcouncil@viewroyal.ca Subject: ## #9 Erskine Lane
Dear Mayor and Councillors:
I write you today about the proposed rezoning of #9 Erskine Lane (on, apparently, a breathless hurry-up schedule). There is a serious cost to this rezoning which seems to get no consideration from you . I have consulted with Briony Penn, who studies the cost of forest removal to climate change, and her work is based on the recent science out of UBC. This two hectare urban forest sequesters about 30 tonnes a year of greenhouse gases. So its clearcut (yes, that is what is proposed) will effectively add 30 tonnes of greenhouse gases per year to the atmosphere forever. Furthermore the clearcutting and slash disposal will add a one time greenhouse gas emission of about 3000 tonnes. The IPCC has warned us we likely will be looking at an temperature increase from about 3 degrees to 6 degrees unless we cut global emissions by 45% by 2030. This rezoning goes in exactly the wrong direction towards a situation with a drastically reduced world food supply. If you vote for this rezoning will you , as a Town, compensate for this additional annual emission and for this one time emission by paying for carbon offsets as you do for all other emissions created by the Town? Please be aware that no amount of tree planting will compensate for this loss since any trees planted even today will not start sequestering emissions for at least 10 years, and, even then, only weakly for another 50 years. There can be no contribution to the 2030 deadline by tree planting.
There seems to be an attitude at Town Hall that housing trumps environment. The people you house now are not going to very happy with what you have done in 20 to 30 years if climate change means they don’t eat well and have to spend most of their income on food.
I strongly urge you to retain the “Rural” zoning of this piece of urban forest and refuse all attempts to cut the majority of the trees on this property. The Town surely owes no debt to the developer who bought a clearly zoned piece of land with no right to remove the forest.
I also object to the hurry to rezone. Neither of your advisory committees have had any input to this decision and the attempt to complete two readings at once suggest someone doesn’t want you, our councilors and mayor, to think very deeply about the drawbacks of this project.
Sincerely
Ian D.Brown, 328 Stewart Ave.