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environmentalists upset by tree cutting in bethesda roger belgrave staff reporter members of the sierra club a local environmental group have been stunned by a developers tree clear ing expedition in the bethesda for est agreeing with references on a regional map the group points out the bethesda forest is one of the most environmentally significant areas in whitchurchstouffville jackie erickson is chair for the clubs conservation and environment branch in york region she first noticed the bulldozing activity in the bethesda estates just off woodbine avenue a few months ago when the dust cleared she was startled to find a portion of the forest gone a strip about 20 metres wide stretching from woodbine avenue to the existing development had been cleared of trees within planning guidelines according to town planning offi cials the construction activity falls within planning guidelines for a sec ond access road to the bethesda for- est estates development- but that does little to ease the con cerns of erickson and other sierra club members it staggers my mind at how quick ly they did this said erickson i like anyone else understand that roads have tbbe put in but not in the mosrenvironmentally sensitive area in all of whitchurchstouffville kurt schmid developer for the estates said plans for the road were approved by town council in 1987 schmid also insisted the forest is an integral part of the development our policy throughout that subdi vision has been to minimize any cut ting of trees he said the trees were not indiscriminately removed and only those trees that needed to becut down to install the road were cleared said schmid neither the town nor developer could estimate the actual number of trees chopped down engineers for the town venture- out to the site on a regular basis to ensure the developer is staying within plan ning guidelines but the planning department has the power to do little else 1 it is very difficult without a tree bylaw in place to police what the developer is doing said glen van- dusen an engineer for the town va landowner virtually has a free hand to cut down trees on his own property vandusen explained according to erickson the tree clearing has already affected wildlife in the vicinity once their habitat was disturbed the deer immediately started jumping across woodbine she said erickson who lives on skyridge court not far from the site has been one of many to notice the animals scurrying for cover bethesda is one of three areas in whitchurchstouffville the region has recognized as environmentally sensitive preston lake problems preston lake is another area char acterized as either environmentally significant wetlands or a life science area of natural and scientific interest already pouuted landarpund pre ston lake has been left barren by development for years said erickson soil has been allowed to rim into the lake making its pollution even worse she believes why develop such a sensitive area with the lake polluted already you shouldnt allow something- like this to happen and sit for four or five years she said that should not have happened and with the new guidelines it shouldnt happen again the sierra club is hoping the provinces recent release of imple mentation guidelines to protect sigr nifieant features and control develop merit of the oak ridges moraine will prevent similar development activity in the future she also predicted the new guide lines should take some of the pres sure off the local council when it comes to making decisions about new development in the moraine area erickson a real estate broker who used to sell properties on develop ments in environmentally sensitive areas similar to bethesda estates said she has seen the error of her ways i still believe we need develop ment but none on areas that are desig nated significant she said jackie erickson above points to the way that she and other members of the sierra club would like to see land in the bethesda road and woodbine avenue area preserved a housing development in the area bethes da forest estates cut down a number of trees in the area photo at left to build a 20- metre wide access road into the estate erickson said that since the trees were cut down wildlife in the area including deer have been scurrying for cover though the cutting has environmentalists upset the developers were within their rights to cut down the trees since they do own the prop erty said a town of whitchurchstouffville offical havei asking pc ilebrjdfefctoi give it chance to fifrajip rp gefs than irunni that lines and marking should i hmevetiasot tibdav those signs should face without any spnng r next veras of today those signs should face without anv m andithtrackwilibeopen for itsmarvd wmm 87 porsche 944s magnificent 24995 4714505 86 caravan ie 7 pass air 7995 870ldsaerra air plus 6995 markham jeepeagle markham village 347 main st north hwy 48 where you can buy a used jeep with confidence 90yj 6cylhtop 13995 85 grand wagonneer 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