Municipal bylaws can be a barrier to naturalization
At a community meeting last week, the Township of Clearview committed to creating a bylaw that will allow for gardening on the boulevards.
A panel discussion hosted by Clearview Sustainability Network (CSN) drew almost 100 people to Station on the Green in Creemore on Feb. 6, with attendees voicing support for a shift in attitude toward naturalized habitat gardens.
The panel was assembled by CSN’s biodiversity group for the purpose of maintaining an open dialogue, one precipitated by reaction to Creemore resident Brenna Lattimore’s pollinator gardens, specifically those planted on the boulevard in front of her Mary Street home.
Township law enforcement officials reacted to a complaint about the garden, which sparked community support and a call for a change in policy.
Speaking to her motivation for creating the gardens, Lattimore, an environmental scientist, said of all of her stewardship efforts, which can feel a little disheartening at times seeing how the climate crisis is progressing, gardening is the one activity that always brings her hope.
“Nothing is more rewarding for me than getting my hands dirty and actually creating space for nature around me, and seeing pollinators and birds coming into this world I have created,” she said. “When I look at my native perennial gardens – I know that some people look at them and say that’s messy – but I see life and I see habitat and I see food. Everything I plant has a purpose, andnot just when the flowers are beautiful… when they start dying back and they lose their lustre that’s when the yellow flowers are replaced with yellow gold finches that are eating the seed from the seed heads that are left behind, and the solitary bees are tucked up in the stems that I leave behind, and it’s all part of a system that is so important.”
She said the boulevard garden has provided valuable opportunity to engage with and inspire the rest of the community.
Panelist Lorraine Johnson, who is part of a collective advocating for bylaw reform across the country, pointed out that Clearview Township’s current property standards bylaw, like many, includes subjective language leaving too much room for interpretation. Bylaws, including Clearview’s, often include language like “neat and tidy” and do not define prohibited weeds.
Johnson outlined a number of species impacted by loss of habitat, including birds, bees, turtles and even the bugs that used to splatter on windshields.
“Biodiversity is basically a web of connections, so what we do in our landscapes and how we interact with the earth, it actually has impacts beyond our own little patches wherever they are. We can make a difference with what we do and the scientists are telling us that, too,” she told the crowd. “It matters to a creature that only flies three kilometres in its whole life. It matters what we do, where we live… This is why these bylaws matter.”
Johnson said municipal bylaws are often a barrier to naturalization.
“Sometimes the barriers are just aesthetics. They are bylaws that use terms that are so subjective that if your neighbour or someone doesn’t like what you are doing they can complain and you can have the weight of the municipality, wherever you are, coming down on you because your naturalization is not considered ‘neat’ or ‘tidy.’And this is typical of bylaws across Canada,” she said. “It creates uncertainty for people who are trying to do this good work of creating habitat for creatures that are in trouble.”
She said there is judicial precedent protecting the rights of Ontario residents to create a natural garden as an expression of personal environmental beliefs and values that are protected under the Charter.
Johnson said, while that may be the case, she advocates for a collaborative approach with municipal officials to advocate for change.
“What an opportunity in these boulevards. Habitat fragmentation is a huge issue in biodiversity. It’s one of the leading causes in loss of species,” she said. “Boulevard’s represent the potential for incredibly connected habitats.”
Until a decade ago milkweed was listed as a noxious weed in Ontario. It is the only larval host for the endangered monarch butterfly. Now, people dare not pull them and even plant them in their gardens.
“We’ve come a long way since then,” said CSN’s Suzanne Wesetvik in her introductory remarks. “There’s a growing awareness of ecological value of naturalization although native plants are often still
called weeds. Many municipalities do not have bylaws that encourage naturalization.”
CAO John Ferguson said from the municipality’s perspective, the concern with allowing naturalized boulevards is about liability.
Of the forthcoming bylaw, he said, there will be limits and residents may be required to extend their liability insurance to the boulevard.
“If this garners interest in the community it’s something we’ll do to make sure that it’s safe,” Ferguson said, speaking of the potential for inspections to make sure there are no hazards in the garden. “I think what needs to occur going forward is that we try to create a balance in the community. So having a community meeting like this, it gets the community settled down. If your neighbours are okay and know what’s going on they may accept it a little bit better.”
He said Clearview will be establishing a pollinator boulevard bylaw by spring, and will be fleshing out issues relating to sight lines.
“It should be something we hope will balance the community, that’s really our approach,” said Ferguson. “We sometimes look like the bad guys because we are trying to rifle through the different opinions… At the end of the day we just try to treat people withrespect… That’s how you try to work through issues in your community and this is one that we’re going to work through.”
