Cote St. Luc residents unhappy with Hydro decision to cut trees

The backyards on Krieghoff Ave. in Cote St. Luc are lined with tall, lush, beautiful trees, and have been for 25 years. Hydro says it has to cut many of the trees down because they're too close to power lines.

The backyards on Krieghoff Ave. in Cote St. Luc are lined with tall, lush, beautiful trees, and have been since the homes were built there a quarter century ago.

The residents love their trees for their aesthetic qualities, but also because they mask what lurks behind: train tracks, a swamp, and a pile of land that people sometimes use as a dump.

Two weeks ago, Hydro crews showed up and marked trees they felt should come down. They said the trees are too close to a 120,000-volt transmission line, an argument that makes no sense to the Adlers, who have lived on the street for years.

“These trees didn't grow that much and 90 per cent of the trees were here when we first came. Hydro didn’t say anything, they didn’t take it down,” said Mel Adler.

What also makes no sense to Mel and wife Leah is that Hydro wants to cut nearly all the trees and even some small bushes, including an entire line of trees that line the street that numbers in the hundreds, if not more.

Hydro Quebec has the right to cut down trees near power lines even if they're on private property. In a statement, the utility says when a tree grows too near a line, electric arcing can occur, which can cause serious injury to bystanders or even start a fire.

“[It took] Hydro 25 years to think about public safety … it wasn't public safety then why should it be right now?” said resident Tina Harari.

The Adlers didn't get an answer to that question when they called their MNA and neither did Cote St. Luc's mayor. But Anthony Housefather was able to convince hydro to delay the cutting for two more weeks.

“I'm hoping that with the city mediating between the residents and Hydro we'll find a reasonable solution,” he said.

Environmentalists say these days Hydro Quebec rarely does selective tree pruning. More and more, they are resorting to clear cutting.

David Fletcher of the Green Coalition points out this year Hydro Quebec is selling more power to the United States and he thinks the money should go towards burying lines instead of cutting down trees.

Meanwhile, the people on Krieghoff are doing whatever they can to save their trees and preserve a branch of their neighbourhood they say is invaluable.