Vancouver resident says lopsided city pruning job led to tree falling | Vancouver Sun

Nov 07, 2024

"This was not caused by weather, wind, snow loads or other weather factors. This was caused by a negligent pruning job," said Kitsilano resident Danny Scodeller.

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Danny Scodeller had concerns about the tree across from his Kitsilano home for years, even before it received a curiously lopsided pruning job.

This past summer, city workers cut several large branches off the tree, which is on the edge of McBride Park, along West 5th Avenue. But they only removed the tree’s northern limbs, leaving the south side untouched.

Those southern branches stretched across 5th Avenue, hanging above parked cars and over Scodeller’s front lawn.

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Over the past four years, Scodeller submitted several requests through the city’s website, asking them to check if the branches hanging over his lawn could pose a hazard, he said.

“Every time the tree people from the city came and looked at it, they said it was healthy, which I’m sure it was — but I think if it had been left alone and not pruned, it would be still standing,” Scodeller said.

Ever since the asymmetrical summer pruning, the tree had been noticeably leaning south across 5th Avenue, Scodeller said. An August photograph from Google Street View appears to corroborate this: The tree has its northern branches lopped off, while its trunk leans to the south with long untrimmed limbs hanging across the street.

With the tree’s balance shifted, it continued to lean over the following months, Scodeller said.

Then, during the heavy rainfall of Oct. 20, Scodeller noticed the tree sagging and thought he should check on it.

“As I was putting on my shoes to go out and inspect the tree, it came crashing down,” he wrote in letter to city hall days later. “Had I gone out there five minutes sooner, I would have been a casualty, and would not be writing this letter.”

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The tree crushed both of Scodeller’s vehicles: a new Jeep purchased just a few months earlier, and a 2018 Fiat Abarth. Both were left undrivable.

Scodeller made a claim with ICBC.

He also wrote to the city, detailing the history and saying “the city needs to accept accountability” for what could be thousands of dollars of out-of-pocket costs for him, despite having comprehensive coverage.

On Oct. 28, the city responded, informing Scodeller they would review the matter, but the city is not legally liable for damage caused by any street trees as long as the requirements of the inspection and maintenance program are met.

“Weather factors are not within the city’s control and the city would have no responsibility for resulting damages,” the city’s liability analyst wrote to Scodeller. “I must advise that in most cases, there is no compensation for failures.”

Scodeller replied, arguing: “This was not caused by weather, wind, snow loads or other weather factors. This was caused by a negligent pruning job.”

“I did ask the crew at the time doing the work about pruning the street side, and their comment was that it was not on their work order,” Scodeller wrote.

No one from Vancouver park board or city hall was made available for an interview. A park board spokesperson confirmed by email that the city’s urban forestry team did receive requests from the public related to the tree in McBride Park, but they were unable to provide the number of requests or their timing.

In an email, the spokesperson said the city’s urban forestry team assesses and manages trees, and removes about 2,000 of them each year due to old age, health issues or damage.

“Extreme weather may impact even the healthiest and stable trees and as such, there is always a certain degree of risk associated with trees in an urban environment,” the statement said.

Scodeller is still waiting to hear back from both the city and ICBC, and hoping for the best.

In the meantime, Scodeller worries about another similarly lopsided tree further down the block that’s “starting to lean a little bit,” he said.

“They should probably have a look at it.”

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