Residents in Kingston, Ont.’s Collins Bay neighbourhood are demanding an immediate stop-work order to halt the rapid clear-cutting of trees in the Mile Square Forest.

The community group says the destruction of the significant woodland, located within Kingston’s urban boundary, began a couple of months ago but has rapidly intensified over the last few weeks.

“It’s not trees getting cut down, it’s a forest,” said Joyce Hostyn, a member of the neighbourhood group. “It’s a forest with birds that can only live in a true canopy forest. It’s a forest with woodpeckers that has a nest here that has federal government protection that was never checked into.”

The City of Kingston has a tree bylaw that prevents residents from removing or injuring trees on private property without a permit. However, a 2017 amendment exempts farmers from the permit process, provided the tree removal is part of normal farming practices.

The neighbourhood group believes the landowner, Bernie Robinson, is using the exemption as a loophole and intends to use the property for future development rather than agriculture.

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Sarah Knight, another resident, noted the clearing could be violating other protective measures.

“There are all kinds of really important species and rare habitat on this site that haven’t been assessed or evaluated,” Knight said.

Robinson firmly denied the development accusations in a phone interview, stating he has no plans for development “whatsoever” and intends to continue farming the land.

“We exercise best farm practices and have done that our whole lives,” Robinson said.

However, residents argue their research shows the land is not viable for proper agriculture. The area features a rare alvar ecosystem, which is characterized by very shallow soil over limestone bedrock.

“This land would’ve once tried to be farmed and abandoned because it’s not very farmable as it’s very, very shallow limestone,” Hostyn explained. “It’s a very rare habitat. That’s one of the habitats in there — you can’t farm on that.”

The City of Kingston confirmed in a statement that it is aware of the tree-clearing activity near Mile Square.

“The matter is currently under investigation, and appropriate enforcement action has been initiated,” the city stated.

The community group plans to continue advocating for a work stoppage until officials conduct a thorough environmental assessment of the property.

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