Yellowknife (Oct 29/03) - The city's director of public works said he is not to blame for cutting down city trees next to his home.

Greg Kehoe said Monday he was surprised to learn of a complaint from resident Mindy Willett to City Hall last week that he had cut into a buffer zone next to his 111 Niven Drive home.

"We bought the house a year ago in August. This is a path that had previously been cleared," Kehoe said.

Mindy Willett, a resident who walks the Niven Lake trail, told the city via a letter and an address to council, Monday, that residents of a Niven Drive home cut a wide path behind nearby mailboxes.

She said city employees should know better than to cut through a treed buffer zone on Niven Drive.

"They did so quite a distance from their house so as not to ruin their own view, presumably," Willett wrote in the letter to City Hall.

The cleared land forms a semi-circle in the buffer area next to the 111 Niven Drive house and around a side deck.

Kehoe said he recently cut some willows near the mail box to provide access to the deck on his home.

Tried to prune

Kehoe said he tried to prune the area to make it look a bit better and plans to replant part of it.

Dave Jones, city planner, said a letter would be sent to Kehoe "requesting the land be returned to city standards or face legal action."

"But we seek compliance first," Jones said.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem confirmed, Tuesday, the letter would be sent to Kehoe and that Kehoe has plans to remediate.

Van Tighem had earlier visited the site. At that time he told Yellowknifer he was mystified why the land had been cleared.

Land designated as a buffer zone belongs to the city and is intended for natural preservation, said Monte Christensen, manager of the city's planning and lands division.

"A homeowner has no right to do anything to it. They can't cut down trees or build trails," Christensen said. We have a few (incidents) now where people have done that but we're trying to correct them."

Councillor Wendy Bisaro said the issue of clearing trees on public land should be discussed by council.

"What we need is a definite demarcation of property lines," she said.