Town to remove seven trees starting Wednesday

A home on Mississauga Avenue has already been struck by a falling tree once, but four more trees on the same property are still standing, and the Town of Fort Erie says they have to come down.

The Town announced Monday it will remove seven trees across two locations this week, stating that rot, root damage and wind exposure have made the trees too dangerous to leave standing. The work begins Wednesday and will run through Friday, carried out by Driftwood Tree Service.

The four trees at the end of Mississauga Avenue include two maples with hollow, rotten bases and two poplars with compromised root systems. One of the trees sits with half its roots blocked by a concrete foundation.

According to the Town, another poplar tree on the property fell and struck the house recently. A second poplar became unstable after nearby trees were cleared to make way for a new subdivision, which removed the windbreak that had kept it standing.

Windthrow, the process by which isolated trees become dangerously unstable after surrounding trees are removed, is a known consequence of residential development. As new subdivisions expand across Fort Erie’s south end, trees at the edges of cleared land are left suddenly exposed to the full force of Lake Erie winds.

At Waverly Beach, three maples that were uprooted naturally will also be taken down. Uprooted trees, even those already on the ground, remain a serious hazard because they are heavy, unstable and can shift or fall without warning.

No replacement planting is planned for either site. Fort Erie’s tree bylaw, updated in 2024 and amended again in May 2025, generally requires replacement plantings when trees are removed, but exempts trees assessed as dead or hazardous.

In this case, the Town says removing the larger trees will allow more sunlight to reach smaller trees already growing beneath them, giving them room to develop naturally. Cut wood will remain on site to support local wildlife habitat.

The updated bylaw was introduced in March 2024 after concerns about clear-cutting, and was described by the CAO Chris McQueen as improving protective measures, reducing unnecessary removals and requiring replanting obligations across a larger range of properties.

The bylaw was introduced partly because of how new developments keep destabilizing trees that were never slated for removal.

The work runs April 1 to 3. Residents with questions can reach the Town at (905) 871-1600 or customerservice@forterie.ca.

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