Police, city investigating tree removals from leafy midtown neighbourhood without permit

Toronto police and city staff are investigating the felling of three mature evergreens without a permit in a midtown neighbourhood late last month.

The trees are on a property on Glenrose Avenue in the St. Clair Avenue East-Mount Pleasant Road area. Each appeared to be at least 30 metres high and neighbours told CBC Toronto they believe they’ve been there for about a hundred years.

The property was sold last month, but the deal is not meant to close until May. The owner, who does not live in the house, asked next door neighbour Stanley Leung to keep an eye on the property in the meantime. 

No permit had been issued to cut down the trees and Leung says he was surprised to see them being removed.

Real estate records indicate Ron Sheinin and Rohan Sadana acted as brokers for the new buyers when the home was sold.

Sheinin and Sadana are listed as employees of local development company, Modcity. On its website, Sheinin is listed as general manager and Sadana is listed as principal, planning and acquisitions. The company specializes in buying existing homes and replacing them with larger four- and six-plexes.

Developer denies involvement in felling

In a March 31 email to CBC Toronto, Sadana denied Modcity had anything to do with the tree removal.

“It would be incorrect to conclude that, by virtue of acting as real estate brokers, we have any involvement with the subject property beyond the provision of brokerage services,” Sadana wrote.

The identity of the home’s buyer won’t be made public until the sale closes.

City staff have confirmed to CBC Toronto that no tree removal permits have been issued for the property and that it’s investigating the situation. (Re/Max)Developer linked to past tree removals without a permit

Last summer, CBC Toronto reported on an incident at a Modcity property in Leaside where a tree was cut down without a permit. 

Modcity had applied to have a decades-old honey locust — about 80 centimetres in diameter — removed, but was denied. Shortly afterward, the tree was cut down anyway.

City staff said at the time they were investigating. They now say that case is before the courts, and will not comment on it any further.

City of Toronto staff further confirmed that its urban forestry team is investigating eight other sites connected to Modcity for unauthorized tree removal and injury.

According to the city’s website, in order to fell a tree that’s more than 30 centimetres in diameter, homeowners need to apply to Urban Forestry for a city permit.

“Fines for contraventions can range from $500 to $100,000 per tree, with an additional $100,000 fine for serious offenses,” the website states.

Neighbours, city, police looking for answers

Other details appear to link Modcity to the Glenrose property on the day of the tree cutting: one of the workers identified Sadana as a person who was recently on site, while another worker said the contact number he was given for the job is Modcity’s.

City staff have confirmed that it is investigating the situation. Staff would not expand on the investigation.

Toronto police say they’re also investigating, after receiving reports of damage from a homeowner at a property on Glenrose.

CBC Toronto spoke to the arborist involved — his company is called The Tree Amigos — but was told that company is not completely sure of the identity of the person who ordered the tree cutting, since he was hired by a subcontractor.

However, he said he recognized Rohan Sadana as one of the people on site while the trees were destroyed.

A worker with a construction fencing company who was also on site showed neighbours contact information on his phone that appears to show Modcity was the company that hired him. 

The phone number listed on the phone is the same as Modcity’s. It also shows Modcity’s name and a person named Ron as the contact.

This screenshot, provided to a neighbour by a worker for the fence company that was on site while the trees were being removed, appears to confirm Modcity as the company that rented the construction fencing around the site. (Submitted by Stanley Leung)’I’m outraged’: councillor

City Coun. Dianne Saxe, whose ward includes Glenrose Avenue, noted that the city voted at its meeting in late March to stiffen enforcement of the tree bylaw, but those new measures won’t take effect until later this year.

“I’m outraged,” she said. “I don’t know for sure who cut [them] down, but we do know there is a pattern of people cutting down trees without permits.”

Saxe says the amount of money people can make by developing the property is much larger than the fine for breaching the bylaw.

She laid the blame at the feet of the provincial government which, she said, forces the city to issue building permits to developers, even after they’ve flouted the tree bylaw.

Council voted last year to ask the province to change the rules so that developers must be in compliance with the city’s tree bylaw if they are to be issued a building permit.

CBC Toronto reached out to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing more than a week ago for a response but has not yet received a reply.

Owner asked neighbour to keep an eye on the property

The problems on Glenrose Avenue began at the beginning of March, when neighbours say the owner of the property sold the property.

Then, early on March 20, crews arrived at the address and began preparing to remove trees, Leung said.

When an arborist showed up and began cutting down the trees, Leung said he asked a man who appeared to be supervising who authorized the tree cutting. He said that man briefly showed him “a form” that he said was a permit, but he refused to let Leung photograph it. 

The man later showed Leung two more forms on City of Toronto letterhead, but they turned out only to be notices indicating an application to remove the trees had been submitted to the city.

Leung says he called 311 and filed a complaint with police, but the felling of one front yard and two back yard trees was completed within hours.

Leung said he was assured by the home’s owner that he had not authorized the tree-cutting.

Neighbour Jennifer Wong said she felt ‘violated’ when the trees were suddenly removed without notice, and wants some answers from the city. (Mike Smee/CBC)Neighbours emotional over loss of trees

The removals have hit the street hard: “I don’t even want to look out my window anymore,” said Leung. “I saw [the removal] happening with my own eyes and I was unable to save its life.”

Jennifer Wong, who also lives nearby, showed CBC Toronto damage to her fence, which she said happened when one of the trees on the property came down.

Wong said she’s angry about the tree removal and wants answers.

“It became like criminal trespass and destruction of personal property,” she said. “I felt kind of violated, because we have a shared driveway.”

Sadana continues to deny Modcity’s connection to the trees’ removal.

“Modcity, as a company, has no relationship whatsoever with the subject property,” he said in an email to CBC Toronto on April 2.