Discussions

This morning, I woke up to seeing a new planted tree at the front of my property. I never had a tree in my property that I have been living for over 20yrs. Is this something the city of Brandon can do at anytime? Can I have them remove the tree? Why are they doing this? No new trees were planted in my neighbourhood.

I guess the first question should be, was it actually your property? It's not the city owned property between the side walk and the road as example?  
 
If that's the case, yes they can plant trees when they want. They can cut them down too. No idea if they would move it.

Yes it’s my property. There’s no sidewalk. It’s the street then property. Tree planted about 7 feet from the edge of the curb.

7 feet from the edge of the road , no sidewalk and that’s still municipal property at my own house ( which is in town). To be certain you might have to have it surveyed and marked out. It would depend on the width of the road allowance.

I just measured mine and from the edge of the road to the survey peg ( or my actual lot frontage ) is 25 feet. Yours might be different but I’d make sure first.

It's so strange that out of the blue, they planted the tree. I don't see any reason to.

If that is the case they should be responsible for the maintenance of their property (ie. mowing) around the tree they newly planted.

We live on a street that has a sidewalk then a grassy boulevard with city trees.  
It's our responsibility to maintain the grass on the  
boulevard along with shoveling the snow on the city owned sidewalk outside of our property.  
If the city trees need trimmed the city will come and take care of that

I would check the Community Standards By-law before posting misleading information like that. City Council just held several debates about that very topic.

If I was to use my property as an example, from the curb to my actual property line is well over seven feet.  
 
The property owner is responsible for the grass cutting on the city side of the property up to the curb, it's been that way for years.  
 
By now though, we should all be aware that a great deal of information we see on the internet is wrong, or at best misleading. Best to check on your own for good factual information.

has always puzzled me that the authority can pass a Bylaw making other people responsible for the maintenance of property, that not only does not belong to them, but that they cannot use for their own purposes ( dig up and plant).  
Following this logically, they could pass a Bylaw making the owners of buildings next to council offices responsible for their upkeep and repair.  
It would be interesting from a legal standpoint to know how it would play out in a court.  
It is also short sighted from the authorities as they could then employ more people for longer terms to maintain their property, summer and winter. Money (wages) stay in the community, stores benefit, housing benefits by creating more demand from employees who might otherwise leave for other towns.  
Just my thoughts.

I think the rule of thumb is everything on the house side of the city water supply line is your's. Everything on the road side of the water line is city owned. Check and see where your water cut off is. The tree will probably be on the city side of your yard. Or.....you can just call the parks department. The last time I dealt with them, they were good at answering all my questions.  
Ph: 204-729-2148

I don't know if there still is, but there used to be a provision where you could dig up and plant the boulevard in front of your home with a garden. You had to keep it maintained though. There was a house on 6th St. that did this all the time.

What a strange thing to be angry about…

What makes you think I’m angry? I’m not happy that they decided to plant a tree there blocking my view plus there never was a tree there before and I’ve been here over 20yrs and the original owner. Why didn’t they consulted with me first? What about the potential of the tree roots damaging my driveway? I can see once the tree grew up, it’s going to block the Stop sign.

Reread my post. I said "should be". Please read before responding to posts.

Did you check with city to see why they planted it ?  
Maybe it’s wrong address?  
 
In some cities owners can request a tree be planted on their property, maybe it’s a mistake.  
 
Edited by Mac72, 2023-09-28 13:37:00

Am wondering if you got clarification on why tree got planted on property, My thought was is within 7 foot of curbing it is on city property.

From the center of the road, it is 25’. But can vary more or less depending on the property.  
Residential, commercial doesn't matter.  
One lane for driving. One lane for parking. Then an additional area for public use. Either a sidewalk, utilities, street lights or a tree.  
Anything the city wants to do on their property  
No one owns the land in front of your house or business all the way to the street.

https://gisapp.brandon.ca/webmaps/taxassessment/  
Use this link. Top left switch to hybrid overlay. Zoom to your address.  
It shows you the property lines for all properties in Brandon

would suggest contacting the city and voicing your concerns to the department responsible . Maybe it was a error on their behalf . That being said if it is on their property then they have the right to located it on city owned property. They will be able to identify to you were your property line ends and their begins. Better to talk to the people to placed it in that location .