Toronto Islands residents rally to save arborist's business from city changes that could shut it down

A group of residents on the Toronto Islands are rallying to save the business of a local arborist who says unexpected changes from the city could force him to shut down.

Hundreds of people gathered last weekon Ward's Island to sign a petition calling for Tyler Gantonto be allowed to continue using city-owned sites on Centre Island to store his tree maintenance equipment and dump organicwaste, like brush, logs and soil.

"[He] is such an essential part of maintaining the island," said Faye Jordan, a local resident who signed the petition.

"If there's an emergency, he's there."

Ganton grew up on Ward's Island and he has spent the last 20 yearsplanting and pruning treesfor hundreds of his neighbours.

His company, We Care Tree Care, disposes of brush and logs at a municipaldump site. He also keeps his work truck and tool shed in an area of theToronto IslandPark.

But now,the city says he can't do that anymore. Last month, staff sent Ganton a cease-and-desist lettersaying he cannot use city-owned spacefor his private business, citing safety concerns as an issue.

"We understand that you have been operating in some form or another in thislocation for years, and in recognition of that historic relationship, we areextending the timeline for you to fully vacate the parks yard until November 30th, 2023. This should facilitate a winding down of your footprint in the parks yard,and allow ample time for you to plan for the future," the city said in a letter to Ganton dated June 20.

Ganton saidthat would mean he'll have to bringa truck and trailer full of organic waste back and forth to the mainland on the ferry, costing him $700 per trip. That's a price tag Ganton says he and his customers could not afford andcould put him out of business.

"The issue is that no other companies really want to come over to the island to do this kind of work ... I live here and I want to continue working here," he said.

City sayspublic parks can't be used for commercial reasons

Ganton says he hasusedthe dump for 20 years and the storage area for seven. He saidthere is a fence around his storage area andargues it's not unsafe for city employees.

The city confirmed in an email statement that it had issueda series of permits to Ganton from 2014 to 2021to store equipment within a 100 metre-by-100 metre area, but the most recent permit expired on Dec. 31, 2021.

The city added that those permits don't givepermission to use city property for commercial purposes.The city said Ganton's use of the park violates the municipal code, which says "unless authorized by permit, no person shall, while in a park, practice, carry on or solicit for a trade, occupation, business or profession."

"City staff became aware that Mr. Ganton was using city space for commercial purposes," the statement said. "All of these activities go well beyond what was originally authorized under the Parks Access Agreement."

Gantonsaid he has applied to renew his permit and was waiting for a response from a city. He saidthe cease-and-desist letterwas a shock because hepreviously had a very good relationship with the city.

"I've done tree tours for the city, I've helped run the tree tours, I've helped do other stuff around kids programs, building outdoor classrooms for the island school and the natural science school," he said.

Organic waste should stay on the island, residents say

Many local residents agree that organic waste should stay on the islands.

"I think the travesty of this is taking something so precious a raw material and taking it away from this land, which needs it.We need it," said resident Leida Englar.

Ganton said dumping organic waste on the islands helps to build up nutrients in the soil, which are increasingly being lost to erosion and flooding after major rain storms.

Three years ago, the The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and the city started flood prevention work on the islands after a water level rise caused flooding.Mitigation efforts by the authority included shipping rocks and dirt from the city to the islands to build up the shoreline.

Islanders say they fear that if they lose Ganton's services, residents will take matters into their own hands.

"My biggest fear is people will cut down their own trees, hurt themselves, but also, they'll take branches and try to trim and they'll just throw stuff all over the park," said resident April Hickox.

For many on the islands, Ganton is like family. Englar saw him grow up.

"It's not that we don't like people to come over from the city to help us. It's just that Tyler grew up here and since [he was small hasloved] nature, and so it means a lot to us," she said.