Regina homeowner says city owned trees have damaged his property for years and cost him roughly $20K

Another local homeowner says trees owned by the City of Regina have caused damaged to his property for years and has resulted in tens of thousands of dollars spent from his own pocket.

Kevin Callele has owned his property in the Argyle Park/Englewood neighbourhood since the early 1980s.

Over that timespan he says he has spent roughly $20,000 repairing his lawn and driveway from the roots of the trees running underground.

During a construction job it was revealed how close the trees had moved towards his house.

“They dug 18 feet along the perimeter of the house. There was roots from the tree at street-level along side our house,” Callele said.

Three years ago, an $11,000 rubber membrane was installed for a parking spot. Callele said it is also now being damaged by tree roots.

Callele spoke with the city about his options, including getting them removed but says he didn’t get a constructive answer.

He learned about the tree removal process but was told he likely wouldn’t be approved for it. Paying the entire bill would be apart of this procedure.

In a statement to CTV News, the City of Regina said, “Aside from safety concerns, only the City of Regina can remove city-owned trees under certain conditions.”

CTV News spoke with insurance broker Duskyk & Barlow, who said there currently isn’t any insurance available for landscaping damages caused by trees. There likely won’t be any updates to this insurance policies in the near future, the company said.

Callele hopes the city will review its current tree bylaws and policies, as well as include the input of those impacted by the issue.

“I’m sure this isn’t unique. I think there’s lots of areas in the city where there are mature trees that citizens must be experiencing the same,” said Callele.

In early October CTV News spoke with Regina resident Murray Yagelinski, who said a city-owned tree was one of the main issues behind his basement flooding.

He claimed tree roots were clogging the main sewar line from his home and that he was forced to call a plumber to clear the roots out three to four times a year at a cost of around $400 each time.

“I’ve been here for 12 years, it’s just something I’m used to, it’s something I have to do,” he told CTV News on Oct. 7.

Like Callele, Yagelinski also inquired about having a tree removed but was told if a tree is healthy the city does not want to remove it.

Instead, they said that residents will be reimbursed of the costs to clean out sewar pipes once every six months.

As of 2022, the City of Regina had more than 500,000 hand planted trees maintained by city staff.

— With files from Donovan Maess.