Feature Writer
He's been called a grass Nazi and a pompous bureaucrat who overstepped his authority and he's even been called a jerk, but Bill Blakes stands by the city's decision to raze a woman's front lawn garden in east Toronto.
"Honest to God, I have never – and I have dealt with some pretty controversial issues – never in my life have I had a reaction like this," Blakes, the Scarborough District manager for Municipal Licensing and Standards said yesterday. "Never. That's dealing with body rub parlous, strip clubs, lap dancing, smoking. Never."
Blakes said he's received about 80 emails and phone calls from as far away as Parry Sound since it was reported Tuesday that the city razed a natural garden belonging to Deborah Dale, a biologist and past-president of the North American Native Plant Society.
Dale is seeking $10,000 in compensation from the city for the plants, which she says included two eight-year-old fragrant sumacs, giant purple hyssops and four varieties of milkweed in front of her home on Crittenden Sq., near Finch Ave. and Markham Road.
"Some people have just yelled and screamed. Some people have been courteous enough to leave their name," said Blakes, 51, a city employee for 19 years. "Those who have I've returned their calls."
Blakes says callers believe the city is waging war against natural gardens, and nothing could be further from the truth: a properly tended natural garden would never be razed, he said, pointing out that the city itself is working to naturalize city parks.
"This natural garden – I'm sure there was some wild grass and stuff like that in it – but there was also a dead raccoon. The people next door were complaining of the stench."
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