Many St. John's residents have had a negative reaction to the proposed tree fee that began circulating through city council last week.

Kenmount Terrace resident John Fitzgerald says the proposed idea points to a larger problem at city hall.

"It's the problem of the lack of planning at city hall, and it's the problem of lack of planning and the lack of engaging with developers before they start with the backhoes and the excavators," Fitzgerald said.

He said that there was no need for developers to tear down the forest that used to populate the area he now lives in.

"The solution is not to go in and take all these things down and then all of a sudden come back to the homeowners," Fitzgerald said. "This is a tax grab."

Small price to pay?

Council member Sheilagh O'Leary, one of the supporters of the proposition, said that if a homeowner can afford a new home, then a tree fee of $500 should not be a problematic added expense.

"Let's be realistic about it - if you're building your own home ... then $500 to implement two trees that are actually going to help mitigate the potential of flooding in your own home, let alone enhance the property value, that's a plus."

There are concerns for the health and environment of people in communities that lack tree growth.

"We cannot take this tree growth out from the community and expect everything is going to be okay," O'Leary said.

Some homeowners are not convinced.

"The point is, the city has got this backwards," Fitzgerald said. "They need to be talking with developers, and they need to be preventing the developers from taking down trees before they say 'Oh, they're all gone, we must plant some.' It's crazy."