Section
1018.01 Purpose; title
1018.02 Definitions
1018.03 Urban Forester
1018.04 Planting and/or removal of trees; permit required
1018.05 Replacement of trees
1018.06 Pruning of trees
1018.07 Pruning or removal of trees on private property
1018.08 Abuse and/or mutilation of public trees
1018.09 Protection of trees near construction work
1018.10 Placing of material injurious to trees on public property
1018.11 Noticed to correct; service; noncompliance; remedy of city
1018.12 Emergencies
1018.13 Interference with Urban Forester or agent
1018.99 Enforcement and penalty
Editor’s note:
This chapter, previously titled Trees, Shrubs and Hedges, was repealed and re-enacted in its entirety by Ordinance 199-94, passed October 24, 1994 and amended in its entirety by Ordinance 23-84, passed May 9, 2023.
(a) The purpose of this chapter is to establish a framework for the development and sustainability of the city’s urban forest to maximize the benefits for all residents through the orderly planting, maintaining, care and preservation of trees, shrubs and hedges in the public ways and on all city property.
(b) This chapter shall be known as the Avon Lake Municipal Tree Ordinance.
(Ord. 199-94, passed 10-24-1994; Ord. 23-84, passed 5-9-2023)
For the purpose of this chapter the following terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meanings given herein. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future, words in the plural include the singular, and words in the singular include the plural. The word “shall” is mandatory and not merely directory.
ADMINISTRATIVE COMMUNICATION. A written, typed or printed document.
BOARD CONTROLLED PUBLIC PLACES. All current and future grounds placed under board control by the Charter, such as the Board of Utilities and the Board of Education in the city.
CITY. The City of Avon Lake, Lorain County, State of Ohio.
EMERGENCY. The immediate necessity for the preservation of public peace, health and safety.
HEDGE. A row of closely planted shrubs or low-growing trees forming a fence or boundary.
LARGE TREES. Those trees attaining a height of 45 feet or more.
MEDIUM TREES. Those trees attaining a height of 30 to 45 feet.
PARK. All public parks having individual names.
PARK AND STREET TREES DEPARTMENT. The Public Works Department, which is the designated department of the city under whose jurisdiction park and/or street trees fall.
PERSON. Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company or organization of any kind.
PRINCIPAL THOROUGHFARE. Any street upon which trucks are not prohibited.
PRIVATE PROPERTY. All grounds not owned by the city.
PROPERTY LINE. The outer edge of a street or highway.
PROPERTY OWNER. The person owning such property as shown by the County Auditor’s Plat of Lorain County, Ohio.
PUBLIC PLACES. All non-board-controlled grounds owned by the city.
PUBLIC TREES. All shade and ornamental trees now or hereafter growing on a tree lawn or any public place where otherwise indicated.
SHRUB. A woody plant of relatively low height, distinguished from a tree by having several stems protruding from the ground.
SMALL TREES. Those attaining a height of 20 to 30 feet.
STREET and HIGHWAY. The entire width of every public way or right-of-way when any part thereof is open to the use of the public, as a matter of right, for purposes of vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
TREE. A tall, woody plant, distinguished from a shrub by having comparatively greater height and, characteristically, a single trunk with multiple branches rather than several stems protruding from the ground.
TREE LAWN. That part of a street or highway, not covered by a sidewalk or other paving, lying between the property line and that portion of the street or highway usually used for vehicular traffic.
URBAN FORESTER. The Urban Forester of the city, manages and implements the goals of this chapter.
(Ord. 199-94, passed 10-24-1994; Ord. 43-2014, passed 4-14-2014; Ord. 23-84, passed 5-9-2023)
There is hereby established the position of Urban Forester in and for the city, and the city hereby adopts the Avon Lake Arboricultural Specifications and Standards of Practice.
(a) Duties. The Urban Forester shall abide by and have the authority to promulgate rules and regulations under authority of the Avon Lake Arboricultural Specifications and Standards of Practice, which rules and regulations shall govern the planting, maintenance, removal, mulching, fertilization, pruning and bracing of trees on the tree lawns and public places in the city, and the Urban Forester shall direct, regulate and control the planting, maintenance and removal of all trees growing now or hereafter in any tree lawn or public place in the city. He or she shall cause the provisions of this chapter to be enforced. In his or her absence, these duties shall be the responsibility of a qualified person designated by the city.
(b) Authority.
(1) In general. The Urban Forester shall have the authority and jurisdiction to regulate the planting, maintenance, and removal of trees in tree lawns and public places to ensure safety and preserve the aesthetics of such public sites.
(2) Supervision. The Urban Forester shall have the authority and it shall be his or her duty to supervise or inspect all work done under a permit issued in accordance with the terms of this chapter.
(3) Condition of permit. The Urban Forester shall have the authority to affix reasonable conditions to the granting of a permit in accordance with the terms of this chapter.
(4) Master street tree plan. The Urban Forester shall have the authority to formulate or modify the master street tree plan with the advice, a hearing, and the approval of the Tree Commission. The master street tree plan shall specify the species of tree to be planted on each of the streets in the city. From and after the effective date of the master street tree plan, or any amendment thereof, all planting shall conform thereto. Appendix C of the Avon Lake Arboricultural Specifications and Standards of Practice contains the Avon Lake master street tree plan.
A. The Urban Forester shall consider all existing and future utility and environmental factors when recommending a specific species for each of the streets and other public sites of the city.
B. The Urban Forester, with the approval of the Tree Commission, shall have the authority to amend or add to the master street tree plan at any time that circumstances make it advisable. The master street tree plan is to be reviewed and updated every five years. New streets and improved cultivars in trees are to be considered.
C. The Urban Forester shall maintain tree related records and reference material, including a street and park tree inventory.
(5) Arboricultural Specifications and Standards of Practice. The Urban Forester or the Tree Commission shall have the authority to modify, amend or extend the Avon Lake Arboricultural Specifications and Standards of Practice, with the approval of the city department heads and the Tree Commission, at any time that experience or technology indicates improved methods or whenever circumstances make it advisable. Council must approve any changes to policy or procedure. Other changes require only notification of Council.
(Ord. 199-94, passed 10-24-1994; Ord. 23-84, passed 5-9-2023)
(a) Board-controlled places do not require a permit for planting, pruning, maintenance or removal of trees, shrubs or hedges, but said Board must administratively communicate all activity to the Urban Forester to preserve current records.
(b) Except as provided in division (a) of this section, no other person shall plant any tree, shrub or hedge upon any tree lawn or public place unless he or she shall have first obtained a permit in writing from the Urban Forester specifying the size, type, species and location on the tree lawn or public place so to be planted. Approval to plant requires adherence to the specifications set forth in the Avon Lake Arboricultural Specifications and Standards of Practice.
(c) The Urban Forester shall have the authority to deny a permit to any person who proposes to plant any tree or shrub upon a tree lawn or public place of a size, type or species found to be undesirable by the Urban Forester or found to be undesirable for the location proposed, or he or she may deny a permit to any person who proposes to plant any tree, shrub or hedge upon a tree lawn or public place at a location found by the Urban Forester to be of a size or type unsuitable for planting of trees, shrubs or hedges.
(d) Hereafter, when any tree is planted in a tree lawn or public place and is in conflict with specifications of the master street tree plan, as found in the Avon Lake Arboricultural Specifications and Standards of Practice, it shall be lawful for the city to request tree, shrub, hedge, or stump removal by the property owner within 30 days.
(e) The Tree Commission shall develop and maintain a list, found in the Avon Lake Arboricultural Specifications and Standards of Practice, of desirable and undesirable large, medium, and small trees for planting in tree lawns and public places.
(f) Trees planted upon a tree lawn or public place may be removed by the city as necessary to protect the public health, safety, welfare and aesthetics. The Urban Forester may cause the removal of any such tree by using city employees or private contractors under contract with the city. Stump grinding and restoration of tree lawn grass shall take place when trees are replaced or removed.
(Prior Code, § 1018.05) (Ord. 199-94, passed 10-24-1994; Ord. 21-182, passed 12-20-2021; Ord. 23-84, passed 5-9-2023)
Any person or property owner granted permission to remove a tree from tree lawns or public places for the purpose of construction shall replace the removed tree or trees with a species designated on the master street tree plan as part of the city’s Street Tree Program. The person or property owner shall bear the cost of replacing all trees removed. Projects initiated by the city shall have the replacement costs included in the project costs. Trees removed by the city or in Board-controlled places are to be replaced. Replacing trees in the same location is not necessary and sometimes not practical. The city shall only pay for tree replacement when the original tree was part of the city’s Street Tree Program funded by the original developer.
(Prior Code, § 1018.06) (Ord. 199-94, passed 10-24-1994; Ord. 21-182, passed 12-20-2021; Ord. 23-84, passed 5-9-2023)
(a) Every owner of any tree overhanging any public street, sidewalk or right-of-way within the city shall prune the branches of such trees so that the branches will not obstruct or shade any street lights; obstruct the view of traffic signs or street intersection, or obstruct the passage of pedestrians on public sidewalks so that there shall be a clear space of at least 14 feet above the surface of the street or seven feet above the surface of the public sidewalk.
(b) The city shall have the right to prune any tree or shrub on private property when it interferes with the light from a street light, the visibility of any traffic control device, sign or intersection, obstructs the passage of pedestrians on public sidewalks, or generally obstructs vehicular, bicycle, or pedestrian traffic.
(c) Pruning of public trees by persons other than the city, persons contracted for by the city, or persons approved by the Urban Forester, requires a permit which identifies each tree being pruned and the type of pruning.
(d) No person, firm or city department shall top any public tree. TOPPING is defined as the severe cutting back of limbs to stubs larger than three inches in diameter within the tree’s crown to such a degree so as to remove the normal canopy and disfigure the tree. Public trees that have been severely damaged by storms or other causes, or certain trees under utility wires or other obstructions where other pruning practices are impractical, may be exempted from this section at the determination of the Urban Forester.
(Prior Code, § 1018.07) (Ord. 199-94, passed 10-24-1994; Ord. 23-84, passed 5-9-2023)
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