(A) Permits required.
(1) No person shall plant, spray, fertilize, preserve, prune, remove, cut, or otherwise disturb any public tree without first filing an application and procuring a permit from the Commission. The person receiving the permit shall abide by the specifications contained in this subchapter.
(2) Application for permits must be made at the office of the Commission not less than 48 hours in advance of the time the work is to be done.
(3) The Commission shall issue the permit provided for herein if, in its judgment, the proposed work is desirable and the proposed method and workmanship thereof are of a satisfactory nature. Any permit granted shall contain a definite date of expiration and the work shall be completed in the time allowed on the permit and in the manner as therein described. Any permit shall be void if its terms are violated.
(4) Notice of completion shall be given within five days to the Commission for its inspection.
(B) Planting.
(1) The application required herein shall state the number of trees to be set out; the location, grade, species, cultivar, or variety of each tree; the method of planting; and such other information as the Commission shall find reasonably necessary to make a fair determination of whether a permit should be issued.
(2) Whenever any tree shall be planted or set out in conflict with the provisions of this section, the Commission shall so notify the property owner either personally or by certified mail and may direct the property owner to remove the same. If the property owner shall fail to remove the same within five days of the date of the notice, it shall be lawful for the Commission to remove or cause removal of the same, and the cost thereof plus 10% shall be assessed to the owner as provided by law in the case of special assessments or municipal claims.
(C) Maintenance at property owner’s request.
(1) The application required herein shall state the number of trees to be sprayed, fertilized, pruned, or otherwise preserved; the kind of treatment to be administered; the composition of the spray material to be applied; and such other information as the Commission shall find reasonably necessary to make a fair determination of whether a permit should be issued.
(2) No concrete or other material which could create a hazard when cutting or trimming a tree may be utilized to repair a wound in said tree.
(D) Removal, replanting, and replacement.
(1) Wherever it is necessary to remove a tree or trees from a treelawn in connection with the paving of sidewalk or the paving or widening of the portion of a street or highway used for vehicular traffic by the borough, the borough shall replant such trees or replace them. Provided that conditions prevent planting on treelawns, this requirement will be satisfied if any equivalent number of trees of the same size at maturity and species as provided for in this subchapter are planted in an attractive manner on the adjoining property.
(2) (a) No person or property owner shall remove a tree from the treelawn for the purpose of construction, or for any other reason, without first filing an application and procuring a permit from the Commission, and without replacing the removed tree or trees.
(b) Such replacement shall meet the standards of size, species, and placement as provided for in a permit. The person or property owner shall bear the cost of removal and replacement of all trees removed.
(E) Hazardous, obstructing, and/or diseased trees.
(1) It shall be the duty of any person or persons owning or occupying real property bordering on any street upon which property there may be trees located within or projecting within said street, to prune such trees in such manner that they will not contain hazardous limbs, obstruct, or shade the street lights, obstruct the passage of pedestrians on sidewalks, obstruct vision of traffic signs, or obstruct view of any street or alley intersection. The minimum clearance of any overhanging portion thereof shall be ten feet over sidewalks and 16 feet over all streets.
(2) It shall be the duty of any person or persons owning or occupying real property bordering on any street upon which property there may be trees located within or projecting within said street to remove such hazardous trees.
(3) It shall be the duty of any person or persons owning or occupying real property in the borough upon which property there may be trees to remove said trees or parts thereof should they, in the opinion of the Commission, constitute a potential threat to other trees within the borough due to their harboring of insects or disease.
(F) Notice to prune/remove. Should any person or persons owning real property within the borough fail to prune/remove trees as herein above provided, the Commission shall order such person or persons, within 30 days after receipt of written notice, to so prune/remove such trees.
(G) Order required. The order required herein shall be served by mailing a copy of the order to the last known address of the property owner, by certified mail.
(H) Failure to comply. When a person to whom an order is directed shall fail to comply within the specified time, it shall be lawful for the borough to prune/remove such trees, and the cost thereof plus 10% shall be assessed to the property owner for each time that the borough or its agents must conduct the work.
(I) Abuse or mutilation of public trees.
(1) Unless specifically authorized by the Commission, no person shall intentionally damage, cut, carve, transplant, or remove any tree; attach any rope, wire, nails, advertising posters, or other contrivance to any tree; allow any gaseous, liquid, or solid substance which is harmful to such trees to come in contact with them; or set fire or permit any fire to burn when such fire or the heat thereof will injure any portion of any tree.
(2) It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to top any public tree. Trees 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 division (I)(2) at the determination of the Commission.
(J) Interference with Shade Tree Commission. No person shall hinder, prevent, delay, or interfere with the Commission or any of their assistants while engaged in carrying out the execution or enforcement of this subchapter, regulations, and the like; provided, however, that nothing herein shall be construed as an attempt to prohibit the pursuit of any remedy, legal or equitable, in any court of competent jurisdiction for the protection of property rights by the owner of any property within the borough.
(K) Protection of trees.
(1) All public trees near any excavation or construction of any building, structure, or street work shall be guarded with a good substantial fence, frame, or box not less than four feet high and eight feet square, or at a distance in feet from the tree equal to the diameter of the trunk in inches D.B.H., whichever is greater, and all building material, dirt, or other debris shall be kept outside the barrier.
(2) No person shall excavate any ditches, tunnels, trenches, or lay any drive within a radius of 15 feet from any public tree without first obtaining a written permit from the Commission.
(L) Placing materials on public property. No person shall deposit, place, store, or maintain upon any public area of the borough, any stone, brick, sand, concrete, or other materials which may impede the free passage of water, air, and fertilizer to the roots of any tree growing therein, except by written permit of the Commission.
(Prior Code, Ch. 25, Pt. 1, § 104) (Ord. 2-90, passed 6-4-1990) Penalty, see § 92.999