(A) Injury to trees prohibited. No person shall, without the written permission from the Urban Forest Director in the case of a public tree, do or cause to be done to others, any of the following acts:
(1) Secure, fasten or run any rope, wire, sign or other device or material to, around or through a tree;
(2) Break, injure, mutilate, deface, kill or destroy or permit any fire to burn where it will injure any tree;
(3) Permit any toxic chemical, gas, smoke, brine, oil or other injurious substance to seep, drain or to be emptied upon or about any tree;
(4) Excavate any ditch or trench in such a manner as to adversely affect the health of a tree or damage the root system;
(5) Erect, alter, repair or raze any building or structure without placing suitable guards around all nearby trees which may be injured or defaced by or where said injury or defacement may arise out of, in connection with or by reason of such operation;
(6) Knowingly permit any uninsulated electric transmission or distribution wires to come in prolonged contact with any public tree; and
(7) Remove any guard, stake or other device or material intended for the protection of any public tree or close or obstruct any open space about the base of a public tree designed to permit access of air, water and fertilizer.
(B) Moving trees. All moving of trees upon any public place in the city made necessary by the moving, construction or razing of a building or structure by any other private enterprise shall be done under the supervision of the Urban Forest Director at the expense of the applicant. Such applicant, as one of the conditions of obtaining such permission, shall deposit with the city such sum in cash as the Urban Forest Director may determine and specify to cover all the costs of moving and replacement thereof; provided, however, that, in lieu of such cash deposit the Urban Forest Director may, at his or her discretion, accept a good and sufficient bond in like amount conditioned upon the payment of all the costs of such moving and replacing.
(C) Spacing. The spacing of street trees will be in accordance with the tree species size classes listed in the street tree inventory, and no trees may be planted closer together than the following: small trees, 30 feet; medium trees, 40 feet; and large trees, 50 feet; except in the special plantings designed or approved by a landscape architect and subject to the approval of the City Tree Board.
(D) Distance from curb and sidewalks. The distance trees may be planted from curbs or curblines and sidewalks will be in accordance with the three species size classes listed in the street tree inventory, and no trees may be planted closer to any curb or sidewalk than the following: small trees, two feet; medium trees, three feet; and large trees, four feet.
(E) Distance from street corners and fireplugs. No street tree shall be planted closer than 35 feet of any street corner, measured from the point of nearest intersecting curbs or curblines. No street tree shall be planted closer than ten feet of any fireplug.
(F) Utilities. No street trees other than those species listed as small trees in the street tree inventory may be planted under or within ten lateral feet of any overhead utility wire pole or over or within five lateral feet of any underground water line, sewer line, transmission line or other utility. No street tree may be planted within ten lateral feet of any utility pole.
(G) Public tree care.
(1) The city shall have the right to plant, prune, maintain and remove trees, plants and shrubs within the line of all streets, alleys, avenues, lanes, squares and public grounds, as may be necessary to ensure public safety or to preserve or enhance the symmetry and beauty of such public grounds.
(2) The Urban Forest Director may request the Street Department to remove any tree or part thereof which is in an unsafe condition, thereof which by reason of its nature, is injurious to sewers, electric power lines, gas lines, water lines or other public improvements, or is affected with any injurious fungus, insect or other pest. This section does not prohibit the planting of street trees by adjacent property owners providing that the selection and location of said trees is in accordance with this subchapter.
(H) Tree topping. It shall be unlawful, as a normal practice, for any person, firm or city department to top any street tree, park tree or other tree on public property. 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 as to remove the normal canopy and disfigure the tree. Trees severely damaged by storms or other causes, or certain trees under utility wires or other obstructions may be exempted from this subchapter at the determination of the Urban Forest Director.
(I) Pruning, corner clearance. Every owner of any tree overhanging any street or right-of-way within the city shall prune the branches so that such branches shall not obstruct the light from any street lamp or obstruct the view of any street intersection and so that there shall be a clear space of nine feet above sidewalks and 12 feet above the surface of the street. Said owners shall remove all dead, diseased or dangerous trees, or broken or decayed limbs which constitute a menace to the safety of the public. The city shall have the right to prune any tree or shrub on private property when it interferes with the proper spread of light along the street from a street light or interferes with visibility of any traffic control device or sign or obstructs the view of any street intersection.
(J) Dead or diseased tree removal on private property. The city shall have the right to cause the removal of any dead or diseased trees on private property within the city, when such trees constitute a hazard to life and property, or harbor insects of disease which constitute a potential threat to other trees within the city. The designated city department will notify in writing the owners of such trees. Removal shall be done by said owners at their own expense within 60 days after the date of service of notice. For a hazardous condition, the owner will have 14 days to correct.
(K) Penalty. In the event of failure of owners to comply with such provisions, the city shall have the authority to remove such trees and placed a lien on the owner’s property to recover all costs incurred. Until such bills or liens are paid in full, no occupancy permits will be issued by the city.
(L) Removal of stumps. All stumps of street and park trees shall be removed below the surface of the ground so that the top of the stump shall not project above the surface of the ground.
(1960 Code, § 40-5-7) (Ord. 5363, passed 3-6-1995; Ord. 8236-2018, passed 8-20-2018) Penalty, see § 158.999