14.40.320 Unlawful acts.

   No person shall damage, cut, carve upon, transplant or remove any tree or plant, or injure the bark or pick the flowers or seeds of any tree or plant; nor shall any person attach any rope, wire or other contrivance to any tree or plant; nor climb any tree; nor walk, stand or sit upon monuments, vases, fountains, railings, fences or upon any other property not designated or customarily used for such purposes. A person shall not dig in or otherwise disturb grass areas or in any other way injure or impair the natural beauty or usefulness of any area.

(Prior code §23.60 (Ord. 224 §213, Ord. 355 §213, Ord. 560 §11), Ord. 2479 §17)

14.40.325 Violation - Penalty.

   A.   Except as otherwise provided in Section 14.40.325(B), any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter of this code shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor or an infraction and may be enforced by the filing of a criminal action by the city attorney or the issuance of an administrative citation in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 1.15 of this code.

   B.   Notwithstanding Section 14.40.325(A), a violation of Section 14.40.320 shall be a misdemeanor and may be enforced by the filing of a criminal action by the city attorney or the issuance of an administrative citation in accordance with Chapter 1.15 of this code.

(Ord. 2479 §§16, 18)

ARTICLE V. HEARING - APPEAL

14.40.330 Hearing.

   Should any person be aggrieved by reason of any order of the commission made pursuant to this chapter, such person shall be entitled to a hearing before the commission in person and with counsel, if desired. Such hearing shall be granted upon written request made within 10 days from receipt of notice of the order of the commission. The commission shall set and hold such a hearing within 35 days from the date of such request. Such request shall be in writing and signed by the person requesting the hearing and shall set forth the reasons or grounds for protest against the commission order. No special form of request shall be required. The commission shall make a final determination upon such hearing within 35 days of the date upon which such hearing was terminated.

(Prior code § 23.61 (Ord. 852 §31), Ord. 2268)

14.40.340 Appeal.

   Any person aggrieved by any order of the commission or of the director, made pursuant to this chapter (except any order made pursuant to Section 14.40.270) shall have the right to appeal such determination to the city council pursuant to the provisions contained in Chapter 2.80 of this code. A person aggrieved is a person who is significantly affected by the action appealed from. Significant effect refers to an effect significantly greater than the effect that the action appealed from has generally upon all citizens of the city.

   There is no right to appeal from any action taken pursuant to the provisions of Section 14.40.270 of this code, nor is there any right to appeal with respect to an application of the kind referred to in Section 14.40.350 of this code.

(Prior code § 23.62 (Ord. 1072 §2, Ord. 2004 §14, Ord. 2364 §172))

14.40.350 Failure of commission to act on permit - Action by council.

   Notwithstanding other provisions of this code to the contrary, when the director or some other authorized officer of the public works department, makes application under the provisions of this chapter for the removal of trees or shrubs for the purpose of making way for public works, that application shall be brought before the commission at its next regular meeting following the making of such application. The commission may either authorize and direct the granting of such permit as applied for (including the imposition of waiving of conditions as requested in the application) or the commission may make its recommendations concerning such application and cause the same to be transmitted to the city council. The city council shall consider such application and such recommendations of the commission at its next regular meeting. The city council shall thereafter take such action as it deems appropriate. If the commission shall fail within thirty-five days after its first regular meeting following the making of the application to either grant such permit or make its recommendations and transmit them to the city council, then the city council may deem such failure as a recommendation of denial and may proceed to act upon such application as it deems appropriate. No determination or order made by the commission under this section shall be appealable.

(Prior code § 23.63 (Ord. 852 §3, Ord. 2364 §173), Ord. 2439 §96)