The Department of Public Works or their designee, shall inspect or cause to be inspected any trees or shrubs in the city reported or suspected to be dead, diseased, or damaged, and such trees and shrubs shall be subject to the following:
(A) City property. If it is determined that any such condition exists on public property, including the strip between the curb and the lot line of private property, the Council may cause such condition to be corrected by treatment or removal. The Council may also order the removal of any trees in the streets of the city which interfere with the making of improvements or with travel thereon. Damaged or dying parkway trees may be removed by the city.
(B) Private property. If it is determined with reasonable certainty that any such condition exists on private property and that danger to other trees or to adjoining property or passing motorists or pedestrians is imminent, the Building and Neighborhood Services Department ("BNS"), its authorized designee or any third party specialist with whom BNS contracts for making such determinations, shall notify by certified mail the owner, occupant, or person in charge of such property to correct such condition(s) by treatment or removal within 14 days of the date of said notification. If such owner, occupant, or person in charge of said property fails to comply within 14 days from the date of such notice, BNS, or its authorized designee, may cause the condition to be corrected and the costs of said work shall be assessed against the property.
(Iowa Code §§ 364.12(3)(b), 364.12(3)(h)) (Ord. 2437, passed 12-14-2010; Ord. 2630, passed 1-28-2020)
Penalty, see § 98.99