(a) Definitions.
(1) "Person" means any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company, or "organization of any kind.
(2) "Street or Highway" means the entire width of every public way, easement of right-of-way when any part thereof is open to the public, as a matter of right, for the purpose of vehicular and pedestrian traffic, and shall include alleys.
(3) "Public Places" shall include all other grounds owned by the City of Clyde.
(4) "Property Line" means the outer edge of a street or highway.
(5) "Treelawn" means the part of a street or highway, lying between the property line and that portion of the street or highway usually used for vehicular traffic.
(6) "Property Owner" means the person owning such property as shown by the County Auditor's Plat of the City of Clyde, Sandusky County, Ohio, including the executor, administrator, or beneficiary of the estate of a deceased owner.
(7) "Tree" means a tall growing woody plant with one or more perennial main stems or truck, which develops branches from the aerial section of the stem, rather than from the base; capable of being pruned to at least six (6) feet of clear branchless trunk below crown within five (5) years of planting.
(8) "Shrub" means a low growing woody plant with one or several perennial main stems producing branches, shoots, or multiple stems from or near the base of the plant and incapable of being pruned to provide at least six (6) feet of clear branchless trunk within five (5) years of planting.
(9) "Public Trees" shall include all shade and ornamental trees now or hereafter growing on any public places.
(10) "Right-of-Way" means any portion of the public way, street, alley, or sidewalk.
(11) "Tree Topping" means the severe cutting back of limbs to stubs of three (3) inches or more in diameter within the tree's crown to such a degree as to remove the normal canopy and disfigure the tree.
(b) Duty of Private Property Owner.
(1) It shall be the duty of any property owner owning or occupying property bordering on right-of-way upon which property there may be trees or shrubs, to prune or cause to be pruned such tree or shrub in a manner that they will not shade or obstruct street lights, street signs, or obstruct pedestrian or vehicular traffic on sidewalks or streets.
(2) It shall be the duty of any person owning or occupying property bordering on right-of-way upon which property there are any trees or shrubs which are designated by the Landscape Committee/Street Tree Commission as dead, dying, diseased, or hazardous or deemed a menace to the health, safety, and welfare of the people of Clyde, to remove or cause to be removed said tree(s) and/or shrub(s).
(3) In either of the above situations, the City Manager shall send a written notice to the property owner indicating the required action (pruning or removal) to be taken. A period of thirty days from receipt of this letter shall be permitted for the property owner to affect the indicated action. Should the property owner or occupant fail to comply, it shall be lawful for the City Manager or his agent to enter upon the property and cause such action. The property owner or occupant shall be charged the actual cost of the work and cash payment shall be made within thirty days or the work shall be assessed to the property taxes.
(c) City May Remove.
(1) Trees or part thereof which by reason of its nature is injurious to existing sewers, electric power line, gas lines, water lines, or other public improvements.
(2) The City Manager shall examine or cause to be examined every tree within one hundred (100) feet of any sanitary or storm sewer, drain, manhole, or other public utility line above or below the surface of the ground, which has been reported as dangerous to or causing interference with said sewer, drain, manhole or public utility line, and if found dangerous or causing damage or obstruction of such sewer, drain, manhole or public utility line, he shall give to the property owner written notice of their findings and an order that such person remove said tree or injurious part thereof within forty-five (45) days. Service of such notice shall be described in Section 3 of the previous chapter.
(d) City Responsibility.
(1) Whenever it is necessary for the City to remove a tree from City right- of-way, the City shall remove such trees and replace them or plant, on another right-of-way area, an equal number of trees to the satisfaction of the Landscape Committee/Street Tree Commission.
(2) No person or property owner shall remove a tree from the right-of-way for any reason without approval of the Landscape Committee/Street Tree Commission. Should approval be given for the removal, the person shall be required to replant or replace an equal number of trees at the landowner's cost. The Landscape Committee/Street Tree Commission must approve the replacement or replanting. Failure to plant replacements shall result in replacement by the City and the actual cost to the City shall be billed to the property owner.
(e) Trees Prohibited on Public Property. The following shall not be planted on public property without specific consent of the Landscape Committee/Street Tree Commission:
Acer saccharinum (Silver Maple)
Acer negundo (Boxelder)
Aesculus Species (Horsechestnut, Buckeye)
Ailanthus altissima (Tree of Heaven)
Betula Species (except Betula nigra) (Birch, except River Birch)
Catalpa Species (Catalpa)
Elaeagnus angustifolia (Russian Olive)
Evergreens
Fruit tree cultivars bred for fruit production
Gingko biloba (Female) (Female Ginkgo)
Liriodendron tulipifera (Tulip Poplar)
Morus Species (Mulberry)
Populus (Cottonwood, Poplar)
Pyrus calleryana "Bradford" (Bradford Callery Pear)
Robinia pseudoacacia (Black Locust)
Salix Species (Willow)
Sorbus aucuparia (European Mountain Ash)
Shrubs
Ulmus Americana (American Elm)
Ulmus pumila (Siberian Elm)
Ulmus ruba (Red Elm)
Whenever any tree or shrub shall be planted or set out in conflict with the provisions of this chapter, the City Manager may cause removal of the same without obligating the City to replace the illegally planted tree(s).
(f) Abuse or Mutilation of Public Trees.
(1) Unless specifically authorized by the Landscape Committee/Street Tree Commission, no person shall intentionally damage, cut, carve, top, transplant, or remove any tree; attach any rope, wire, nails, advertising posters, squirrel feeder, or other contrivance to any tree or shrub; allow any gaseous, liquid, or solid substance to come in contact with them; set fire or permit fire to burn when the fire or heat thereof shall injure any portion of any tree or shrub.
(2) No person shall excavate any ditches, tunnels, trenches, or alley or drive within a radius of ten feet from any public tree or shrub without obtaining approval from the City Manager.
(g) Placing Materials on Public Property. No person shall deposit, place, store, or maintain upon any public place of the City, any stone, brick, sand, concrete, or other materials which may impede the free passage of water, air, or fertilizer to the roots of any tree growing therein, except by written consent of the Landscape Committee/Street Tree Commission.
(h) Planting and Maintenance of Treelawns. No person shall plant, prune, brace, cable, spray, or otherwise perform work on a tree in a treelawn or other public place without first obtaining the prior approval of the Landscape Committee/Street Tree Commission. The City shall require the property owner to obtain a permit from the City Manager. The person obtaining the permit shall abide by the standards as set forth in this chapter.
(i) Trees in New Subdivisions. The Landscape Committee/Street Tree Commission shall approve the tree plan for any newly developed City treelawns.
(j) Tree Spacing. The spacing of public trees will be in accordance with the three (3) species size classed referred to in the Landscape Committee/Street Tree Commission's list of Street Trees and no trees may be planted closer together than the following:
Small Trees (15' - 30' tall at maturity) | thirty (30) feet |
Medium Trees (30' - 45' tall at maturity) | forty (40) feet |
Large Trees (45' tall or greater at maturity) | fifty (50) feet |
Except the special plantings designed or approved by the Landscape Committee/Street Tree Commission.
(k) Distance from the Curb and Sidewalk. The distance public trees may be planted from curbs or curb lines and sidewalks will be in accordance with the three species size classes in the Clyde Landscape Committee/Street Tree Commission's list of Street Trees and no trees may be planted closer to the curb or sidewalk than the following:
Small Trees (15' - 30' tall at maturity) | two (2) feet (minimum of four (4) foot wide treelawn) |
Medium Trees (30' - 45' tall at maturity) | three (3) feet (minimum of a six (6) foot wide treelawn) |
Large Trees (45' tall or greater at maturity) | four (4) feet (minimum of an eight (8) foot wide treelawn) |
(l) Distance from the Street Corners and Fire Plugs. No public tree shall be planted closer than thirty-five (35) feet from any street corner, measured from the point nearest the intersecting curbs or curb lines. No public tree shall be planted closer than ten (10) feet to any fire hydrant.
(m) Utilities. No public trees other than those species referred to as Small Trees in Clyde Landscape Committee/Street Tree Commission's list of Street Trees may be planted under or within twenty-five (25) lateral feet of any overhead utility wire.
(n) Adoption of Rules. The Landscape Committee/Street Tree Commission may adopt rules consistent with this Ordinance, which shall provide detailed guidelines for the administration of this Ordinance. (Ord. 2022-49. Passed 9-6-22.)