It is the duty and responsibility of all property owners to maintain shrubs, ground cover, concrete, rocks, bricks, etc. (landscape material) in the parkway strips immediately abutting the owner's property, regardless of whether such property is developed. Property owners are not responsible for trimming street trees. Furthermore, if the property is directly adjacent to a street that is inaccessible due to a fence or wall preventing the ability to easily access or effectively apply water, the property owner is not responsible for watering and/or maintenance of the trees and other landscape material.
A. Maintenance shall include watering as needed and keeping such strips free from overgrown weeds or any obstructions contrary to public safety. Property owners shall be responsible for watering City street trees whenever landscaping of the property is changed in such a manner as to deprive the trees of their normal source of moisture. Such watering shall be continued during dry weather until the tree becomes acclimated to the new environment, but need not exceed three years. All watering requirements shall be waived to the extent they are inconsistent with governmental restrictions on water use.
B. The owner or occupant of any corner lot or premises in the City shall keep landscape materials at the corners of intersecting streets, whether between the curb line and the private lot line, or within the private lot or premises, so trimmed that the height of same shall not exceed three feet above the curb level for a distance of fifteen feet measured horizontally in any direction from the point of intersection of the property lines at street corners; provided, that trees, whose main trunks are exposed to a height of seven and one-half feet above the curb, need not be so trimmed or cut.
C. A property owner may notify the Maintenance Services Department when any (tree, shrub or plant) landscape material on a public street adjacent to his property is injuring or damaging any public sidewalk. The Director, in conjunction with the Director of Engineering, shall prioritize and/or schedule the repairs of these damaged areas. All repairs shall be contingent on the availability of funds.
D. It is unlawful for any person to engage in any construction work on private or public property without first taking steps to protect street trees from damage to trunk, branches or roots, or damage caused by soil compaction or contamination. All trees on any street or other publicly-owned property near any excavation or construction of any building, structure or street work shall be adequately protected in accordance with guidelines established by the Director of Maintenance Services, including but not limited to preservation of the trunk, bark, roots, leaves, scaffold branches and immediate soil. Removal of a street tree is authorized only by permit obtained pursuant to the authority provided in the ordinance codified in this chapter.
(Ord. 2859 § 2 (part), 1995).