(A) The Director shall have control over all trees located within the street rights-of-way and parks in the city, and the planting, care, and removal thereof, subject to the regulations contained in this chapter. The owner of land abutting on any street may, upon obtaining prior written permission of the Director, prune, spray, plant, or remove trees in that part of the street abutting his land not used for public travel, but no person shall otherwise prune, spray, plant, or remove any tree in any street or park. Every permit shall specify the extent of the authorization and the conditions to which it is subject. Where an owner of abutting property requests the removal of a tree, the Director is authorized, in his discretion, to require as a condition to granting of approval for the removal of a tree, that the property owner make the removal in accordance with regulations established by the Department, assume all or any part of the costs of removing the tree, and replace the tree at some other nearby location by planting another tree, not necessarily of the same type. (‘83 Code, § 95.03)
(B) (1) No tree of any prohibited species shall be planted in any street or park, nor shall any such tree be planted on any private property within 50 feet of any street or sidewalk right-of-way or any sewer or sewer extension. Shade trees planted in any street right-of-way shall be spaced not less than 40 feet apart, except that trees may be planted less than 40 feet from an existing tree in the right-of-way, providing the existing tree has been approved for removal within a period of two years from the date of planting of the new tree. The owner of a single lot may, in order to provide a shade or ornamental tree in front of his lot, secure special permission from the Department to have a tree planted closer than 40 feet from an existing tree, but in no case shall the planting be within 30 feet of any existing tree, within the right-of-way.
(2) No tree shall be planted in any planting strip between the street proper and the sidewalk where the distance between the back of the curb and the sidewalk is less than three feet in width. No tree shall be planted nearer to the intersection of any streets than 25 feet from the corner of the intersection.
(‘83 Code, § 98.06)
(C) No person shall break, injure, mutilate, kill, or destroy any tree or shrub, or set any fire, or permit any fire or the heat thereof to injure any portion of any tree. No toxic chemicals or other injurious materials shall be allowed to seep, drain or be emptied on, near or about any tree. No electric wires or any other lines or wires shall be permitted to come in contact with any tree or shrub in any manner that shall cause damage thereto, and no person shall attach any electric insulation to any tree. No person shall use any tree as an anchor, and no material shall be fastened to or hung on any tree. All persons having under their care, custody, or control facilities which may interfere with the trimming or removal of any tree shall, after notice thereof by the Department, promptly abate the interference in such manner as shall permit the trimming or removal of the tree by the Department. (‘83 Code, § 95.07)
(D) All dead trees and trees afflicted with any fatal or communicable disease shall be removed by the Department. The Department is authorized to remove any tree of a prohibited species. (‘83 Code, § 95.04)
(E) The Department is authorized to remove any tree growing within any street, park, or public place, when the tree interferes with fire hydrants, sewer and water mains, visibility of street intersections, traffic-control devices, or construction within street rights-of-way. (‘83 Code, § 95.05)
Penalty, see § 10.99