(a) Any tree and/or portion thereof located within the public right of way shall be caused to be removed by the Municipality after notification to the abutting and adjacent property owners as provided in this Section that retention of the tree or portion thereof is deemed by the Municipality to be unsafe or not in the public interest. Any such removal shall be accomplished by the Municipality or its agents at the sole expense of the Municipality, and the Municipality shall determine the method of disposing of the cut wood, which wood shall be the property of the Municipality.
(b) Notification. Unless the Village Manager should decide that immediate removal of a tree is required to protect the public health, safety, and welfare, the Manager or the Manager’s designee shall notify abutting and adjacent property owners and/or residents within one hundred (100) feet, as measured along the street frontage, of the proposed tree removal. Notice to the abutting property owner(s) shall be given by the Manager or the Manager’s designee in writing, while notice to the other adjacent property owners and/or residents shall be through postcards or door-hangings that include appropriate contacts for obtaining further information.
(c) Appeal. Any property owner or resident to whom notice is provided by this Section may object in writing to the proposed removal of the tree identified in the notice and request a hearing before the Village Manager or the Manager’s designee. The written objection shall be delivered to the Village Manager within ten (10) days after notice of the proposed removal was first given by the Village staff.
(d) Hearing. The Village Manager or the Manager’s designee shall reconsider the decision to remove the tree and shall evaluate the information from the property owners, affected residents, and the Village Service Department in light of the criteria for removal. The Village staff shall inform the objecting property owners or residents, either orally or in writing, of the determination of the Village regarding the tree after such reconsideration and shall provide the reasons supporting such determination. The Village staff shall use reasonable efforts and methods to provide notice of such determination before any removal of the tree, if removal is the final determination.
(Ord. 10-06. Passed 9-20-06.)