1. The supervisor of public services shall have jurisdiction over trees and other plantings on public property within the City in order to protect the health of all trees from disease and to require trees and plantings to be maintained so they are not dangerous to public safety. Maintenance of trees within street rights-of-way shall be the responsibility of the City.
2. The supervisor of public services shall supervise all work by City employees or contractors in the trimming, preservation, planting or removal of trees or other plantings within the right-of-way and all other City property. The supervisor of public services shall have the authority to order private persons to comply with duties placed upon them by this section.
3. The duties of any person growing a tree or other plantings on private property abutting on streets or public places are:
A. To trim trees or plantings so that they shall not cause a hazard to the public and/or public or private property or block public walks or ways or interfere with proper lighting of public streets or places; this also include the removal of dead branches which may pose any type of threat to persons or property. The minimum clearance of any overhanging portion shall be eight (8) feet over walks and sixteen (16) feet above the surface of the traveled portion of the street.
B. To treat in an accepted manner, or remove any tree or plant that is diseased, insect-ridden, or dead; defined as a tree that has been damaged beyond repair or that is lifeless evidenced as including unseasonable lack of foliage, brittle dry branches, or lack of any growth or foliage during the growing season, that may pose as a hazard or threat to other trees, buildings, or persons as identified by a qualified City employee.
4. Utility companies may operate under an annual or semiannual permit issued by the Director of Building and Planning with programmed trimming under conditions agreed upon by the supervisor of public services. Exception: If the utility company hires an outside contractor to perform work on trees within the right-of-way, the provisions of Section 151.06 must be met by the contractor.
5. No person shall willfully damage, cut, carve, or injure the bark of any tree or plant on the streets or public places of the City. Tree trimming shall be done in accordance with good practices and regulations of the City. Topping of any tree on the right-of-way shall not be a normal practice for any person, firm, or City department. Topping is defined as the severe cutting back of limbs to stubs within the tree's crown to such a degree so as to remove the normal canopy and disfigure the tree. Trees severely damaged by storms or other causes, or certain trees under utility wires or other obstructions where other pruning practices are impractical, may be exempt from the requirements of this section at the determination of the supervisor of public services.
(Ord. 1505 - Feb. 22 Supp.)