(A) No person or property owner shall remove a tree or a boundary tree from the public tree lawn for the purpose of construction, or for any other reason, without first securing a tree care permit from the City of Hammond. The person or property owner shall bear the cost of complete removal, including the chipping of all limbs and removal of stump.
(B) All trimming, pruning and any other tree care activities shall comply with good arboricultural practices as delineated in the Arboricultural Specifications Manual of the City of Hammond. The person or property owner shall bear the cost of these activities.
(C) It shall be unlawful as a normal practice for any person to top any Street Tree. Topping is defined as the severe cutting back of limbs to stubs larger than 3 inches in diameter 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 exempted from this requirement by a written determination made by the Hammond Board of Park Commissioners or its designee.
(Prior Code, § 105.18) (Ord. 8031, passed 12-3-1997)