No person, including any City department, shall, as a normal practice, top any public tree. "Topping" is defined as the severe cutting back of limbs to stubs larger than three inches in diameter so as to remove the normal canopy and disfigure the tree. Public 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 chapter, upon the determination of the Director of Public Service or the Forester.
(Ord. 1996-25. Passed 4-23-96.)