8.10.070   Care of protected trees.
   (a)   All owners of property containing protected trees shall follow the maintenance standards in the Tree and Landscape Technical Manual, including avoiding any action foreseeably leading to the death of a tree or permanent damage to its health; including but not limited to excessive pruning, cutting, topping, girdling, poisoning, overwatering, underwatering, unauthorized relocation or transportation of a tree, or trenching, excavating, altering the grade, or paving within the tree protection zone of a tree.
   (b)   At least seven days prior to pruning a protected tree, other than that required to remove a dead, diseased, or broken branch or branches, the property owner or their designee shall prominently post a notice on the property, in one or more locations readily visible to the public, that includes standards for pruning and a description of the tree including tree species, size, location, the date of work, and a contact phone number. The form for such notice will be available on the city's website as a printable document. Protected trees less than five years old are exempt from this provision.
   (c)   Any requests to exceed the limits for pruning set forth in Section 8.10.020(i) shall be submitted to the urban forester by the property owner or their designee at least fourteen days prior to pruning a protected tree. Each request shall be accompanied by a statement explaining why exceedance of the limits is warranted. No pruning that exceeds the limits set forth in Section 8.10.020(i) shall take place without the approval of the urban forester.
   (d)   The standards for protection of trees during construction contained in the Tree and Landscape Technical Manual shall be followed during any development on property containing trees.
   (e)   The urban forester shall add identified protected trees into the city's tree inventory database and, in coordination with the planning and development services departments, into city parcel reports.
(Ord. 5612 § 2 (part), 2024: Ord. 5557 § 4 (part), 2022: Ord. 4568 § 1 (part), 1999)