(a) Maintenance. Except as specified in subsection (a)(1), the City shall as of July 1, 2017, have the duty to Maintain Street Trees, including Street Trees planted before July 1, 2017. Property owners shall be responsible for the care and Maintenance of the Sidewalk and Sidewalk areas adjacent to any Street Tree, other than the responsibility for Sidewalk repairs related to the Tree’s growth or root system, which shall be the responsibility of the City. The Department shall develop and make available to interested persons, upon request or through its website, public pruning standards to ensure that Street Trees receive proper care.
(1) Exceptions.
(A) If a private property owner plants a Street Tree, the City shall not be responsible for the Street Tree’s Maintenance until the Street Tree’s establishment. The establishment period for newly planted Street Trees shall be three years from the date of Planting. If the Street Tree is not established three years from the date of Planting, the Director may treat this as an Injury to the Tree, as defined in Section 802, and may seek penalties for violation, as set forth in Section 811.
(B) The City may enter into voluntary agreements with third parties for them to assume responsibility for Street Tree Maintenance and may continue to abide by any such agreements in existence as of the effective date of the ordinance in Board File No. 170985 amending this Section 805. The requirements for such voluntary agreements are set forth in subsection (c) below.
(b) Liability. The respective liability of property owners and the City due to injuries or property damage caused by the failure to Maintain Street Trees is as follows:
(1) Injuries or Property Damage that Occurred before July 1, 2017. Any person who suffers injury or property damage before July 1, 2017, as a legal result of the failure of a property owner to Maintain a Street Tree shall have a cause of action for such injury or property damage against such property owner. For such injuries and property damage occurring before July 1, 2017, the City shall have a cause of action for indemnity against such property owner for any damages the City may be required to pay as satisfaction of any judgment or settlement of any claim that results from injury to persons or property as a legal result of the failure of the property owner to Maintain a Street Tree.
(2) Injuries or Property Damage that Occurred after July 1, 2017. Any person who suffers injury or property damage as the result of the failure to Maintain a Street Tree after July 1, 2017 may have a cause of action for such injury or property damage against the City.
(3) Exceptions. The City shall not be liable for any injuries or property damage resulting from the failure to Maintain a Street Tree after July 1, 2017, in the following circumstances:
(A) If a private property owner plants a Street Tree, the City shall not be liable for such injuries and property damage until the Street Tree’s establishment. The establishment period for newly planted Street Trees shall be three years from the date of Planting. Until the establishment of a Street Tree, the adjacent property owner shall be liable.
(B) The City shall not be liable for such injuries and property damage if the City has entered into voluntary agreements with third parties for them to assume responsibility for Street Tree Maintenance. Third parties who have assumed responsibility for Street Tree Maintenance shall be liable for any injuries or property damage resulting from their failure to Maintain Street Trees.
(C) The City shall not be liable for such injuries and property damage, if the injuries or property were proximately caused by the adjacent property owner’s failure to Maintain Street Trees prior to July 1, 2017, before the City assumed its responsibility to Maintain.
(D) The City shall not be liable for such injuries and property damage if the adjacent property owner fails to provide the City with adequate access to the property owner’s lot for the purpose of Maintenance; in such instances, the adjacent property owner may be liable for any injury or property damage resulting from the failure to Maintain a Street Tree.
(c) Voluntary Agreements for Street Tree Maintenance.
(1) General obligations. If any private party enters into a voluntary agreement with the Department for Street Tree Maintenance, the agreement shall address, at a minimum, the following: 24-hour contact information for the Department and the private party, procedures for enforcing the agreement and/or remedying its breach, and security to reimburse the Department for any enforcement costs it incurs or any maintenance costs it incurs due to the private party’s failure to Maintain Street Trees.
(2) Development of Standard Voluntary agreements.
(A) Voluntary agreements by individual property owners. If an individual property owner wishes to assume responsibility for Street Tree Maintenance, the property owner must contact the Department and enter into an agreement that the Department develops regarding the property owner’s Maintenance responsibilities for the Street Tree adjacent to the property owner’s lot. The Department shall develop a standard voluntary agreement for individual property owners and make it available on its website.
(B) Voluntary agreements by homeowner’s associations, community benefit districts, and other legal entities representing multiple property owners. If a homeowner’s association, community benefit district, or other legal entity representing multiple property owners wishes to assume responsibility for Street Tree Maintenance, the entity must contact the Department and enter into an agreement that the Department develops for such Maintenance. The Department shall develop a standard voluntary agreement for homeowner’s associations, community benefit districts, and other legal entities representing multiple property owners and make it available on its website.
(d) Department Inventory. The Department shall use its best efforts to maintain an inventory of the location of all Street Trees that it must Maintain. Such information shall be made available to the public upon request.