The following definitions shall apply in this chapter:
(a) "Activity" shall mean any use, operation, development or action caused by any person, including, but not limited to, constructing, operating or maintaining any use or development; erecting buildings or other structures; depositing or removing material; dredging; ditching; land balancing; draining or diverting water; pumping or discharging surface water; grading; paving; tree removal or other vegetation removal; and excavation, mining or drilling operations.
(b) "City" shall mean the City of Southgate.
(c) "Department" shall mean the City of Southgate Department of Public Services.
(d) "Development" shall mean man-made changes to improved or unimproved real estate including, but not limited to, buildings or other structures and mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations.
(e) "D.B.H." shall mean diameter at breast height, or the diameter in inches of a tree measured at four and one-half feet above the existing grade.
(f) "Director" shall mean the City of Southgate Public Services Director.
(g) "Drip line" shall mean an imaginary vertical line that extends downward from the outermost tips of the tree branches to the ground.
(h) "Grubbing" shall mean the effective removal of understory vegetation from a site.
(i) "Land clearing" shall mean those operations where trees and vegetation are removed and which occur previous to construction or building; e.g., road right-of-way excavation, utility excavation, grubbing, and any other necessary clearing operation.
(k) "Person" shall mean any individual, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company, organization or legal entity of any kind conducting operations within the City, including all tree removal companies and persons removing trees on behalf of others.
(l) "Remove" or "Removal" shall mean the act of removing a tree by digging up or cutting down, or the effective removal through damage to the tree or its root system.
(m) "Shrubs" shall mean growth under fifteen feet in height and may include vines and plants.
(n) "Transplant" shall mean the digging up of a tree from one place on a property and the planting of the same tree in another place on the same property, in accordance with City tree transplanting standards and specifications.
(o) "Tree" shall mean a woody plant with an erect perennial trunk, which at maturity is thirteen feet or more in height, and which has a more or less definite crown of foliage.
(p) "Woodlands" area shall mean either:
(1) An area of land two contiguous acres or larger which is covered by at least fifty percent tree canopy from one or more groups of trees which have a natural understory and the remainder of the area not within the tree canopy is covered by other natural vegetation; or
(2) An area of land at least one-half acre, but no more than two acres in size, which is covered by at least fifty percent tree canopy from one or more groups of trees which have a natural understory and the remainder of the area not within the tree canopy is covered by other natural vegetation. Said area must meet one or more of the following criteria:
A. The area acts as a major buffer for residential property.
B. The area is a significant entry landmark to a residential subdivision or other prominent public area which in its absence would have a significant negative impact on the area.
C. The area is an important greenbelt linkage between other natural areas for pedestrians, recreational activities and/or wildlife.
D. The area has high environmental value due to unusual topography, diversity of habitat, unique beauty, rare plant species or unusually large quality trees.
(Ord. 682. Passed 8-18-99; Ord. 829. Passed 6-14-06.)