Chapter 12.20
STREET TREE REGULATIONS
Sections:
12.20.020 Enforcement authority.
12.20.030 Planting or removal prohibited without permission.
12.20.040 Change of list of approved trees by resolution.
12.20.060 Trimming, pruning, or removal requirements--Notice.
12.20.070 Endangerment as nuisance--Removal--Failure.
12.20.090 Abuse or destruction of trees, shrubs or plants.
12.20.010 Title.
This chapter shall hereafter be referred to and cited as the street tree ordinance of the city. (Ord. 2786 §2, 1996)
12.20.020 Enforcement authority.
The city engineer or his duly authorized representative shall be charged with the enforcement of this chapter. (Ord. 2786 §2, 1996)
12.20.030 Planting or removal prohibited without permission.
No trees or shrubs shall hereafter be planted in or removed from any public parking strip or any other public place in the city without permission from the engineer or his duly authorized representative. (Ord. 2786 §2, 1996)
12.20.040 Change of list of approved trees by resolution.
The council of the city may, from time to time, by resolution change the trees approved for street planting and trees not permitted for planting as referred to in Section 12.20.050. (Ord. 2786 §2, 1996)
12.20.050 List of trees.
A list of trees that may not be planted in the city, and a list of trees that may not be planted on parking strips in the city, are available in the office of the city engineer. (Ord. 2786 §2, 1996)
12.20.060 Trimming, pruning, or removal requirements--Notice.
The city manager or his duly authorized representative may cause to be trimmed, pruned, or removed any trees, shrubs, plants or vegetation in a parking strip or other public place, or may require any property owner to trim, prune, or remove any trees, shrubs, plants or vegetation in a parking strip abutting upon the owners property, and failure to comply therewith after thirty days’ notice by the city recorder shall be deemed a violation of this chapter. (Ord. 2786 §2, 1996)
12.20.070 Endangerment as nuisance--Removal--Failure.
Any tree or shrub planted in a parking strip or any public place, or on private property, which is endangering or which in any way may endanger the security or usefulness of any public street, sewer, or sidewalk, is declared a public nuisance, and the city may remove or trim such tree, or may require the property owner to remove or trim any such tree on private property, or in a parking strip abutting upon the owners property. Obstruction of the safe stopping sight distance as determined by the city engineer is considered to be endangering the usefulness of the public street. Failure of the property owner to remove or trim such tree after thirty days’ notice by the city recorder shall be deemed a violation of this chapter, and the city engineer may then remove or trim the tree and assess the cost against the property. (Ord. 2786 §2, 1996)
12.20.080 Appeals.
Appeals from owners made under this chapter may be made by filing written notice thereof with the city recorder within ten days after such order is received, stating in substance that appeal is being made from such order to the city council. The recorder shall thereupon call such appeal to the attention of the city council at the next regularly scheduled meeting, at which meeting the appellant and the city engineer may present evidence. Action taken by the city council after such hearing shall be conclusive. (Ord. 2786 §2, 1996)
12.20.090 Abuse or destruction of trees, shrubs or plants.
It is a violation of this chapter to abuse, destroy, or mutilate any tree, shrub, or plant in a public parking strip or in any public place, or to attach or place any rope or wire (other than one used to support a young or broken tree), sign, poster, handbill, or other thing to or on any tree growing in a public place, or to cause or permit any wire charged with electricity to come in contact with any such tree. (Ord. 2786 §2, 1996)
12.20.100 Violation--Penalty.
Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter or failing to comply with them shall upon conviction thereof be punished by a fine not to exceed fifty dollars or by imprisonment in the city jail not to exceed two days or both such fine and imprisonment. (Ord. 2786 §2, 1996)