[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of
Tullytown as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
[Adopted 9-6-2016 by Ord.
No. 3755[1]]
[1]
Editor’s Note: This ordinance also repealed former Article
I, Rules and Regulations of Shade Tree Commission, adopted 9-4-2012
by Ord. No. 346.
The following words and phrases, when used in these regulations,
shall have the meanings hereby ascribed to them, except in those instances
where the context already indicates a different meaning:
Borough of Tullytown
The Council of the Borough of Tullytown.
Any permit specified by the Borough Council and issued by
the Borough.
Any natural person, firm, association, partnership or corporation.
Any street, sidewalk, or alley officially listed on the commonwealth
survey for Tullytown Borough.
Any tree, shrub or other woody plant on any public street
or highway in the Borough of Tullytown, or that part of any tree,
shrub or other woody plant, which extends within the right-of-way
of any public street or highway.
The Borough of Tullytown shall have the exclusive custody and
control of the shade trees on and along the streets and highways of
the Borough, and may plant, remove, maintain and protect shade trees
along the streets and highways of the Borough. The Borough may require
the cost of planting or replanting of shade trees along the streets
and highways of the Borough to be borne by the property owner. The
alignment and locations of the trees shall be determined by the Borough,
but shall not prevent necessary and reasonable use of the streets,
sidewalks, abutting property or conduct of business.
No person shall plant, cut down, or remove any shade trees under
the jurisdiction of the Borough without first obtaining a permit from
the Borough. No person shall fasten any sign, wire, rope or other
materials to, around or through any shade tree under the jurisdiction
of the Borough, or deposit, place, store or maintain any stone, brick,
sand, concrete, or other material which may impede the free passage
of water, air or fertilizer to the roots of any such shade tree. Exception:
Newly planted trees may be guyed to provide stability during the first
growing season.
The application for the permit required hereinabove shall be
made, in writing, by the owner, tenant with the owner's written
permission, purchaser under contract of sale, or authorized agent
on forms approved by the Borough Council by resolution from time to
time. At the time of making application, each applicant shall pay
a fee in accordance with the fee schedule to be adopted by resolution
of Borough Council. The applicant shall specify the particular kind
of work or operation the applicant desires to perform thereunder and
shall state the exact location of such work. Any application not acted
upon by the Borough within 45 days of submission shall be deemed to
have been approved.
As a condition to any permit to remove any shade tree, the Borough
shall require that the applicant plant, at the applicant's expense,
another tree in the place of the one removed. The Borough, in such
case, shall direct the time within which the work shall be done. In
cases where the planting of a new shade tree in place of the one removed
would, in the judgment of the Borough, prevent the necessary and reasonable
use of a street, sidewalk, abutting property, or the conduct of business,
the Council may release the applicant from the requirement of planting
a new tree, provided that the applicant agrees to pay to the Borough
a fee in lieu in the amount of $300, which sum shall be set aside
by the Borough and used exclusively for shade trees.
In the event of a shade tree being damaged, the Borough may
make a charge for repairs to the tree, plus the devaluation of the
tree against the person causing the damage to the said tree. In the
event of a shade tree being destroyed by any person, the Borough may
make a charge for the appraised value of the tree, plus the cost of
removal and replacement thereof, against the person causing the destruction
of said tree.
No person shall break, injure, mutilate, kill or destroy any
shade tree, or set fire or permit any fire to burn where such a fire
or the heat thereof will injure any shade tree, and no person shall
knowingly permit any leak to exist in any gas main within the root
zone of any such shade tree, or permit any toxic chemical, either
solid or liquid, to seep, drain or be emptied on or about any such
shade tree, or permit any wire designed to carry electric current
to come in contact with any shade tree, unless protected by a method
to be approved by the Borough. No person shall attach any electric
installation to any shade tree or excavate any ditches, tunnels or
trenches or lay any driveway within a ten-foot radius of any shade
tree without first obtaining a written permit from the Borough.
The owner of the property shall trim branches from any shade
trees overhanging the streets and highways of the Borough so that
they will not obstruct the light from any streetlight, and so that
there shall be a clear height of 13 feet above the surface of the
street and eight feet over the sidewalk. If any property owner shall
neglect or refuse to trim any shade tree as required by this section,
upon notice, in writing, by the Borough within the time limits specified
in such notice, the Council may cause such trimming to be done at
the expense of the owner.
When any tree along the streets or highways of the Borough,
or growing on private property, but overhanging any street or highway,
in the opinion of the Borough, endangers the life, health, safety
or property of the public, or is affected by any contagious disease
or insect infestation, it shall be within the discretion of the Borough
to determine what remedy is necessary and whether or not such tree
must be removed. The owner of the property shall be notified, in writing,
of the existence of the danger, disease, or insect infestation and
shall be given reasonable time for removal of the same. If a dangerous,
diseased, or infested tree is not removed or corrected within the
allotted time by the property owner, the Council shall cause the matter
to be corrected, or the tree removed, and the costs thereof to be
assessed to the owner of the property.
An open space shall be provided at least 10 inches wider in
diameter than the diameter of the root ball for the planting of a
shade tree.
The Borough shall adopt, by resolution, and publish shade tree
and landscape planting standards for reference in the Zoning Ordinance
and Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance. The Zoning Officer
shall provide such standards to all applicants for subdivisions and
land developments, as well as for zoning, building and other permits
where the provision of shade trees and/or landscape plantings are
required by ordinance.
Any person, partnership, association or corporation who shall
fail, neglect or refuse to comply with any of the terms or provisions
of this article or any regulation or provision of this article or
any regulation or requirement pursuant thereto and authorized thereby
shall be subject to a fine not to exceed $600 for each offense, and
costs. Fines imposed by this section shall be in addition to any and
all other remedies set forth by any other section of this article
and shall be in addition to any and all other remedies in law or equity
available to the Borough of Tullytown. The Borough may also recover
all monies expended to perform work for violations of this article,
and same assessed shall be a lien upon the real estate of the offender
and collected as municipal claims are enforced.
Council will recognize a Shade Tree Committee whose purpose
will be to provide advice, including a periodic survey of shade trees
in the Borough, from time to time as requested by Council. The Shade
Tree Committee will be composed of three members appointed by Council
with no fixed term, and serve at the will of Council. The Shade Tree
Committee shall organize and appoint its own Chair, and thereafter
meet from time to time as its members determine.
