[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of
the City of Albany 7-18-1983 by L.L. No. 2-1983 as Ch. XXIV of the
1983 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Amended 5-6-1985]
[Amended 6-6-1988]
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
The City of Albany, situated in the County of Albany, New
York.
[Added 9-9-2004 by Ord. No. 17.42.04]
The cutting or removal of trees or other vegetation where
more than 50% of the existing trees or vegetation per acre is removed
over any five-year cutting cycle.
Includes the legal owner of real property fronting on any
street of the City and any lessee of such owners.
[Added 9-9-2004 by Ord. No. 17.42.04]
Includes all public parks.
[Added 9-9-2004 by Ord. No. 17.42.04]
Trees, shrubs, bushes and all other woody vegetation in public
parks having individual names and all areas owned by the City or to
which the public has free access as a park.
Includes any individual, firm, association, corporation,
public utility, partnership and the lessees, trustees, receivers,
agents, servants, heirs, assigns and employees of any such person.
[Added 9-9-2004 by Ord. No. 17.42.04]
Includes all roads, streets, avenues, boulevards, alleys,
parkways and public rights-of-way, or any portion thereof, located
in the City.
[Added 9-9-2004 by Ord. No. 17.42.04]
Trees, shrubs, bushes and all other woody vegetation on land
lying between property lines on either side of all streets, avenues
or ways within the City.
[Amended 9-9-2004 by Ord. No. 17.42.04]
The Department of General Services shall administer
this article.
It shall be the responsibility of the Department
to study, investigate, counsel and develop and/or update annually
and administer a written plan for the care, preservation, pruning,
planting, replanting, removal or disposition of trees and shrubs in
parks, along streets and in other public areas. Such plan will be
presented annually to the Common Council and, upon its acceptance
and approval, shall constitute the official Comprehensive City Tree
Plan for the City of Albany. The Department, when requested by the
Common Council, shall consider, investigate, make findings, report
and recommend upon any special matter or question coming within the
scope of its work.
A.Â
The City shall have the right to plant, prune, maintain
and remove trees, plants and shrubs within the lines of all streets,
squares and public grounds, as may be necessary to ensure public safety
or to preserve or enhance the symmetry and beauty of such public grounds.
[Amended 9-9-2004 by Ord. No. 17.42.04]
B.Â
The City may remove or cause or order to be removed
any tree or part thereof which is in an unsafe condition or which,
by reason of its nature, is injurious to sewers, electric power lines,
gas lines, waterlines or other public improvements or is affected
with any injurious fungus, insect or other pest.
C.Â
The Commissioner of General Services, or their designee, must advise,
in writing, to the Common Council of any plan(s), action(s), or recommendation(s)
taken during the previous calendar year pursuant to this section by
January 31 of the following year.
[Added 6-6-2022 by Ord. No. 2.21.22]
[Added 9-9-2004 by Ord. No. 17.42.04]
A.Â
It shall be unlawful and it is hereby prohibited for any person other
than the Commissioner of the Department of General Services, Assistant
Commissioner or his duly authorized agent to cut, trim, prune, spray,
brace, plant, move, remove or replace any tree in any public street
or public park within the City, or to cause the same to be done, unless
and until a tree and vegetation permit has first been obtained pursuant
to § 375-5E(11).
[Amended 1-5-2009 by Ord. No. 72.122.08; 5-15-2017 by Ord. No. 26.31.17]
B.Â
All persons performing any of the activities listed in Subsection A above must follow standards promulgated by the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Permit fees shall be promulgated by the Department of General Services. Any such permit may be declared void and a fine imposed by the Commissioner if its terms are violated. Permitted work shall conform to the American National Standard for Arboricultural Operations - Pruning, Repairing, Maintaining, and Removing Trees, and Cutting Brush - Safety Requirements. A copy of said guidelines can be obtained from the Department of General Services.
[Amended 5-15-2017 by Ord. No. 26.31.17]
C.Â
Once a permit is granted, said person is required
to have the vehicle and equipment that is used in conjunction with
the permitted work marked with the name and telephone number of said
person.
[Added 9-9-2004 by Ord. No. 17.42.04]
The person so issued a permit by the Commissioner
of the Department of General Services under this article shall protect,
indemnify and hold harmless the City of Albany from any and all claims
that may arise or that may be made for damages, loss, injury or death
resulting from the acts of said person.
[Amended 9-9-2004 by Ord. No. 17.42.04]
It shall be unlawful as a normal practice for
any person, firm, public utility or City department to top any street
tree, park tree or other tree on public property. "Topping" is defined
as the severe cutting back of limbs to stubs larger than three inches
in diameter within the tree's crown to such a degree so as to remove
the normal canopy and disfigure the tree. Trees severely damaged by
storms or other causes or certain trees under utility wires or other
obstructions where other pruning practices are impractical may be
exempted from this article to the determination of the City.
[Added 9-9-2004 by Ord. No. 17.42.04[1]]
The use of climbing spurs or spiked shoes in
the act of pruning trees is prohibited.
The City shall prune the branches of any tree
overhanging any street or right-of-way within the City so that such
branches shall not obstruct the light from any street lamp or obstruct
the view of any street intersection and so that there shall be a clear
space of eight feet above the surface of the street or sidewalk. The
City shall remove all dead, diseased or dangerous trees, or broken
or decayed limbs which constitute a menace to the safety of the public.
The City shall have the right to prune any tree or shrub on private
property when it interferes with the proper spread of light along
the street from a streetlight or interferes with visibility of any
traffic control device or sign.
[Amended 11-5-2018 by Ord. No. 35.101.18]
The City shall have the right to cause the removal
of any dead or diseased trees on private property within the City,
when such trees constitute a hazard to life and property or harbor
insects or disease which constitute a potential threat to other trees
within the City. The City will notify, in writing, the owners of such
trees. Removal shall be done by said owners at their own expense within
30 days after the date of service of notice. In the event of failure
of the owners to comply with such provisions, the City shall have
the authority to remove such trees and charge the cost of removal
on the owner's property tax notice.
[Added 9-9-2004 by Ord. No. 17.42.04[1]]
It shall be unlawful for any person to break,
injure, deface, mutilate, kill or destroy any tree or set fire or
permit any fire to burn where such fire or the heat thereof will injure
any portion of any tree in any public street or park in the City,
nor shall any person, apply, attach or keep attached to any such tree,
any wire, rope (other than one used to support a young or broken tree),
sign, paint or any other substance, structure, thing or device of
any kind or nature whatsoever, without having first obtained a permit
from the Department of General Services to do so.
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law also renumbered
former §§ 345-8 and 345-9 as 345-12 and 345-13, respectively.
It shall be unlawful for any person to prevent,
delay or interfere with the City or any of its agents while engaging
in and about the planting, cultivating, mulching, pruning, spraying
or removing of any street trees, park trees or trees on private grounds,
as authorized in this article.
Contractors occupying City streets for building
purposes shall place such proper guards about all trees liable to
injury as shall effectually protect them.
[Added 9-9-2004 by Ord. No. 17.42.04]
A.Â
Any person doing business as a public utility subject
to the jurisdiction of the Public Service Commission of the State
of New York and any constituted public agency authorized to provide
utility service shall be given a permit from the Commissioner of the
Department of General Services, valid for one year from the date of
issuance, permitting such person to trim, brace, remove or perform
such other acts with respect to trees growing adjacent to the public
streets of the City, or which grow upon private property to the extent
that they encroach upon such public streets, as may be necessary to
comply with the safety regulations of said Commission and as may be
necessary to maintain the safe operation of its business. Such utility
shall be held to comply with all regulations contained in this article.
B.Â
Any public utility authorized to do work under this
article shall give reasonable notice to any landowner whose property
abuts the subject area, prior to the start of any permitted work.
C.Â
No person shall apply, attach or keep attached to
any tree, any wire, rope (other than one used to support a young or
broken tree), sign, paint or any other substance, structure, thing
or device of any kind or nature whatsoever, without having first obtained
a permit from the Department of General Services to do so.
[Added 9-9-2004 by Ord. No. 17.42.04]
At all times, persons covered under this article
shall maintain a safe pedestrian environment, allowing for safe pedestrian
access through and/or around the affected area for the public at large.
[Added 9-9-2004 by Ord. No. 17.42.04[1]]
A.Â
Cleanup of branches, logs or any other debris resulting
from any tree pruning or removing shall be promptly and properly accomplished.
The work area shall be kept safe at all times until the cleanup operation
is completed. Under no condition shall the accumulation of brush,
branches, logs or other debris be allowed upon a public property in
such a manner as to result in a public hazard.
B.Â
Under no condition shall it be considered proper to
leave any severed or partially cut branches in the upper portion of
any tree being worked on after the tree workers leave the scene of
the operation.
C.Â
Whenever large tree sections are being cut in a treetop
that may endanger the public or property, such sections shall be secured
by ropes and lowered safely in a controlled manner.
D.Â
Unless the tree work area is totally barricaded or
otherwise kept safe while pruning or removing trees, at least one
responsible tree worker shall serve to coordinate safe operations
on the ground at all times when work operations are in progress.
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law also renumbered
former §§ 345-10 through 345-12 as 345-17 through 345-19.
[Amended 9-9-2004 by Ord. No. 17.42.04; 6-6-2022 by Ord. No. 2.21.22]
A.Â
Owners
desiring to have trees planted along their property shall submit to
the Commissioner of the Department of General Services a tree request
form with a check payable to the City Treasurer for 1/2 the cost of
the tree. The Commissioner of the Department of General Services reserves
the right to make a final designation of kind or species of tree and
the location where the same is to be planted. It shall be the responsibility
of the owner to maintain the tree in accordance with this article.
B.Â
If a tree or trees has been removed pursuant to § 345-4 of this chapter, the City of Albany is required to plant another tree or trees, in the same location if practicable, and the City of Albany shall bear the full cost to replant. The owner of the property from which a tree or trees was removed pursuant to § 345-4 of this chapter may submit a request to the City Forester requesting that such tree not be replaced.
[Amended 6-6-1988; 5-15-2017 by Ord. No. 26.31.17]
A.Â
On all parcels in the City of Albany in excess of one acre in size,
no clear-cutting shall be permitted without the approval of a major
development plan pursuant to § 375-5E(14).
[Amended 6-6-1988; 9-9-2004 by Ord. No. 17.42.04]
A.Â
Any person offending or violating any of the above
rules and regulations for the planting, protection and care of trees
and shrubs shall be guilty of a violation, and a stop-work order shall
be issued until said violation is rectified. An administrative surcharge
of $75 will be charged for the lifting of said stop-work order.
[Amended 5-19-2008 by Ord. No. 25.42.08]
B.Â
Any and all persons found guilty of a violation shall
be liable to a fine which shall not exceed $500 in amount or to imprisonment
not to exceed 15 days, or both, in the discretion of the court. In
the case of an unlawful clear-cutting, a fine not to exceed $500 per
acre affected or imprisonment not to exceed 15 days, or both, may,
in the discretion of the court, be imposed. In addition, any and all
persons found guilty of a violation shall be liable to the City of
Albany for restitution in the amount of $125 per inch of diameter
of said damaged or destroyed tree(s).
[Amended 5-19-2008 by Ord. No. 25.42.08]
C.Â
Except as provided otherwise by law, such violation
shall not be a crime, and the penalty or punishment therefor shall
not be deemed, for any purpose, a penal or criminal penalty or punishment
and shall not impose any availability upon or affect or impair the
credibility as a witness or otherwise of any person found guilty of
such offense.
D.Â
In addition, any person who removes a tree in any
public street or park with or without a permit from the Commissioner
of the Department of General Services, or who damages a tree such
that it must be removed, is legally and financially responsible for
replacement. The removed tree may be replaced with another of equal
DBH (diameter breast height) or with two or more trees such that the
sum of the DBHs of the replacement trees equals or exceeds that of
the removed tree. The Commissioner of the Department of General Services
will designate the location of the replacement tree or trees, not
necessarily in the same location as the removed tree.
[Added 9-9-2004 by Ord. No. 17.42.04]
This article shall not apply to property owners
and said property owners' manual trimming of tree branches which are
located over public streets or sidewalks, said branches being three
inches or less in diameter and no more than eight feet above the surface
of the street or sidewalk.
[Added 9-9-2004 by Ord. No. 17.42.04[1]]
This article is further subject to § 323-75 of the Code of the City of Albany, stating that the Commissioner of the Department of General Services is hereby authorized to promulgate and amend a fee schedule and additional rules, regulations and specifications necessary to supplement and effectuate the purpose and intent of this article.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also redesignated
former §§ 345-13 through 345-16 as 345-22 through 345-25,
respectively.
Should any section, clause or provisions of
this article be declared by the courts to be invalid, the same shall
not affect the validity of the article as a whole or parts thereof,
other than the part so declared to be invalid.
This Common Council, recognizing the need for
encouraging and promoting programs relating to conservation of natural
and ecological resources and, by appropriate action, to coordinate
the same to the current economic problems, does hereby determine the
authority herein granted to be in the public interest; and that in
furtherance of the aforesaid and in accordance with the General Municipal
Law of the State of New York, this Council does herewith authorize
the use of available unimproved lands owned by the City for the cultivation
of the soil upon such lands for planting and maintaining gardens and
growing food crops thereon.
The Mayor of the City of Albany is hereby authorized
to enter into an agreement for ground preparation of approximately
500 gardens, seed purchases, gardening classes, food preparation and
such other related services as may be required.
Such rules and regulations as may be needed
shall be promulgated and established for public guidance, including
setting such fee as may be deemed necessary for the exclusive use
of a designated plot of land for the purpose intended. Such fee shall
entitle a resident to preparation of the plot for planting, seeds
required for a basic garden, instruction by qualified personnel, etc.
