[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of
the City of Jamestown 9-10-1990.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Parks, Recreation and Conservation Commission — See Ch. 57.
Licenses and permits — See Ch. 175.
Parks and public lands — See Ch. 193.
Streets and sidewalks — See Ch. 252.
Subdivision of land — See Ch. 260.
[1]
Editor's Note: This chapter took effect 1-1-1991.
The City Council of the City of Jamestown hereby
finds it to be in the best interests of the public health, safety
and welfare to provide for the planting, protection, maintenance and
removal of trees in the public parkways, public terraces and other
municipally owned property within the City of Jamestown and further
finds that the proper maintenance of trees and woody shrubs enhances
real property values and preserves the quality and character of neighborhoods.
It is, therefor, the intention of this chapter to provide for the
proper planting, protection, maintenance and removal of trees in the
public parkways, public terraces and other municipally owned property
within the City of Jamestown.
For the purpose of this chapter, the words and
phrases defined in the sections hereunder shall have the meanings
therein respectively ascribed to them, unless a different meaning
is clearly indicated by context:
The altering any part of a tree or its immediate environment,
whether externally or otherwise evident, which disturbs the healthy
functioning of the tree or any of its parts.
The Director of Parks, Recreation and Conservation or such
person designated by the Director.
All of that City-owned real property located between the
curbline and the private property line along each street and highway
within the City of Jamestown.
[Added 8-10-1992 by L.L. No. 2-1992]
A tree or shrub located on a public parkway, public terrace
or any other municipally owned property.
The elimination of a public tree, whether by deliberate or
negligent act or omission.
The entire width of every public way or right-of-way when
any part thereof is open to the use of the public, as a matter of
right, for purposes of vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
Any woody plant.
Public trees located on City-owned or -controlled property.
Rules and regulations promulgated by the Director of Parks,
Recreation and Conservation for implementation of this chapter.
The Director of Parks, Recreation and Conservation
shall have the authority and jurisdiction of regulating the planting,
protection, maintenance and removal of trees and shrubs planted or
hereafter planted in the public parkways, public terraces and other
municipally owned property within the City of Jamestown. The control
and regulation of such trees and shrubs shall be subject to the provisions
of this chapter and such rules and regulations as the Director deems
necessary.
No person shall commence or proceed with any
operation involving the removal, partial removal, damage or destruction
or the potential for the removal, partial removal, damage or destruction
of a public tree or shrub without first obtaining an urban forestry
permit from the Director of Parks, Recreation and Conservation.
Application for an urban forestry permit shall
be made in the form prescribed by the Director of Parks, Recreation
and Conservation by the following:
A.
The owner of the property on which the proposed work
is to be performed or the owner's authorized agent, architect or contractor.
B.
The public utility company, government agency or its
authorized agent if the work is to be done by a public utility company
or government agency pursuant to its regular operations.
C.
The abutting property owner or the owner's authorized
agent if the work is to be performed within a public parkway or public
terrace.
A.
Fees for permits for any operation involving a public
tree shall be based on the estimated cost of the work to be performed
at the rate of $25 for work estimated between $1,000 and $10,000 and
$50 for work estimated to exceed $10,000. Annual permits shall be
based on the same formula. No fee shall be required for permits for
work estimated to cost less than $1,000. No fee shall be required
for permits obtained by City departments.
[Amended 11-23-2009]
B.
Each application shall be accompanied by the appropriate
permit fee.
C.
Fees shall be deposited in a separate City account
dedicated solely to urban forestry programs.
A.
Each application for a permit shall be approved or
disapproved within 15 days after filing. If the application is disapproved,
the applicant shall be notified, in writing, of the reason for rejection.
If no action is taken within 15 days on an application, it shall be
deemed to have been approved.
B.
Permits may be issued on an individual project basis
or in the case of public utilities doing routine work on an annual
fee basis.
C.
The person receiving such permit shall conduct such
work as required in accordance with such generally accepted arboricultural
methods as may be necessary to protect the vitality of such trees
and abide by the specifications of this chapter and any rules and
regulations as adopted by the Director of Parks, Recreation and Conservation
and shall as a condition of such permit agree to hold the City of
Jamestown harmless from any and all liability which might result from
the work or activity authorized. In addition, the Director may require
the person receiving such permit to provide such insurance coverage
and in such amounts as he deems necessary to protect the interest
of the City of Jamestown.
D.
The Director may revoke for cause any permit previously
approved, and no refund of the permit fee shall be made.
A.
No person shall remove any public trees without replacing
such trees with trees of equivalent dollar value in the vicinity of
the removed trees. The value shall be determined by the Director of
Parks, Recreation and Conservation in accordance with standards adopted
by the International Society of Arboriculture. If no suitable location
exists in the vicinity of the tree removed or if the replacement is
of lesser value, the person causing the tree to be removed shall make
a compensatory payment to the City of Jamestown equal to the difference
in value between the tree removed and any replacement tree. Any public
tree that is determined by the Director to be damaged, but not sufficiently
to justify its removal, shall be considered devalued. The amount of
devaluation shall be paid to the City by the person causing the damage.
B.
The provisions of this section notwithstanding, the
Director shall be authorized to waive the requirement of a compensatory
payment when the removal or damage of any public tree is necessary
to permit repairs to a public utility, reasonable access to property
or similar alterations as deemed by the Director to be in the best
interests of public health, safety and welfare, provided that a reasonable
alternative to the removal or damage of the public tree is not available.
Any public tree thus removed shall be replaced by a tree determined
suitable by the Director at the expense of the person requiring said
removal.
C.
Should a public tree be unnecessarily or excessively
damaged under such circumstances, compensatory payment shall be required.
Any person being the owner of real property
abutting a street shall prune any tree or shrub on the owner's property
so that no tree or shrub shall obstruct or interfere with the free
and safe passage of pedestrians on any sidewalk or the free and safe
passage of vehicles on the paved portion of any street or the view
of traffic signals or signs. Acceptable clearances shall be determined
by the Director of Parks, Recreation and Conservation.
A.
Any tree or shrub located on private or public property
which obstructs a street, sidewalk or sewer or which suffers from
a communicable disease or insect infestation, as determined by the
Director, which threatens the public welfare or the health of public
trees is hereby declared to be a public nuisance.
B.
When such a public nuisance exists involving a tree
on private property, the Director of Parks, Recreation and Conservation
shall cause a notice to be mailed, by certified mail, to the owner
of the property on which the tree or shrub is located specifying what
corrective work is necessary and directing the owner to perform such
corrective work to eliminate the nuisance.
C.
Should any ordered correction not be made within 15
days of the date such notice is received, the Director shall cause
such tree or shrub to be pruned, treated or removed as necessary to
eliminate the public nuisance. All expenses involved in such work
shall be recorded, and the Director shall be authorized to collect
such expenses from the owner of the property on which the tree or
shrub is located.
A.
Any person affected by an order, grant or denial of
a permit or other decision of the Director, when such decision is
based upon the provisions of this chapter, may appeal such order,
grant, denial or revocation of a permit or other decision to the Parks,
Recreation and Conservation Commission.
B.
Such appeal shall be filed, in writing, with the Director
of Parks, Recreation and Conservation within 14 days of the date of
notification of the ruling.
C.
Unless continued at the request of the applicant,
any appeal shall be heard and decided by the Parks, Recreation and
Conservation Commission no later than the second regularly scheduled
meeting of the Commission following the filing of the notice of appeal.
Action by the Director of Parks, Recreation and Conservation shall
be stayed until the decision is rendered and the applicant notified.
D.
The Parks, Recreation and Conservation Commission
may, in conformity with the provisions of this chapter, reverse or
affirm of modify, wholly or partly, the order, grant, denial or revocation
of any permit or other decision of the Director of Parks, Recreation
and Conservation.
E.
The decision of the Parks, Recreation and Conservation
Commission shall be final.
F.
The right to appeal shall be clearly stated on all
permits.
A.
No person shall make any excavation, place any fill,
compact the soil or construct any building, structure, sidewalk, driveway,
pavement, curb or public utility within 15 feet in any direction of
any public tree without first obtaining a permit for such work from
the Director of Parks, Recreation and Conservation and conducting
such work in accordance with such permit.
B.
No person shall remove, damage, cut, carve, prune
or otherwise disturb above or below ground any public trees or compact,
amend or drive on the soil or otherwise disturb the immediate environment
around any public tree or attach any rope, wire, nails, advertising
poster or other artifact to any public tree or allow any toxic substance
to harm or damage any public tree or set fire to or otherwise injure
any public tree, except as authorized by permit.
C.
No person shall plant or transplant any public tree,
except as authorized by permit.
D.
No person shall spray, inject or otherwise apply any
fertilizer or pesticide, including but not limited to dormant oil,
insecticide, fungicide, herbicide, growth regulator or biological
control, to any public tree, except as authorized by permit.
E.
Nothing contained in this section shall be deemed
to prohibit a person from performing ordinary improvement or maintenance
activities on private property, including but not limited to lawn
care and gardening; provided, however, that activities such as excavations
of more than two inches in depth or the tilling of soil to a depth
of more than six inches or the addition of more than four inches of
soil or other fill material above previous grade within 15 feet in
any direction of a public tree shall require a permit.
A.
The Director of Parks, Recreation and Conservation
shall require trees and shrubs to be planted by the property owner
or developer on the public parkways, public terraces and other municipally
owned property abutting such lands henceforth developed where deemed
suitable and proper for the protection and enhancement of the urban
forest. In such event, a proposed planting plan and permit application
shall be submitted by the property owner or developer to the Director
of Parks, Recreation and Conservation for approval and issuance of
an urban forestry permit prior to final approval by the City of Jamestown.
The authority to require such planting shall include but is not limited
to residential, commercial and industrial development, including parking
lots.
B.
Where the Director of Parks, Recreation and Conservation
determines that planting on the municipally owned or controlled property
would be ineffective or unsuitable for the protection and enhancement
of the urban forest, he may require plantings to be performed on the
developed site outside of the public parkway, public terrace or other
municipally owned property under the conditions as set forth in this
section.
The Director of Parks, Recreation and Conservation
may sell without competitive bidding wood and other forest products
generated during urban forestry operations which are not needed by
the City of Jamestown pursuant to urban forestry rules and regulations.
Moneys generated from compensatory payments, permit fees, donations,
gifts, planting fees and insurance claims as each involves public
trees and the sale of forest products shall be deposited in a special
account dedicated solely to the urban forestry program.
No person shall prevent, delay or interfere
with the Director of Parks, Recreation and Conservation or any of
his assistants in the execution of the enforcement of this chapter
or the activity required to conduct the urban forestry program. However,
this shall not be construed as an attempt to prohibit a public hearing
or any remedy, legal or equitable, to protect the property rights
of any property owner within the City of Jamestown.
A.
This chapter shall not govern any emergency activity
immediately necessary to protect life, safety or property or to maintain
access to any property. Any such activity shall incorporate reasonable
efforts to protect trees and shrubs on City property from unnecessary
damage.
B.
Any person or City agency engaged in any action specified by Subsection A of this section shall make a reasonable effort to notify the Director of Parks, Recreation and Conservation prior to commencing that action and shall, in any event, provide written notice of the emergency and the work done to the Director of Parks, Recreation and Conservation within three calendar days of commencing that work.
[Amended 8-10-1992 by L.L. No. 2-1992]
Any person who violates or fails to comply with any of the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a violation and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished as provided in Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article I, Penalties, plus the costs of rectifying damage to any tree or shrub on City-owned property.
