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ORDINANCE NO. 1532
AN ORDINANCE REGULATING THE PLANTING,
MAINTENANCE, PROTECTION, CONTROL AND
REMOVAL OF TREES IN, NEAR AND UPON THE
PUBLIC STREETS, ALLEYS, SIDEWALKS, SEWERS
AND OTHER PUBLIC PLACES; PROHIBITING EN-
CROACHMENT THEREON OF GRASS, WEEDS,
BUSHES, SHRUBS, PLANTS, TREES, OVERHANG-
ING BRANCHES, AND OTHER VEGETATION WHICH
OBSTRUCT THE VIEW AND PREVENT FREE USE
THEREOF FOR PUBLIC PURPOSES WHICH MAY
CONSTITUTE A HAZARD; DECLARING SUCH OB-
STRUCTION TO BE A NUISANCE; PROVIDING FOR
THE REMOVAL OR ABATEMENT THEREOF; PROVID-
ING FOR APPEALS FROM ORDER OF ABATEMENT;
PRESCRIBING PENALTIES, AND REPEALING
ORDINANCE NO. 1271.
WHEREAS, it is hereby declared that the preservation and development of
the beauty of nature is essential to the progress and growth of the City of Pasco;
and
WHEREAS, it is the policy of the City of Pasco to plant and maintain and
to encourage the planting and maintenance of desirable street trees and other
plantings to enhance the beauty of the community and for the health, welfare and
safety of its citizens; and
WHEREAS, the Council has become more and more concerned with proper se-
lection, location and care of trees planted in parking strips to eliminate prob-
lems connected with adequate street illumination, safety to the community and
preservation of public utilities, and to provide the greatest aesthetic value;
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PASCO
DO ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1 . Title. This ordinance shall hereafter be referred to and cited
as the Street Tree Ordinance; Pasco, Washington.
Section 2. Enforcing Authority. The Park and Recreation Director (herein
called the Director) or his duly authorized representative shall be charged with
the enforcement of this ordinance .
Rev. 5-23-72
Ordinance No. /S73-7" -2- Date: ( --) - 7-'
Section 3. Permission to Plant Trees. All trees or shrubs shall hereafter
be planted and pruned in any public parking strip or other public place in the
City only with permission of the Director within 10 days prior to planting or prun-
ing according to the provisions of this ordinance. No trees shall be planted
within 20' from another tree in parking strips, or planted within 25' of a street
light. Trees planted under utility lines shall not exceed a maximum mature
height of 25 feet. No trees, or shrubs over two feet in height shall be planted
or maintained in that portion of any parking strip lying within 30' of the right-of-
way line of any intersecting street. The Director may require that trees planted
in wide parking strips be located so that any subsequent widening of street which
might result in narrowing of parking strip, will not necessitate removal of such
trees .
Section 4. Permission to Remove Trees. No trees over 4" in diameter
at its base shall hereafter be removed in any public parking strip or other public
place in the City of Pasco without permission from the Director.
Section 5. Issuance of Permit. Upon approval of an application by the
Director, the Director shall issue a permit for the work of removing any trees ly-
ing in a city parking strip or other public place .
Section 6. Removal of Trees and Shrubs . The stumps and roots of trees
or shrubs shall be removed to a point at least one foot below the top of the ad-
jacent curb or proposed curb grade, treating the remaining roots with a suitable
compound to prevent future sprouting or growth. Any roots which have disrupted
or broken the adjacent street, curb, or sidewalk shall be removed and said street,
sidewalk, or curb shall be repaired.
The Director may, with concurrence of the Chief of Police and Fire Chief,
permit a street to be blocked for a short period of time where suitable detours
can be arranged and the public will not be unnecessarily inconvenienced.
Rev. 5-23-72
Ordinance No.
I5 3y
-3-
Date: 6'y --7'y
Section 7.
Public
Nuisance on Street --
Prohibition of. Trees, plants,
shrubs, or vegetation or parts thereof which so overhang any sidewalk or street
or alley, or which are growing thereon in such manner as to obstruct or impair
the free and full use of the sidewalk or street or alley by the public are public
nuisances. Grass, weeds, shrubs, bushes, trees, or vegetation growing or
which has grown and died upon any property and are a fire hazard or a menace
to public health, safety, or welfare are likewise public nuisances. It is the
duty of the owner of the property wherein or whereon any such nuisance exists
to abate the nuisances by destroying, removing, or trimming the growth.
Section 8. Permit Required; Approval Prior to Issuance. It shall be un-
lawful for any person to plant, or allow to be planted in a public right-of-way,
pedestrian right-of-way or pedestrian easement, or to substantially prune any
tree, shrub or plant without first obtaining a permit from the City at least ten
(10) days prior to planting or pruning. The type, location, spacing and number
of trees, shrubs or plants or pruning to be done shall be approved by the Director
prior to the issuance of the permit.
Permits shall not be issued for planting trees in parking strips which by
nature are broad and high in growth, of spreading habit, which have shallow and
extensive root systems liable to damage sidewalks, are low branching or have
branches of drooping habit offering an impediment to pedestrian traffic on adjacent
sidewalks. Prohibited trees under the above description shall include maples,
ailanthus, poplars, lindens, elder, catalpas, redbud, cottonwood, elm, locust,
walnut, mulberry, oak, sycamore, willow, sumas and other trees of similar habit
and growth. Recommended trees for parking strip planting shall include sweet -
gum, hawthorne (crataegus and its varieties) dogwood, ornamental flowering
fruiting trees such as cherry, prune, crab and peach limited to trees of upright
habit, ash, mountain ash, red -leaved varieties of prune and other trees of similar
nature and habit of growth.
Rev. 5-23-72
Ordinance No. 153 -4- Date: (4--l- 7y
Section 9. Removal or Abatement of Nuisance. The Director shall enforce
this ordinance, and if any property owner fails or refuses to abate any such nui-
sance as contemplated by Section 7 hereof, the City Council may, after report
filed by the Director, by resolution require such property owner, in addition or
alternative to the penalties prescribed by Section 13 hereof, to abate the nui-
sance by removal or destruction, at his cost and expense within a time speci -
fied in the resolution; and if the removal or destruction is not made by such
owner within the time specified, the Director may abate the same as provided
in Section 12 of this ordinance.
Section 10. Notice of Resolution to Abate Nuisance. The resolution men-
tioned in Section 9 hereof shall not be passed until the property owner is given
at least 30 days' notice of the pendency of the proposed resolution; such notice
shall be given by the Director by mailing a copy of the notice to the owner as
shown upon the records of the County Treasurer and at the address shown thereon;
and if no owner and address is shown on such records, a copy of the notice shall
be posted upon the property, and shall also be published in one issue of the official
newspaper. The mailing, posting, and publication shall be made at least 30 days
before the resolution is adopted and proof shall be made by affidavit of the Direc-
tor filed with the City Clerk. The notice shall describe the property involved and
the nature of the hazardous condition constituting the nuisance .
Section 11 . Abuse or Mutilation of Trees. Except to abate a nuisance as
defined herein, it shall be a violation of this ordinance to damage, destroy, or
mutilate any tree, shrub, or plant in a public parking strip or any other 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
Rev. 5.-23-72
Ordinance No. 193-1
-5-
Date:
to come in contact with any such tree,
or to allow any gaseous,
liquid,
or solid
substance which is harmful to such trees to come in contact with their roots or
leaves. Providing, however, that nothing contained herein shall preclude either
the owner or occupant of real property from trimming or removing trees, shrubs
and plants in the parking strip of such real property, according to the provisions
of this ordinance. For the purpose of this ordinance the term "mutilate" shall have
the ordinary meaning and include excessive pruning or trimming which substantially
alters the natural shape or habit of a tree , but shall not refer to the removal of
dead or damaged branches.
Section 12. Abatement of Nuisance and Lien Therefor. If the nuisance is
not abated by removal or destruction by the property owner within the time fixed
in the resolution, the Director may abate the same and he shall render a bill cover-
ing the cost of such abatement, including the engineer's expense, and mail the bill
immediately; or if no bill is rendered because the owner cannot be found, the
Director, in the name of the City, may file a lien therefor against said property
which lien shall be in the same form, filed with the same officer and within the
same time and manner and enforced and foreclosed as is provided by law for liens
for labor and material.
Section 13. Indemnity Insurance Required for Tree Removal. No person
shall remove or trim any tree or trees within any of the parking strips within the
city without first having on file in the City Clerk's office a certificate of insurance
to be approved by the City Clerk, holding the City harmless from any and all lia-
bility whatsoever for injury to or death of persons, or loss of or damage to pro-
perty, as by, or rising out of activities or nonfeasance in connection with the
trimming or removal of any tree or trees within any of the parking strips within the
city, and further providing insurance coverage for the person in at least the follow-
ing amounts:
Public Liability and Bodily Injury -- $10, 000/$20, 000
Public Liability for Property Damage -- $5 , 000.
Rev. 6-6-72
Ordinance
No.
-6-
Date:
All of the
aforesaid to provide
protection against claims
which may arise due to
the trimming or removal of any tree or trees within any of the parking strips with-
in the city. The City shall be given ten days advance notice by mail of changes
or cancellation of any such insurance.
Section 14. Penalty. Violation of or failure to comply with any of the pro-
visions of this ordinance shall be subject to a fine in any sum not to exceed Five
Hundred Dollars ($500.00), or to imprisonment in the City jail for a period not ex-
ceeding six months, or both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the
City.
Section 15. Remedies not Exclusive. The remedies prescribed herein are
in addition to all other remedies provided or authorized by law.
Section 16. Conflict. Ordinance No. 1271 is hereby repealed, and all
other ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.
Section 17. Validity_. Should any section, sub -section, paragraph, sen-
tence, clause, or phrase of this ordinance be declared unconstitutional or invalid
for any reason, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining por-
tions of this ordinance .
Section 18. Effective Date. This ordinance shall be effective upon pas-
sage and publication as required by law.
PASSED by the Council and APPROVED by the Mayor this day of June,
1972.
.4
D. Wayne Campbell, City Attorney
Publication Date:
� -? , l g 7 2/
Donald D . Linton, Mayor
Rev. 6-6-72