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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-05-18-02/Adopting Rules and Regulations Concerning the Planting, Trimming, Maintenance and Removal of Trees, Shrubs and Other Plants Located Within the City’s Right of WayRESOLUTION NO. BPW 07-05-18-02 RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF CARMEL BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SAFETY ADOPTING RULES AND REGULATIONS CONCERNING THE PLANTING, TRIMMING, MAINTENANCE AND REMOVAL OF TREES, SHRUBS AND OTHER PLANTS LOCATED WITHIN THE CITY'S RIGHT OF WAY WHEREAS, the Common Council of the City of Carmel, Indiana ("City"), adopted Ordinance D-1091-94, which granted the City's Urban Forester the authority to promulgate and enforce rules, regulations and specifications concerning the planting, trimming, maintenance and removal of trees, shrubs and other plants located upon the right-of-way of any street or alley in the City; and WHEREAS, the rules and regulations promulgated by the Urban Forester must be approved by the City's Board of Public Works (the `Board") in order to take effect; and WHEREAS, the Board finds that the adoption of the rules and regulations set forth herein is in the public interest. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City of Carmel Board of Public Works and Safety as follows: Section 1 The foregoing Recitals are incorporated herein by this reference. Section 2 Purpose The purpose of these regulations is to ensure that existing trees, trees to be planted, and any parts of trees encroaching or located upon the right-of-way of any street or alley located within the corporate boundaries of the City are properly maintained and preserved to protect their economic, aesthetic, and ecological benefits to the City and its residents. Section 3 Definitions For the purpose of this Resolution, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning: (a) Caliper: Caliper of the tree trunk shall be taken six (6) inches above the ground up to and including 4 -inch caliper size, and twelve (12) inches above the ground for larger sizes. (b) Director: The administrator of the Department of Community Services or his/her designee. (c) Risk Tree: A structurally unsound tree with a potential for failure that is located in an area where other property or public safety could be threatened by its failure. (d) Maintenance: The treating, spraying, removal, pruning and/or other horticultural work intended to enhance or preserve trees and/or remove or prevent damage to any Street Tree by means of tree pests, blights, diseases and/or decay. (e) Person: Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company, organization or entity of any kind whatsoever. (f) Plant Material: Any Tree, shrub, annual or perennial flower or herbaceous plant. (g) Property Owner: Any Person owning or controlling real property located within the corporate limits of the City. (h) Public Parkway: Any portion of a public right-of-way that is located within the City's corporate boundaries. (i) Replacement: Any Plant Material to be planted as a substitute for existing Plant Material which has been removed or is scheduled for removal. (j) Street Tree: Trees planted within the right-of-way of any street or alley located in the City. (k) Topping: The cutting back of Street Tree limbs internodally within the Tree's crown to such a degree as to remove the natural canopy and/or to disfigure the Tree. (1) Tree: A perennial plant having a woody supporting main stem or trunk, ordinarily growing to heights greater than thirteen (13) feet at maturity. (m) Urban Forester: An employee of the City, who is trained, educated and skilled in forestry, horticulture, arboriculture, or landscape architecture and who is primarily charged with the responsibility of implementing and enforcing these Regulations on behalf of the City and acting as a designee of the Director of the Department of Community Services. Section 5 Duties of Property Owners (a) Property Owners shall not plant Street Trees unless they have been authorized by the Urban Forester and comply with these rules and regulations. (b) Any Property Owner whose property borders or lies adjacent to any Public Parkway upon which any Trees are standing shall: (a) trim or cause to be trimmed at the property line and to clear a height of at least eight (8) feet above the surface of any sidewalk and ten (10) feet above the surface of any Public Parkway all Trees to the extent the same are located on his/her property (b) and trim or cause to be trimmed all Tree branches or parts thereof which obstruct or interfere with the passage of light from any street lighting system onto a Public Parkway. (c) A Property Owner shall, and the City may, remove from privately -owned Trees all dead, decayed, broken or hazardous limbs, branches or parts thereof or any that overhang any Public Parkway. Section 6 Planting and/or Replacement Requirements (a) Street Trees that are to be planted in a Public Parkway by an adjacent Property Owner must first be authorized by the Urban Forester. Authorized plantings must be maintained one (1) year after planting, and any such Street Trees which fail to survive or do not exhibit normal growth characteristics, health and vigor within this one-year period must, upon written notice of the Urban Forester, be promptly removed or replaced at the sole expense of the Property Owner. Upon completion of a Street Tree planting and/or Replacement, the Property Owner or his/her landscape contractor must contact the City for a preliminary inspection. The one (1) year Maintenance period will not begin until the date on which the plantings and/or Replacements are approved by the City. (b) Street Trees must be planted so that it's center is a minimum distance from the following objects: Stop Sign, Speed Driveway, Alley, Fire Underground Sidewalk, Sign, Street Hydrant, Manhole, Water Utilities Curb Intersection Valve, Mailbox, Light Pole 20 feet 10 feet 5 feet 2.5 feet (c) At the intersection of roadways and/or vehicular assess points, no Plant Material with a mature height of greater than three (3) feet shall be planted within twenty-five (25) feet of the boundary of any intersecting roadways or access pond, measured, as applicable, from the point of intersecting curb lines, except where engineering standards require otherwise. (d) Street Trees should be placed no closer than twenty-five (25') feet apart and no more than fifty (50') feet apart. The Urban Forester may require wider spacing if it is necessary for the proper development of the Tree and/or for the safe use of the street or sidewalk. When space is limited or to achieve certain design effects, closer spacing may be approved by the Urban Forester. (e) Small growing trees (maturing to 15 feet or less) may be planted directly underneath distribution power lines. Medium sized trees (maturing to 16 to 40 feet) must be planted at least 30 feet from distribution power lines. Large growing trees (maturing to 40 feet or more) may be planted at least 40 feet from distribution power lines in order to avoid future pruning. (See City of Carmel's Recommended Tree List — Available from the Department of Community Services) (f) All Tree and Plant Material plantings shall adhere to the City of Carmel's Graphic Planting Details — (Available from the Department of Community Services) (g) Street Trees to be planted in a Public Parkway shall measure a minimum of one and a half (1.5) inches in Caliper. Section 7 Replacement Policy (a) Any Person who, in the course of construction within or adjacent to a Public Parkway removes any Street Tree shall replace all the same on a Caliper inch -for -inch basis, and within thirty (30) days of the removal of same, unless a longer Replacement period is approved in writing by the Urban Forester at the sole expense of such Person. (b) In lieu of Replacement, payment of equal value for the Street Tree(s) on a Caliper inch -for -inch basis, as determined by the Director of Community Services, shall be made to the City within ten (10) days of such removal. (c) The Urban Forester shall determine the best location and species for planting Street Trees which shall be planted where they are able provide a public benefit and within the distance requirements set forth herein. (d) In situations where a Replacement cannot reasonably be planted on City property, a Replacement may be planted on private property with the prior written consent of the Property Owner and a signed guarantee by the Property Owner to provide Maintenance for the Street Tree after it is planted. Street Trees planted with public funds on private property become the sole responsibility of the Property Owner. (e) All Replacements shall adhere to the City of Carmel's Graphic Planting Details — (Available from the Department of Community Services) Section 8 Prohibited Tree Species and Conditions (a) The following Tree species shall not be planted by any Person on any portion of a Public Parkway: Acer negundo (boxelder), Acer saccharinum (silver maple), Ailanthus altissima (tree of heaven), Betula papyrifera (paper birch), Betula pendula (European white birch), Catalpa species (catalpa), Fraxinus species (ash), Morus species (mulberry), Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore), Populus species (lombardy poplar, cottonwood), Pyrus calleryana — (callery pear), Quercus palustris (pin oak), Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust), Salix species (willows) and Ulmus pumila (Siberian elm). Other species of Trees, especially those that are intolerant to the urban condition or that possess shallow or aggressive root systems, may be prohibited by the Urban Forester. (b) If any Plant Material within a Public Parkway, in the opinion of the Director, creates a hazardous obstruction to vision which may endanger vehicular or pedestrian traffic, then said Plant Material shall, upon written notice by the Urban Forester, be appropriately trimmed or removed by the Property Owner to remove such obstruction within the time period set forth in notice, which shall not be less than forty-eight (48) hours. Section 9 Diversity (a) No single Tree species planted within the City shall make up more than fifteen (15) percent of the total Street Tree population (See Current Street Tree Inventory). Increased diversity is a preventative measure against disease susceptibility and invasive pests. (b) Street Trees shall coincide with the following chart for plantings on a site. To achieve certain design effects, a greater number of the same Tree genus and/or species may be approved by the Urban Forester. The following represents the Tree genus/species variation for a given site. NUMBER OF STREET TREES AT SITE MAXIMUM PERCENTAGE OF ANY ONE GENUS AT SITE MAXIMUM PERCENTAGE OF ANY ONE SPECIES AT SITE 1-19 50 50 20-39 33 25 40-59 25 15 60 or more 15 15 Section 10 Street Tree Maintenance (a) Unless specifically authorized in writing by the Urban Forester or his/her designee, no Person shall willfully and/or negligently damage or destroy, cut, carve, transplant, or remove any Street Tree or attach any rope, wire, nails, staples, advertising posters, or other contrivance thereto, or allow any gaseous, liquid, or solid substance which is harmful to such Tree to come into contact with same; or set fire or permit any fire to burn when such fire or the heat thereof will injure any portion of any such Tree; except as may be necessary in a bonafide emergency to remove or abate a condition dangerous or hazardous to public safety or health. (b) A Person shall not perform Topping on any Street Tree, except when it is made necessary by natural events, utility wires or other obstructions that make proper pruning practices are impractical. The Urban Forester or his/her designee shall determine whether proper pruning practices are impractical. (c) All pruning work on Street Trees shall be performed under the direction of the Urban Forester in a good and workmanlike manner using current American National Safety Institute Z-133 and A-300 approved practices and methods. (d) During the alteration or repair of any building or structure, or other construction activity, the Property Owner, shall take all necessary steps to prevent injury to and/or the destruction of any Tree or Plant Material growing in any Public Parkway. (e) A Person shall not remove, damage or misuse any guard or device placed around or intended to protect any Street Tree growing in or on any Public Parkway in the City without the prior written consent of the Urban Forester. (f) Absent the prior written consent of the City, no Person shall attach any electric wire, insulator or other device for holding an electric wire to any Street Tree or Plant Material growing within any Public Parkway. Every Person owning or maintaining any wire or wires charged with electricity shall securely fasten and place the same so that they will not damage or come in contact with any Street Tree. (g) Public utilities may trim Street Tree roots and branches as necessary for the maintenance of utility service as prescribed by state law and the rules and regulations prescribed herein. The cost of such tree care is the responsibility of the affected utility. Section 11 Tree Removal (a) Candidates for removal are those Street Trees that are: (1) Dead. (2) Deemed a Risk Tree by the Urban Forester. (3) In recognized danger of dropping limbs immediately or within the next year and, combined with other factors, makes lesser corrective measures not cost effective. (4) Host to an aggressive, life threatening disease or pest. (5) In decline and has less than an estimated two years of lifespan remaining. (6) In the way of construction and cannot be accommodated by special construction techniques or other reasonable and cost-effective means. (7) Affected by root cutting for pavement repair which will likely result in the irreparable decline of the Tree or the creation of a public hazard. (8) Planted without the approval of the Urban Forester. Section 12 Notice of Violation The Urban Forester shall provide a Person with written notice of the existence of a violation of these rules if the violation is not removed or corrected in a timely manner. Such notice shall be provided by certified mail, directed to the Person of interest at his/her last known place of residence as recorded in the Hamilton County Assessor's Office. The notice shall state the nature of the violation, describe the location upon which the condition exists, demand the appropriate corrective action of the condition and set a date, not sooner than fourteen (14) days after the date of such notice, when the property shall be re -inspected to determine if the violation has been corrected. If service by certified mail is ineffective, notice shall be provided by any means permitted for service of process under Indiana state law. Section 13 Enforcement (a) The Urban Forester shall have the right to inspect all Trees covered in this Article to determine compliance, therewith, in accordance with applicable law. (b) The City may take legal action to enforce these regulations. Section 14 This Resolution is effective upon its passage. Cts LA SO RESOLVED this 7 day of , 2018. CITY OF CARMEL, INDIANA By and through its Board of Public Works and Safety I'3's James Brainard, Presiding Officer Date: _ A Mary Anrg"Burke, Date: Lori S.li Member Date: IM, S ATTEST• ������-�- Christine Pauley, Clerk- asurer Date: ��