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HomeMy WebLinkAbout004 - 02/25/1971 - PERTAINING TO TREES IN THE CITY, THEIR CARE AND PROTECTION, ESTABLISHING THE POSITION OF CITY ARBORI � Y ORDINANCE NO 4 , 1971, BEING AN ORDINANCE PERTAINING TO TREES IN THE CITY, THEIR CARE AND PRO- TECTION, ESTABLISHING THE POSITION OF CITY ARBORIST, PROVIDING FOR THE PAYMENT OF THE COST OF WORK REQUIRED TO BE DONE ON TREES, AND REPEALING SECTIONS 22-54 THROUGH 22-65 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS, COLORADO, 1958, AS AMENDED BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS Ar Section 1 The City Manager shall employ or contract for the services of a person to be known as the City Arborist whose powers and duties are hereafter specified Section 2 The City Arborist shall have the power to promulgate and enforce rules, regulations and specifications concerning the trimming, spraying, removal, planting, pruning and protection of trees, shrubs, vines, hedges, and other plants upon the public right of way of any street, alley, sidewalk, or other public place in the City Such rules, regulations and specifications shall be in writing and shall not be effective until approved by the City Manager Copies of such rules, regulations and specifications shall be available to the public through the office of the City Clerk Section 3 It shall be unlawful to sell or import into the City or to plant or cause to be planted within the City limits any of the following species of trees, to-wit any cotton-bearing cottonwood tree (Populus sp ) , and female boxelder tree _ (Acer negundo) In addition, it shall be unlawful to plant or cause to be planted any of the follow- ing species of trees on the right of way of any street, alley, sidewalk or other public place within the City, to-wit Any of the poplar species (Populus sp ) , any of the willow species (Salix sp ) the boxelder tree (Acer negun o) , any weeping or pendulous-type Yr—ee any tree with bushy growth which cannot be maintained to a single leader or trunk, and any tree, shrub or hedge growth which by its habit or growth would obstruct, restrict or conflict with necessary and safe use of the public rights of way, such as upright evergreens and large spreading evergreens,. and Chinese or Siberian elm species (Ulmus pumila) Section 4 It shall be unlawful for any person, either for himself or another, to plant, remove, destroy or cause to be planted, removed or destroyed, any tree, shrub or hedge, in or upon the public right of way of any street, alley, sidewalk or other public place within the City without having first obtained a written permit therefor Section 5 Any person desiring to plant, remove or destroy any tree, shrub or hedge in or upon the public right of way of any street, alley, sidewalk or other public place within the City shall first make written application therefor at the office of the City Clerk upon forms furnished by the City Such application shall set forth the name and address of the applicant, the name and address of the person doing the work, the kind or species of tree or shrub to be planted or removed, and the location of the same, together with such other information as the City Arborist shall require The applicant shall at the time of making the appli- cation, agree in writing to, in all respects, save the City harmless and protect the City and the public at all times in connection with the planting, removing or destruction of any tree, shrub or hedge to be planted or removed under such permit Section 6 The City Arborist shall inspect the location and if in his opinion it is desirable that such tree or shrub be planted or removed, as the case may be, he shall issue a permit therefor Such permit shall set forth the name of the person who shall perform the work, the location at which the tree or shrub is to be planted or removed, and any conditions or requirements made by the City Arborist in connection therewith Failure to comply with the requirements of any such pe=t shall constitute a violation of this ordinance Section 7 It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the business of planting, cutting, trimming, pruning, removing, spraying or otherwise treating trees, shruns or vines within the City without first procuring a license therefor from the City Section 8 Any person desiring a license pursuant to this ordinance shall make application therefor at the office of the City Clerk on forms to be provided by the City The City Clerk shall refer such application to the City Arborist who shall examine the applicant either orally or in writing as he shall deem advisable in order to determine the applicant's qualifications and competency to engage in the business applied for No license shall be issued or renewed without the approval of the City Arborist Section 9 Every license issued hereunder shall show on its face the types, classifications or kinds of services for which the licensee is licensed and authorized to perform All motor vehicles and other major equipment of any person licensed hereunder used in conducting the licensed business shall be clearly iden- tified with the name of the licensee Section 10 No such license shall be issued until the applicant therefor has presented to the City Clerk a satisfactory public liability insurance policy cover- ing all proposed operations of the applicant in such business in the City in the sum of at least One Hundred Thousand and N0/100 Dollars ($100,000 00) for the injury or death of any one person, Three Hundred Thousand and No/100 Dollars ($300,000 00) for the injury or death of any number of persons in any one accident, and Twenty-five Thousand and No/100 Dollars ($25,000 00) for damage to property Such policy may allow the first One Hundred Dollars ($100 00) of liability to be deductible Such insurance policy must be prepared for at least the term of the license and shall require at least thirty (30) days' advance notice to the City before cancellation In the event of the cancellation or termination of any such required insurance policy during the license term, the license shall be terminated and the holder thereof shall surrender the same to the City Clerk unless the licensee presents to the City Clerk a substitute insurance policy meeting the requirements of this section Section 11 No license shall be issued hereunder until the applicant has paid a license fee of One Hundred and No/100 Dollars ($100 00) for the original license of Twenty-five and N0/100 Dollars ($25 00) for the renewal of a license Every license issued hereunder shall expire one (1) year after the date of its issuance Renewal applications may be submitted at the office of the City Clerk any time within thirty (30) days of the date a license Will expire Section 12 Upon the verified complaint in writing by any person, the Director of Parks and Recreation may suspend or revoke any license issued hereunder for violation of this ordinance The complaint shall be submitted in writing to the Director of Parks and Recreation and shall state the date, time and place of viola- tion for which the suspension or revocation of said license is requested Before suspending or revoking any license pursuant to this section, the Director of Parks and Recreation shall first mail by Certified Mail a copy of the complaint to the license holder and give notice to the license holder of a date (not less than five (5) days after the date of mailing of such notice) on which the Director of Parks and Recreation will hold a hearing to determine whether or not such license should be suspended or revoked Section 13 In the event of any suspension or revocation of a license by the Director of Parks and Recreation, the licensee shall have the right to appeal such suspension or revocation to the Fort Collins Parks and Recreation Board Any such appeal must be submitted in writing to the Director of Parks and Recreation within 2 ten (10) days after the date of suspension or revocation of the license The Parks and Recreation Board shall have the power to overrule or otherwise modify any order of the Director of Parks and Recreation suspending or revoking any license In hearing an appeal from any action of the Director of Parks and Recreation suspending or revoking any license, the Fort Collins Parks and Recrea- tion Board may, on its own motion, or shall, if so requested by licensee, augment its membership by not more than two (2) additional licensed arborists or foresters who shall have voting privilege at the hearing The hearing by the Fort Collins Parks and Recreation Board shall be held within fifteen (15) days from the date the appeal is filed with the Director of Parks and Recreation Section 14 It shall be the duty of the owner of property abutting the right of way of any street, alley, sidewalk or other public place to maintain and care for all trees and shrubs on such abutting right of way The City Arborist shall have the power to require any such property owner to perform such maintenance on any tree or shrub on the right of way abutting such owner's property as may be necessary The City Arborist shall further have the power to require any property owner to trim, remove or protect any tree or shrub on such owner's property which may project beyond the property line onto or over the right of way abutting the same The City Arborist shall cause a notice requiring such work to be performed to be served upon the property owner in accordance with Section 19 of this ordinance, and such work shall be done within the reasonable time specified in this notice Nothing in this ordinance shall be construed as requiring the owner of property to trim any trees or shrubs when such trimming is required because of city utility lines or traffic control signs or devices and it shall be the dity of the City to do any trimming required for such utilities or signs or traffic control devices Section 15 It shall be the duty of the owner of any property abutting the right of way of any street, alley, sidewalk or other public place to remove any dead or dying trees or dead or dying limbs dangerous to life, limb or property located upon the premises of such owner or upon the right of way of any street, alley, sidewalk or other public place abutting the property of such owner of property whenever required to do so by notice given by the City Arborist served upon the owner of such property in accordance with Section 19 of this ordinance Such work shall be performed within such reasonable tima as may be specified in such notice Section 16 Upon the discovery of any destructive or communicable disease, or other pestilence which endangers the growth, health, life or well-being of trees or plants in the City, or which is capable of causing an epidemic spread of communicable disease or insect infestation such as Dutch Elm Disease, the City Arborist shall at once cause written notice to be served upon the owner of the property upon which such diseased tree is situate or the property abutting the right of way of any street, alley, sidewalk or other public place upon which such diseased tree is situate, which notice shall require such property owner to eradi- cate, remove or otherwise control such condition within a reasonable time to be specified in such notice Section 17 It shall be unlawful for any person to fall to comply with the requirements of any notice given pursuant to Sections 14, 15 and 16 of this ordinance within the time specified in such notice Section 18 Any notice given by the City Arborist pursuant to Sections 14, 15 or 16 of this ordinance shall allow at least five (5) days to the property owner to perform the work required after the time the notice is served on the property owner During such period the property owner shall have the right to appeal the order of the City Arborist to the Fort Collins Parks and Recreation Board by filing with the Director of Parks and Recreation a notice that said property owner desires to appeal from such order Such appeal shall be submitted in writing to the Director of Parks and Recreation within five (5) days from the date of service of the order If any property owner files a notice of appeal with the Director of Parks and Recreation, the Director of Parks and Recreation shall schedule a hearing of the Parks and Recreation Board to consider such appeal within ten (10) days Until a 3 - final determination by the Parks and Recreation Board, the work required to be done by the City Arborist shall not be required and if the Parks and Recreation Board sustains all or any part of the order of the City Arborist, it shall set the time within which the work required to be done shall be done In hearing any appeal from an-order of the City Arborist pursuant to this section, the Fort Collins Parks and Recreation Board may, on its own motion, and shall, if so re- quested by the property owner, augment its membership by not more than two (2) additional licensed arborists or foresters who shall have"Oting privileges at the hearing Section 19 Any notice authorized in Sections 14, 15 and 16 of this ordinance may be served by delivering a copy of such notice to the record owner of such property or by leaving a copy of such notice at such owner's usual place of abode with some member of his family over the age of eighteen (18) years In case there is more than one owner of a property, service upon any caner shall be adequate ser- vice upon all co-owners If the owner of any property cannothe found in the City, service may be made by mailing a copy thereof to such owner, postage prepaid, cer- tified mail, addressed to his last known address, and by posting a copy of such notice in a conspicuous place on the premises involved Service by mail shall be completed five (5) days after the date the notice is deposited in the mails and posted on the premises Section 20 If any work required under Sections 14, 15 aid 16 of this ordinance is not accomplished within the time specified in the notice, the City Arborist shall cause the work to be done and the cost of the same shall be collected from the prop- erty owner Any notice given pursuant to this ordinance shall state that if the work required is not done within the time specified, the City will cause the same to be done at the expense of the property owner If the City Arborist causes the work to be done, he shall submit the cost thereof to the City Clerk who shall send a statement in such amount to the property owner at his last known address Any such statement shall be paid by the property owner within thirty (30) days after the statement is mailed to him After such thirty (30) days, any unpaid amount shall bear interest at the rate of six per cent (6%) per annum If any property owner is unable to pay the cost of such work within thirty (30) days, he may enter into an agreement for the payment of the same in monthly installments over a period not to exceed five (5) years and the unpaid cost shall, by such agreement, be made a lien on the lands of such property owner Any unpaid balance due under such agreement shall bear interest at the rate of six per cent (6%) per annum The agreement shall be filed in the office of the County Clerk and Recorder of Larimer County Section 21 The City Clerk shall, not later than the first day of July of each year, report to the City Council as to any costs for work done by the City under this ordinance which have not been paid by the property owner or made the subject of an agreement with the property owner as authorized in Section 20 of this ordinance Notice shall be mailed by the City Clerk to each property owner, which notice shall state the amount claimed to be due from such property owner, the date, place and time that the report will be made to the City Council, the description of the property to be assessed, a description of the work performed, and that the City Council will be asked to assess the cost of the work, together with an amount not to exceed seventeen per cent (17%) to cover interest, legal and advertising fees and cost of collection against the property of such owner Such notice shall be mailed at least ten (10) days, and not more than forty-five (45) days, before the date the report will be made to the City Council The City Council shall, when the report is presented to them, consider ordering by ordinance the assessment of such cost, together with an amount not to exceed seventeen per cent (17%) to cover interest, legal and advertising fees and cost of collection, against such real estate Such assessment shall be certified by the City Clerk to the County Treasurer and shall be on a parity with the tax lien for general state, county, city, town or school taxes, Such assessment shall become delinquent on the first day of September, after the date of assessment, and after the same becomes delinquent, shall be advertised and sold by the County Treasurer at the same time or 4 - r times, in the same manner and under all the same conditions and penalties and with the same effect as now prescribed by the general laws of the State of Colorado for the sale of real estate in default of payment of general taxes Section 22 In order to accomplish the purposes of this ordinance, the City Arborist is hereby authorized to go upon any property in the City for the purpose of inspecting trees, shrubs and other plants Section 23 The imposition of any penalty for a violation of this ordinance shall not be construed as a waiver of the right of the City to collect the costs of removal or treatment of any tree, shrub or other plant in accordance with the provisions of this ordinance Section 24 If any section, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this ordinance is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by any court of com- petent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct and inde- pendent provision and such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions hereof Section 25 Sections 22-54 through 22-65, inclusive, of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Fort Collins, Colorado, 1958, as amended, are hereby repealed Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 4th day of February, A D 1971, and to be presented for final passage on the 25th day of February, A D 1971 or ATTEST City Clerk Passed and adopted on final reading this 25th day f February, A D 1971 or ATTEST City Clerk 5 -