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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNS-2414 - Establishing and Providing for Regulation of the Planting, Maintenance, and Removal of Public Trees295 ORDINANCE NO. NS-2414 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA ESTABLISHING AND PROVIDING FOR THE REGULATION OF THE PLANTiNG, MAiNTENANCE, AND REMOVAL OF PUBLIC TREES THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA HEREBY ORDAINS AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Findings. The City Council of the City of Santa Aa'aa (the "City") finds, determines and declares: A. The City recognizes trees as a valuable asset providing a healthier and more aesthetic environment to our neighborhoods and business community. B. The City recognizes trees as economically beneficial in attracting new businesses, residents and visitors. C. Healthy trees of the right size and species, growing in the appropriate spaces enhance the value and marketability of property and promote stability of desirable neighborhoods. D. The City recognizes the historical significance of its urban forest and the importance of preserving the forest with proper maintenance, removal and planting of trees. SECTION 2. Article VII, entitled Tree Regulations, is hereby added to Chapter 33 of the City's Municipal Code as follows: ARTICLE VII Sections: 33-181 33-182 33-183 33-184 33-185 33-186 33-187 33-188 33-189 33-190 Purpose. Definitions. Creation and Establishment of the Environmental Committee Duties and Responsibilities of the Environmental Committee Street Tree Species to be Planted. Street Tree Planting Standards. Public Tree Care. Site Plan Approval. Public Tree Pruning. Tree Topping. and Transportation Advisory and Transportation Advisory Ord. No. NS-2414 Page 1 of 7 296 33-191 Damaging Trees. 33-192 Dumping Harmful Substances on Trees. 33-193 Building Materials Near Trees, Shrubs. 33-194 Appeals. Section 33-181 Purpose. The purpose of this ordinance is to establish policies, regulations and standards necessary to ensure that the City will continue to realize the benefits provided by its urban forest. Section 33-182 Definitions. Unless the particular provisions or the context otherwise requires, the definitions contained in this section shall govern the construction, meaning and application of words and phrases used in this article. (a) Median Trees means trees located in the planted strip in the center of a divided highway. (b) Parkway means the same as defined in section 36-8 of this Code. (c) Person means the same as defined in section 1-2 of this Code. (d) Public Trees means any and all trees owned by the City and includes, but is not limited to, Median Trees and Street Trees. (e) Street Trees means trees located in the public right-of- way. (f) Topping means 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. Section 33-183. Creation and Establishment of the Environmental and Transportation Advisory Committee. (a) On December 2, 1991, the City Council created and established under City Council Resolution No. 91-112 the Environmental and Transportation Advisory Committee (ETAC) for the City of Santa Ana which consists of nine members, citizens, residents and business representatives of this City, who are appointed by the Mayor and City Council. (b) The rules governing membership, and the meetings and procedures of ETAC, as established by City Council resolutions 73-149 and 88-72 shall remain unchanged. Section 33-184. Duties and Responsibilities of the Environmental and Transportation Advisory Committee. (a) The duties of the ETAC shall consist of acting in an advisory capacity to the City Council in the study, review, and recommendations with regard to the removal, planting, replanting or disposition of Public Trees along City streets. ETAC shall review and make recommendations regarding requests for Public Tree removal by individual property owners, neighborhood associations, or developers. Ord. No. NS-2414 Page 2 of 7 297 (b) ETAC will assist in the dissemination of news and information regarding the protection, maintenance, removal and planting of Public Trees on public property to the City Council and citizens of the City of Santa Ana. (c) ETAC, when requested by the City Council, shall consider, investigate, make finding, report and recommend upon any special matter of question coming within the scope of the urban forest. Section 33-185 Street Tree Species to be Planted. The following list constitutes the official Street Tree Species for the City of Santa Ana. Species other than those included in this list may be planted as Street Trees with consent from the Environmental and Transportation Advisory Committee. COMMON NAME BOTANICAL NAME CATEGORY I Queen Palm Arecastrum (2 ½ - 4 FOOT Crape Myrtle romanzoffianum PARKWAYS) Lagerstroemia indica CATEGORY II australian Willow Geijera parviflora (4 -5 FOOT PARKWAYS) New Zealand Christmas Metorsiderso excelsus Bradford Pear Pyres calleryanan CATEGORY II Lavender Bloom Tabebuia ipe (4-5 FOOT PARKWAYS) CATEGORY III Peppermint Tree Agonis flexuosa (5 - 8 FOOT PARKWAYS) Bottle Tree Brachychiton populneus Modesto Ash Fraxinus velutina Jacaranda Jacaranda mimosifolia Magnolia-Samuel Magnolia grandiflora Summers Pinus canariensis Canary Island Pine Platanus acerifolia Sycamore, London Platanus racemosa Plane Quercus ilex Sycamore, Califomia Quercus agfifolia Oaks, Holly Tristania conferta Oaks, Coastal Live Oak Cassia leptophylla Brisbane Box Gold Medallion Tree CATEGORY IV Camphor Trees Cinnamomum camphora (8 FOOT OR LARGER Tulip Tree Liriodenfron Tulipifera PARKWAYS) Chinese Elm Ulmus Parvifolia Ord. No. NS-2414 Page 3 of 7 298 Section 33-186 Street Tree Planting Standards. The spacing of Street Trees will be in accordance with the Public Works Agency Standard Plan Code Book. Section 33-187 Public Tree Care. The City shall have the fight to plant, prune, maintain and remove trees, plants, and shrubs within the lines of all streets, alleys, avenues, squares, parkways and public grounds, as may be necessary to insure public safety or to preserve or enhance the symmetry and aesthetics of such public grounds. The City may remove or cause 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, water lines, or other public improvements or is affected with any injurious fungus, insect, or pest. Section 33-188 Site Plan Approval. Site Plan review shall require the planting of Street Trees to coincide with the development, redevelopment, renovating of any tract or parcel. The Site Plan for development or improvement of any tract or parcel of land shall be evaluated and approved by the City's Transportation and Development Services Division and Street Maintenance Division for the placement of Street Trees by the developer in accordance with SAMC sections 33-47 through 33-53 and section 34-81. The approved Site Plan, in addition to the usual requirements of the Zoning Code, contained in Chapter 41 of this Code, shall show the approximate location, size, and species of all existing trees to be maintained, trees to be removed and trees required for approval of the project. Section 33-189 Public Tree Pruning. The City of Santa Aha shall maintain the City's urban forest on an average 4-½ year trimming cycle based on species, the recommendations of a certified arborist, and the International Society of Arboricultural Tree Pruning Standards. The City shall maintain and prune any Public Tree with limbs or branches so that branches shall not obstruct the light from any street lamp or obstruct the view of any street intersection so that there shall be a clear space of 14 feet above the surface of the street or sidewalk. Section 33-190 Tree Topping. It shall be unlawful as a normal practice for any person, firm or city department to top any Public Tree on public property. Section 33-194 Appeals. Any person or entity aggrieved by a finding, notice, or action taken under the provisions of this Article, may appeal the same pursuant to the procedures of Chapter 3 of this Code. Ord. No. NS-2414 Page 4 of 7 299 SECTION 3: That Sections 10-141, Damaging Trees, 10-142, Dumping harmful substances on trees and 10-143, Building materials near trees, shrubs of the Santa Ana Municipal Code are hereby repealed. SECTION 4: That Section 33-189, Damaging Trees, is hereby added to the Santa Ana Municipal Code as follows: Sec. 33-189 Damaging trees. No person shall post or affix to any tree or shrub, tree stake or guard, in any street in the city, any bill, poster, placard, picture, announcement, notice, advertisement or sign, or cut, paint, print or mark any of the same upon such tree or shrub, tree stake or guard, or affix or attach in any manner any other thing whatsoever, including any guy wire or rope, to any such tree or shrub, tree stake, or guard, except for the purpose of protecting it or other purpose authorized by this Code. Tree stakes or guards may be placed around trees, shrubs or plants by property owners, provided the same are merely placed near a tree, shrub, or plant, for the purpose of protecting or training such trees, shrubs or plants. SECTION 5: That Section 33-190, Dumping harmful substances on trees, is hereby added to the Santa Ana Municipal Code as follows: Sec. 33-190. Dumping harmful substances on trees. No person shall dump, pour or spill any oil, salt, salt water or other deleterious matter upon any tree or tree space in any street, or maintain upon any sidewalk within ten (10) feet of any such tree or tree space on any street, any receptacle from which oil or salt water leaks or dr/ps, or pour oil or salt water onto any parking or concrete gutter, so as to injure any tree or any street. SECTION 6: That Section 33-191, Building materials near trees, shrubs, lc, hereby added to the Santa Ama Municipal Code as follows: Sec. 33-191. Building materials near trees, shrubs. No person shall pile building material, or other material, about any tree, plant or shrub in a street in any manner that will in any way injure such tree, plant or shrub. SECTION 7: That Section 1-18.2 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code is hereby amended to reads as follows: 1-18.2. Public works department authority to issue citations. The director of public works, the administrative services manager, the enterprise coordinator, the environmental control supervisor, the maintenance services manager and all sanitation inspectors have the duty to enforce the provisions of sections 16-1 through 16-4, 16-30, 16-31, 16-33 through 16-37.5, 16-39 and 16-48 of this Code; the director of public works, the maintenance Ord. No. NS-2414 Page 5 of 7 300 services manager and the tree maintenance supervisor have the duty to enforce the provisions of sections 33-188, 33-189 through 33-191 and 16-48 of this Code; and the director of public works, the water resources manager, the utility inspector and the water meter repairers have the duty to enforce the provisions of sections 39-26, 39-33 and 39-106 through 39-111 of this Code and the director of public works, the engineering services manager, senior civil engineer, associate engineers, assistant engineers and the construction inspectors have the duty to enfome the provisions of Article iV of Chapter 18 of this Code. The above-listed officers and employees are authorized to arrest persons without a warrant whenever they have reasonable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has committed a violation of said provisions in their presence. In any case in which a person is arrested pursuant to this section and the person arrested does not demand to be taken before a magistrate, said officer or employee making the arrest shall prepare a written notice to appear and release the person on his or her promise to appear as prescribed by Chapter 5 C, Title III, of Part 2 of the Penal Code of the State of California (commencing with Section 853.6). SECTION 8. Severability. The City Council of the City of Santa Ana hereby declares that should any section, paragraph, sentence or work of this ordinance or the Code, hereby adopted, be declared for any reason to be invalid, it is the intent of the Council that it would have passed all other portions of this ordinance independent of the elimination here from of any such portion as may be declared. ADOPTED this 20thday of ATTEST: Jan~ C. Guy Clerk ef the Council December ,1999 COUNCILMEMBERS: Pulido Lutz ~ye Bist ~ye Christy bye Franklin McGuigan . Aye moreno Ab s e nt APPROVED AS TO FORM: Joseph W. Fletcher, City Attorney Tai~ar/~ A. Zro~d~ A~sis~aht City At[omey Ord. No. NS-2414 Page 6 of 7 301 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY & PUBLICATION I, JANICE C. GUY, Clerk of the Council, do hereby certify the attached Ordinance No. ~l/,~ to be the original ordinance adopted by the City Council of the City of Santa Ana on /~.~ 4/~ ~' ; and that said ordinance was published in accordance with the Charter of the City of Santa Ana. Clerk'6f the Council City of Santa Aha Ord. No. NS-2414 Page 7 of 7