[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council
of the Borough of Palmerton 3-10-1980 by Ord. No. 405; amended in its entirety 3-20-1991 by Ord. No.
503. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
A commission, to be known as the "Shade Tree
Commission of the Borough of Palmerton," is hereby created under authority
of the Borough Code, as amended, approved February 1, 1966, P.L. No.
581, Article XXVII.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 8 Pa.C.S.A. § 2721.
A.
COMMISSION
PERMIT
PERSON
PUBLIC HIGHWAY
SHADE TREE
TREE REMOVAL
The following words and phrases, when used in this
chapter, shall have the meanings hereby ascribed to them, except in
those instances where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
The Shade Tree Commission of the Borough of Palmerton.
A document issued, in writing, by the Shade Tree Commission
or through the Borough of Palmerton and kept on record in the Borough
office.
Any natural person, firm, association, partnership or corporation.
Any street, sidewalk or alley open to the public and shall
extend to the limits of the Borough's legal right-of-way as shown
on the recorded plan of property within the Borough.
Any tree, shrub, hedge or other woody plant on any public
highway, park or Borough-owned property in the Borough of Palmerton,
or any tree, shrub, hedge or other woody plant which extends within
the limits of any public highway, park or Borough-owned property.
Removing all woody tissue, including that below ground, to
a depth of 12 inches.
B.
In these regulations, and in this chapter, the singular
shall include the plural, and the masculine shall include the feminine
and neuter.
A.
The Commission shall be composed of three residents
of the Borough of Palmerton who shall be appointed by the Council
and shall serve without compensation.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
B.
Term. The Council shall appoint the members for terms
of three years. Vacancies in the Commission shall be filled by Council
for the unexpired term of the member.
A.
The Shade Tree Commission shall perform all duties
and may exercise all the powers conferred to it by the Borough Code,
as amended, approved February 1, 1966, P.L. No. 581, Article XXVII.[1] This shall include overseeing and enforcing shade tree
regulations as delineated in this chapter, enacted and ordained by
the Council of the Borough of Palmerton, Carbon County, Pennsylvania,
as follows:
(1)
The Commission, with concurrence of the Council, shall have exclusive custody and control of the shade trees in the Borough which come under its jurisdiction as defined in § 32-2.
(2)
The Commission is empowered to authorize planting, removal, maintenance and protection of shade trees under its jurisdiction as defined in § 32-2.
(3)
Identification of new planting sites by the Commission
is subject to the review and final approval of the Council's Streets
and Sidewalks Committee.
(4)
The Commission, with the approval of the Council,
may engage, hire or employ such arborists, foresters, tree wardens,
engineers or other professional persons as the duties and responsibilities
of its office requires.
(5)
The Commission may make, enforce and recommend regulations
for the care and protection of shade trees in the Borough. No regulations
shall be in force until they have been approved by the Council and
enacted as an ordinance or resolution.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 8 Pa.C.S.A. § 2721.
B.
No person shall prevent, delay or interfere with the Commission, Council, Borough employees or any person employed to execute or enforce the regulations contained in Chapter 32 of the Borough Code,[2] provided that nothing herein shall be construed as an
attempt to prohibit a public hearing or the pursuit of any remedy,
legal or equitable, in any court of competent jurisdiction for the
protection of property rights by the owner of any property within
the Borough of Palmerton, Pennsylvania.
The following regulations, as adopted by the
Shade Tree Commission of the Borough of Palmerton at a meeting held
December 11, 1990, are hereby approved by the Council of said Borough
and are hereby enacted as part of this chapter.
A.
Permits must be obtained to do anything to a shade
tree. No shade tree shall be removed, planted, pruned, broken, sprayed,
injured, destroyed, have the growth altered in any manner or be interfered
with in any way, in or on any public highway, park or other Borough
property in the Borough of Palmerton, unless a permit has been obtained
and is on file at the Borough office, indicating approval or permission
of the Commission or Council, in writing, for the action to be taken.
B.
Routine maintenance. Once permission is secured, in
writing, through such a permit, the property owner shall have a time
limit of one year from the date of the permit to accomplish the work.
C.
Removal (also consult § 32-8D).
(1)
The Commission may require owners of property to cut,
prune or remove shade trees in the interest of public safety or to
conform with the regulations of this chapter.
(a)
Condemnation. Upon written notification from the Commission,
the property owner will have 60 days to take the requested measure.
(c)
Failure to comply. If the property owner fails to
comply with such notice or requirements, the Borough may cause the
work to be done and levy and collect the cost thereof from the owner
of the property.
D.
Cost:
(1)
The cost of pruning or removing any shade trees and
stumps along public highways in the Borough and planting a replacement
tree shall be the responsibility of the property owner.
(2)
In addition, the cost of the necessary suitable guards,
curbing or grading for the protection thereof and the replacement
of any pavement, driveway or sidewalk necessarily disturbed in the
execution of such work shall also be paid by the owner of the real
estate abutting where the work is done.
(3)
If the Borough has to arrange for a condemned tree to be taken down [See § 32-5C(1)], the cost of such work shall be a lien upon the premises from the time of the commencement of the work, the date of which shall be determined by the Borough. Any such lien may be collected by an action in assumpsit or by lien filed in the manner provided by law for the filing and collection of municipal claims.
E.
Location and species of new trees:
(1)
Replacement trees. The species and location of replacement trees are subject to the guidelines contained in § 32-8A.
(2)
Planting trees in open sites.
(a)
Property owners of open sites approved for the planting
of new trees according to the most current shade tree inventory will
be systematically requested to voluntarily plant trees in the identified
site within a specified time.
(b)
If such a request has been made and a property has
not been brought into compliance voluntarily by planting a tree at
the specified site within the time specified, then the tree may be
planted by the Borough and a lien placed against the property to cover
the costs incurred by the Borough.
F.
Regulation of shade trees on private property.
(1)
If any shade tree on a public highway, street, park
or other public property is being injuriously affected or is likely
to be so affected or if the public safety is being endangered by a
tree on private property, as determined by the Commission or Council,
the property owner will be required to prune, spray, cut or remove
such tree(s), shrubs, hedges or plants at the property owner's expense.
(2)
If the owner of the property does not take the required
actions as ordered within the time specified from the date of such
order, the Commission or Council may then have the work done at the
property owner's expense.
A.
Nothing may be attached to a shade tree. No cables,
ropes, wires, nails, spikes or injurious fasteners may be attached
to, placed upon or put into any shade tree in or upon any public highway,
park or other public property with the exception of temporary official
signs and notices approved by the Commission or Council. These approved
official signs shall be attached with string or tape which may be
removed without doing damage to the tree.
B.
No injurious substances may be placed on shade trees.
No chemicals, salt water, oil, gasoline or other materials which are
hazardous or injurious to plant life shall be poured, sprayed, placed
or allowed to fall upon any street, highway, sidewalk or pavement
in such a way as to injure any shade tree growing thereon.
C.
Roots:
(1)
There may be no surface impediments to the roots at
the base of the shade tree. No person shall deposit, place, store
or maintain upon any public area of the Borough any asphalt, concrete,
stone, sand or other material which may impede the free passage of
water, air and fertilizer to the roots of any shade tree growing thereon,
except by written permission of the Commission or Council.
(2)
No gas leaks near roots. No person shall knowingly
permit any leak to exist in any gas pipe within the root area of any
shade tree.
(3)
No toxic materials near roots. No person shall knowingly
permit any other toxic material to seep, drain or be emptied on or
about the root area of any shade tree.
(4)
No digging near shade trees. No person shall excavate
any ditches, tunnels, holes or trenches or lay any driveway within
a radius of six feet from any shade tree without first obtaining a
written permit from the Borough Manager's office.
(5)
In the event of imminent danger to life or property,
digging near a shade tree may be undertaken without permission of
the Commission, provided that such action must be reported to the
Borough Manager's office and a permit placed on file within 48 hours
of its occurrence. Otherwise, it shall be deemed a violation of this
chapter.
D.
No electrical wires may come in contact with any shade
tree.
(1)
No person shall knowingly permit any electrical wires
to come in contact with any shade tree unless protected by methods
approved by the power company and the Commission.
(2)
When electricity needs to be cut off for safety. Whenever
the director of a Borough department determines it is necessary to
move, protect or cut off the electricity from service wires so that
the department's work can be conducted safely and properly, the director
shall serve written notice on the owners of such wires, and such owner
shall comply with such orders within 24 hours after service of said
notice.
E.
No injuries from fire. No person shall permit any
fire to burn where such fire will injure any portion of a shade tree
on any highway or in any public area of the Borough.
F.
In the event of accidental damage to or the destruction
of any shade tree in or on any public highway or public property:
(1)
A report thereof must be submitted within five days
to the Borough Manager's office by the person responsible for the
damage.
(2)
Repair, removal and/or replanting necessitated by
such damage or destruction may be accomplished by the person(s) responsible
or may be initiated by the Commission. The Borough may collect the
expense of such repair, removal and/or replacement from the person(s)
responsible for such damage or destruction.
In the case of imminent danger to life or property,
a shade tree on any public highway, street, park or other public property
may be cut, pruned or removed without permission of the Commission
or Council or Borough, provided that such action must be reported
to the Borough Manager's office and a retroactive permit placed on
file within 48 hours after its occurrence. Otherwise, it shall be
deemed a violation of this chapter.
A.
Planting. Any shade tree which is planted on any public
highway, park or public property in the Borough must meet the following
guidelines:
(2)
Site.
(a)
The precise site at which a shade tree will be planted
must be approved first by the Commission, and then the specific location
is subject to the review and final approval of the Borough's Streets
and Sidewalks Committee.
(b)
All shade trees planted along the public highways
in the Borough shall be set so as to form as nearly as possible a
straight or uniform line with the other shade trees growing along
the same highway.
(c)
Spacing. Shade trees shall be planted or set at a
minimum distance of 25 feet apart where practicable, with the first
tree from any corner set at a minimum distance of 25 feet from the
outside near curbline of the intersecting street.
(d)
No tree shall be planted within 20 feet of any lamppost
or within 10 feet of any fire hydrant or within five feet of any sewer,
gas, water or other pipe or conduit.
(3)
Minimum size and other requirements for new trees.
(a)
Height. A shade tree must be a minimum of eight feet
in height and have a single trunk with a minimum diameter of two to
3 1/2 inches, measured six inches above the ground level, with
a well-defined leading branch or leader.
(b)
Leader. No shade tree which has had the leader cut
back or cut out shall be planted.
(c)
Staking. New shade trees shall be staked for one year.
(4)
The planting hole. Care should be taken when digging
the planting hole not to dig deeper than the depth of the tree ball.
Shade trees shall be planted so that the root collar remains even
with the adjoining grade.
(5)
Any stone- or grid work at the base of a shade tree
must be approved by the Commission and in general is discouraged.
B.
Pruning.
(1)
The owner of the property on or in front of which
shade trees are located shall secure a permit to remove limbs and
branches on otherwise healthy shade trees and keep them trimmed so
as not to interfere with the proper lighting of public highways and
street signs by the streetlights. In doing so, it is not necessary
to clear the main trunk of limbs to a great height, but subdivisions
can be removed, giving the branches a graceful upward turn.
(2)
Branches:
(a)
In order not to interfere with the unimpeded use of
the street and the sidewalks by vehicular traffic, the branches of
any shade tree must be kept trimmed so that:
[1]
Sidewalk clearance. They will not be any lower
than 10 feet from the surface of the sidewalk on which they abut.
[2]
Street clearance. They will be no lower than
15 feet from the surface of the adjoining roadway at a distance of
three feet from the curbline. The Commission shall have the authority
to designate a higher clearance on any public highway where heavy
traffic or other conditions make it expedient.
(b)
Mature shade trees shall be headed up to the prescribed
level with the advice of the Commission and/or the Borough's consulting
arborist. On young trees, the fixing of the branches shall be done
gradually year by year after planting.
(c)
Since larger trees with lower branches must grow in
diameter as well as in height, in order to support the top without
bending, the lower branches shall be removed only at intervals of
a year or more with the advice of the Commission until the proper
height of clean stem is reached.
(3)
Topping. No tree shall ever be topped, i.e., the top
of the crown, including the leader, removed, or pruned in any extreme
manner which would have any adverse affect on the growth or shape
of the tree.
C.
Cutting roots of shade trees.
(1)
Not recommended. In general, cutting the roots of
a tree condemns the tree and weakens it on the side of the cut, making
it more inclined to fall in that direction in a high wind. Therefore,
it is recommended that other remedies be tried first.
(2)
Exceptions. There are instances, however, when the
roots of mature trees lift sidewalks to such an extent that the Commission
may determine that uneven sidewalks create an even greater hazard
and may make an exception and allow the roots of a shade tree to be
cut according to the following guidelines for cutting roots:
(a)
No damage to the bark or the trunk of the shade tree
should be incurred at the time that roots are cut.
(b)
The cut must be as far from the base of the tree and
as close to the sidewalk as possible.
(c)
The cut must be done cleanly with a sharp knife, hatchet
or saw, No hacking away or partial cutting shall be allowed; it allows
diseases, fungus and insects to attack the tree.
D.
Removing trees.
(1)
Permit required. A request to remove a shade tree
must be approved, in writing, with a permit on file at the Borough
Manager's office.
(3)
Stump must be removed. If a shade tree is removed,
the entire stump shall also be removed at the same time, i.e., removing
all woody tissue including that below ground to a depth of 12 inches.
(4)
Tree replacement. Anytime a shade tree is removed,
the property owner will have up to one year from the date of removal
to plant a replacement tree according to the guidelines contained
in this chapter.
A.
Enforcement. This chapter shall be enforced by the
Commission in conjunction with the Mayor and the Borough Police.
B.
C.
Liens. If not collected sooner, liens for work done
on the property as well as any fines and costs outlined above will
be collected at the time the real estate is transferred to a new owner.
