[Added by Ord. No. 4-1981; amended 6-2-2003 by Ord. No. 165-2003]
This article shall be known and may be cited
as the "Tree Ordinance of the City of Scranton, County of Lackawanna,
State of Pennsylvania."
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
A person who has earned at least a B.S. degree in forest
management or forest science working for the City of Scranton in a
paid or volunteer status as appointed by the Mayor of the City of
Scranton.
Includes all public parks having individual names and maintained
by the City of Scranton. All such parks are identified on an official
list maintained by the Department of Parks and Recreation.
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind.
Includes all other grounds for which the City of Scranton
has fee simple ownership.
The entire width of every public way or right-of-way when
any part thereof is open to the use of the public, as a matter of
right, for purposes of vehicular and/or pedestrian traffic.
Trees now or hereafter growing along the City of Scranton's right-of-way, on any city street, highway, lane, alley or avenue (normally such trees are situated between curb and sidewalk) and trees on public parks and places owned by the City of Scranton. (See exception in § 434-6 only.)
A.
This article contains rules and regulation pertaining to street, highway, lane, alley or avenue trees solely within the right-of-way of such streets, highways, lanes and avenues within the City of Scranton as well as trees on public parks and all other grounds for which the City of Scranton has record ownership. This article does not pertain to private property, except as stated in § 434-6 only.
(1)
The City shall have the right to plant, prune, maintain
and remove trees as may be necessary to insure public safety or to
preserve or enhance the symmetry and beauty of such trees. The City
Shade Tree Commission and/or City Forester may remove or cause or
order to be removed any tree or part thereof which is an unsafe condition
or which by reason of its nature is injurious to sewers, sidewalks,
electric power lines, gas lines, water lines or other public improvements,
or is affected with any injurious fungus, insect or other pest resulting
in a potential danger to life and property.
(2)
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation
or city department, without the permission of the Shade Tree Commission
and/or City Forester, to plant or set any tree within the City of
Scranton; or to cause or authorize or procure any person to plant
or set out any trees without first obtaining permission from the Shade
Tree Commission and/or City Forester.
(3)
It shall be unlawful as a normal practice for any
person, firm, corporation or city department to top any tree. "Topping"
is defined as the severe cutting back of limbs to stubs larger than
five inches in diameter within the tree's top to such a degree so
as to remove the normal canopy and disfigure the tree. Trees severely
damaged by storms or other causes such as disease or insect attack
or certain trees under utility wires or other obstructions where other
pruning practices are impractical may be exempted from this article
at the determination of the Shade Tree Commission and/or City Forester.
(4)
During the erection, repair, alteration or removal
of any building or structure within the City of Scranton, it shall
be unlawful for the person or persons in charge of such erection,
repair, alteration or removal to leave any tree in the vicinity of
such building or structure without such good and sufficient guards
or means of protection as shall prevent injury to said tree, arising
out of or by reason of said erection, repair, alteration or removal.
(5)
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation
or city department to place or maintain upon the ground any stone,
cement or other impervious material or substance in such manner as
may obstruct a tree's growth and health.
(6)
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation
or city department to cause, or authorize or procure, a wire or conductor,
charged with electricity, to come in contact with any tree in such
a manner as may injure such tree.
(7)
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation
or city department to cause, or authorize or procure, any chemicals,
oil or other substance deleterious to tree life to lie, pour, flow
or drip on or into the soil about the base of a tree or unto a sidewalk,
road or pavement therein at a point whence such substance may lie,
flow, drip or seep into such soil, or in any other manner whatsoever
to injure such trees.
(8)
The City of Scranton shall have the right to prune
or cause the pruning of any tree when it interferes with the proper
spread of light along the street from a streetlight, or interferes
with the visibility of any traffic control or device or is a hazard
to pedestrian and/or vehicular traffic.
(9)
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation
or city department to remove any tree without first obtaining permission
from the Shade Tree Commission and/or City Forester.
(10)
It shall be unlawful for any person to prevent,
delay or interfere with the City Shade Tree Commission and/or City
Forester, or any of its agents, while engaging in and about the planting,
cultivating, mulching, pruning, spraying or removing of any trees,
as authorized in this article.
(11)
Property owners have the responsibility for
the removal of leaves, twigs or branches from sidewalks on their property.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation
to engage in the business of tree removal, tree pruning, stump removal
and tree planting without first registering with the Office of Attorney
General, Business of Consumer Protection, as required by the Home
Improvement Consumer Protection Act, 73 P.S. § 517.1 et
seq. ("HICPA"). The requirement is applied on work being performed
either on private property or publicly owned property. Application
for registration can be obtained by writing to the Bureau of Consumer
Protection, Harrisburg Office, Regulatory Compliance and Enforcement
Unit, 15th Floor, Strawberry Square, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120,
or you can review online or pick up at the local office of the Attorney
General at 417 Lackawanna Avenue, Scranton, Pennsylvania 18503. The
Scranton Office does not handle consumer regulations. Insurance for
vendors of tree service remain the same: Liability insurance in the
minimum amount of $500,000 for bodily injury and $100,000 for property
damage. In addition, worker's compensation insurance shall also
be required.
