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City of Monroe, MI
Monroe County
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[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and City Council of the City of Monroe as Chapter 1030 of the 1995 Codified Ordinances of Monroe. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
General penalty — See § 1-27.
Trees affecting public safety — See Ch. 458
Property maintenance — See Ch. 525.
Removal of dead and diseased trees — See Ch. 712.
Landscaping, greenbelts, buffers and screening — See Ch. 720, § 720-142.
STATUTORY REFERENCES
Female box elder trees — See MCLA § 124.151.
Cutting or destroying trees — See MCLA § 247.241.
Malicious destruction of trees — See MCLA § 750.382.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
HIGHWAY
All the land lying between the property lines on either side of all public streets, boulevards and alleys.
PARK
Each public park having an individual name.
PUBLIC PLACE
All other grounds owned by the City.
TREES AND SHRUBS
All woody vegetation.
[Amended 8-12-1996 by Ord. No. 96-018]
A. 
The Director of Public Services, or his or her designee, under the direction of the City Manager, shall direct, regulate and control the planting, care and removal of all trees and shrubs growing in any public place or public highway.
B. 
The Director of Public Services, or his or her designee, shall cause the provisions of this chapter to be enforced and shall discharge all other duties that may be required of him or her by the Council or the City Manager.
C. 
The duties of the Director of Public Services as to forestry shall be the responsibility of the City Manager during any absence or vacancy in the office.
The City shall assume complete responsibility for the purchase, planting, maintenance and removal of all trees and shrubs growing now or hereafter in any highway, park or public place of the City, as promptly as financial and labor conditions will permit.
A. 
No tree shall be planted nearer to the intersection of two or more streets than 15 feet from the nearest street line bounding such intersection. All shrubs planted within this area shall be trimmed to a height of not more than three feet above the curb.
B. 
No trees shall be planted in a parkway between the sidewalk and the curb less than three feet from the curb or sidewalk lines. However, where the parkway is less than six feet but not less than four feet in width a tree may be planted midway between the curb and the sidewalk.
No tree shall be planted which is less than two inches in diameter one foot above the ground.
A. 
No person shall hereafter plant, move, spray, fertilize, brace, trim, do surgery work on, cut above or below ground, cut any branch or root from, or otherwise disturb any tree or shrub in any highway, park or public place of the City, nor cause such acts to be done by others, without first obtaining a written permit from the Director of Public Services, or his or her designee, who shall issue the permit if, in his or her judgment, the desired work is necessary and the proposed method of workmanship thereof is of a satisfactory nature.
B. 
The person receiving such permit shall abide by the specifications and standards of practice adopted by the City.
A. 
Every permit granted by the City under this chapter shall describe the work to be done, specify the species or variety, size, grade and location of the trees or shrubs concerned, briefly specify the method of planting and the method of support and trimming of all trees or shrubs concerned, and contain a definite date of expiration.
B. 
Any permit may be declared void if its terms are violated.
A. 
As a condition to any permit to remove any tree or shrub, the Director of Public Services, or his or her designee, may require that the permittee plant another tree or shrub in place of the one removed.
B. 
Whenever any tree has been destroyed or removed pursuant to any such conditional permit, it shall be a misdemeanor for the permittee to fail, refuse or neglect to plant another tree or shrub of the type and size and at the location specified in the permit, within five months from the date of the issuance of the permit.
Permits for planting, maintenance and removal of trees and shrubs may be granted temporarily as specified in this chapter.
No person shall fasten any sign, wire, rope or other material to the ground or run any wire or rope through any tree or shrub in any highway, park or public place of the City, except by written permit granted by the Director of Public Services.
No person shall deposit, place, store or maintain upon any highway, park or public place of the City, any stone, brick, sand, concrete or other material which will impede the free passage of water, air and fertilizer to the roots of any tree or shrub growing therein, except by written permit granted by the Director of Public Services.
Whenever the Director of Public Services, or his or her designee, determines it to be necessary, in order to prune or remove any tree or shrub in any highway, park or public place of the City, or for any other reason, to temporarily protect, move or cut off the electricity from any service wire, he or she shall serve written notice on the owner of such wire to protect, move or cut off the electricity from such wire, and the owner shall comply with such order within 24 hours after service of the notice.
A. 
No person shall break, injure, mutilate, kill or destroy any tree or shrub, or set a fire or permit any fire to burn where such fire or the heat thereof will injure a portion of any tree or shrub, in any highway, park or public place of the City.
B. 
No person shall knowingly permit any leak to exist in any gas pipe or main within the root zone of any tree or shrub.
C. 
No person shall permit any toxic chemical, either solid or liquid, to seep, drain or be emptied on or about any tree or shrub.
D. 
No person shall knowingly permit any wire designed to carry electric current to come in contact with any tree or shrub unless the wire and/or the tree is protected by approved methods.
E. 
No person shall attach any electric insulation to any tree, or excavate any ditch, tunnel or trench, or lay any drive, within a radius of five feet from any tree or shrub, without first obtaining a written permit therefor from the Director of Public Services or his or her designee.
No person shall destroy, cut, mar or in any manner injure or deface any shade or ornamental tree standing in any street, alley, lane or public place in the City, or standing upon any premises owned by or in the charge of the City. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent or prohibit any person from properly trimming any shade trees standing in the street in front of or adjacent to any premises owned or occupied by such person.
A. 
Any tree or shrub or part thereof growing upon private property, but overhanging or interfering with the use of any highway, park or public place of the City, that, in the opinion of the City Manager and the Director of Public Services, endangers the life, health, safety or property of the public, shall be declared a public nuisance.
B. 
The owner shall be notified, in writing or by publication in a local newspaper, of the existence of the nuisance and shall be given a reasonable time for its correction or removal. If such nuisance is not corrected or removed within the time allotted, the Director of Public Services or his or her designee shall cause the nuisance to be corrected or removed, and the cost shall be assessed as provided by law.
C. 
Any tree that falls into the River from private property shall be declared a nuisance. Notice shall be given, as provided in Subsection B hereof, and the tree shall be removed by the property owner. If such tree is not removed by the property owner, such removal may be done by the City, with the right of entry to perform the necessary work. The cost of such work by the City shall constitute a lien on the property, after the requirements of the Charter and ordinances, as to liens, are fulfilled.
D. 
As used herein, "reasonable time" shall be construed to mean not more than 15 days.
A. 
All permits issued for the installation of public utilities shall be certified by the Director of Public Services or his or her designee.
B. 
When a permit is given by the Director of Public Services, or his or her designee, to a telephone, telegraph, electric power or other public service corporation or utility to trim trees, or to perform other operations affecting public trees or shrubs, the amount of such trimming, or the extent of the other operations, shall be limited by the actual necessities of the service of the company, and such work shall be done in a neat and workmanlike manner and according to specifications outlined by the Director or his or her designee.
C. 
The Director of Public Services or his or her designee may assign an inspector to supervise the provisions of the permit, and the cost of such service shall be charged to the public corporation or utility, at cost.
A. 
No person shall prevent, delay or interfere with the Director of Public Services, or any of his or her assistants, in the execution or enforcement of this chapter.
B. 
Nothing herein shall prevent a public hearing or the issuance of any relief, legal or equitable, in any court of competent jurisdiction, for the protection of property rights by the owner of any property within the City.