[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of
the City of Lodi as §§ 11.12 and 11.14 of the City
Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
It shall be the policy of the City of Lodi to
promote and enhance the beauty and general welfare of the City through
planting and maintenance of trees or shrubs within the public right-of-way
of any street, alley or highway.
[Amended 3-5-2019 by Ord. No. A-534; 7-23-2019 by Ord. No. A-541]
A.
Public trees defined. "Public trees" means all trees,
shrubs or other growth now or hereafter planted or growing on or in
any City property or other areas dedicated to or reserved for use
by the public within the City, including but not limited to the portion
of the City street rights-of-way located between the curb or edge
of the paved street, highway or alley surface, boulevard, and the
private property lot line.
B.
The Director of Operations, or designee, shall have
the authority over all planting, setting out, removing, maintaining,
protecting, and caring for public trees. The Parks Committee shall
have advisory say to rules and regulations, as deemed applicable,
for carrying out the purpose of this chapter.
C.
Trimming. No person, firm or corporation shall cut,
trim, girdle, deface, injure or affix any wire, rope, cable, building
or other thing to any public tree without a written permit from the
City of Lodi, but nothing herein contained shall prevent the City,
or its officers, from acting in respect to public trees without such
permit.
D.
Franchise; damages. No permit or franchise to any
public utility or other person shall be deemed a permit or license
under this chapter to deal with public trees in the City without a
written permit, nor shall the granting of such a permit by the City
relieve any person injuring any public tree in the exercise of the
right granted in the permit from liability for damages to any person.
This subsection, however, shall not apply to the City, or persons
acting on its behalf, or City officials in the discharge of official
duties.
E.
Injury to public trees. No person shall negligently,
knowingly, willfully or maliciously cut or break down, dig or pull
up by the roots, cut, mark, peel, girdle, disfigure, or deface any
public tree except by order or permission of the City of Lodi or other
constituted authority.
[Amended 7-23-2019 by Ord. No. A-541]
Any tree, or part thereof, which the Director
of Operations shall find to be infected, hazardous or declared a nuisance
so as to endanger adjacent property owners, the public or other trees,
plants or shrubs growing within the City, or to be injurious to sewers,
sidewalks or other public improvements, shall be removed, trimmed
or treated by the owner of the property upon which such tree or part
thereof is located. The Director of Operations, or designee, may provide
a notice of order to a property owner in the City of Lodi instructing
to remove, treat or trim such tree, or part thereof, in order to prevent
injury to adjacent property owners or the public. Failure to comply
with the order of the Director of Operations, or designee, shall be
considered a violation of this chapter.
[Amended 7-23-2019 by Ord. No. A-541]
All trees on private property shall be pruned
and trimmed by the owner or owners of the property on which such trees
are growing so that the lowest branches projecting over a public street
or alley will provide a clearance of not less than 14 feet and so
that the lowest branches projecting over a sidewalk or any other public
place will provide a clearance of not less than 10 feet over such
sidewalk or other public place; and so that no dead, broken or otherwise
hazardous branches shall be likely to fall and do injury to the public.
Any tree not trimmed as herein provided shall be deemed hazardous
and the City may provide notice to order the hazard be trimmed. If
any property owner fails to trim any such hazard, the City may, but
shall be under no obligation to, trim such tree and charge the cost
of such trimming to the property owner. If such cost is not paid within
30 days of being billed, said cost shall be assessed against the property
as a special charge for current services rendered under § 66.0627,
Wis. Stats.
[Amended 3-5-2019 by Ord. No. A-534; 7-23-2019 by Ord. No. A-541]
Nothing herein shall be construed as preventing
the Director of Operations, or designee, from trimming trees so as
to prevent interference with street illumination.
Notwithstanding any other provisions in this
Code, the City of Lodi or its municipal utility, or the designees
of either of them, shall have the authority and power to trim, remove
or treat any trees, plants or shrubs which may in its judgment interfere
with the proper operation, maintenance or safety of any above- or
below-ground public utility poles, wires, transformers or other appliances
or facilities, whether such trees, plants or shrubs are located on
public or private property.
No trees shall be planted under existing power
lines that are of a type which can be expected to grow high enough
to interfere with the power lines.
A.
No person shall plant, transplant or maintain female
Cottonwood or female Box Elder trees in the City.
B.
No person shall plant, transplant or maintain any
female cotton-bearing tree of the Poplar family commonly called the
"Eastern Cottonwood," Populus deltoides, and the "Waite Poplar," Populus
alba, within the boundaries of the City of Lodi.
C.
Within the designated time of notification from the Director of Operations, or designee, a property owner shall remove any tree maintained in violation of Subsections A and B hereof. Failure to comply with such a notice shall be considered a violation of this chapter.
[Amended 7-23-2019 by Ord. No. A-541]
No person shall place or maintain upon the ground,
in a public highway of the City of Lodi, stone, cement, lumber, or
other substance or material which may impede the free passage of water
and air to any tree or shrub in such highway without leaving an open
space of ground outside the trunk of said tree or the base of said
shrub, of an area not less than 16 square feet. Before depositing
any material in any highway of the City of Lodi near to trees therein,
the person so depositing said materials shall place such guards around
the trees as shall effectively prevent injury to them.[1]
[Amended 10-10-2006 by Ord. No. A-361]
When the following work is performed by the
City, it will be done free of charge to abutting property owners:
A.
Storm damage removal of public trees; repair and hauling
resulting from such storm damage to public trees.
B.
Removal of limbs which obscure stop lights, signs,
streetlights, bus lanes, intersections (vision), and so on, on public
trees.
C.
Removal of dead, diseased, dying or hazardous public
trees.
D.
Routine public tree trimming, wherein all public trees
within a given block or blocks are trimmed. Tree trimming includes:
E.
Spraying of public trees for insect and disease control.
F.
Replacement of public trees lost to disease, storms,
vandalism, etc., where there is room (budget permitting).
[Amended 7-23-2019 by Ord. No. A-541
G.
Fertilization and watering of public trees.
H.
Moving (replanting) small public trees when possible
if planted too closely to drive.
I.
[1]Issuance of permits to homeowners enabling them, or an
agent specified by them, to remove, prune, spray or plant public trees.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection I, regarding advice by the
Committee, was repealed 7-23-2019 by Ord. No. A-541. This ordinance
also redesignated former Subsection J as Subsection I.
