[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Mendota as Ch. 6, §§ 6.27 through 6.31, and Ch. 31, § 31.20, of the 1998 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A. 
Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
PLACE
Any parking lot, parkway or other property under the control or jurisdiction of the City of Mendota.
PUBLIC HIGHWAYS
All land lying between the property line on either side of all public streets, boulevards and alleys.
TREES
Shall not include shrubs which do not grow higher than 15 feet.
B. 
Injury to trees and shrubs.
(1) 
No person shall molest, break, deface, destroy, interfere with or in any manner disturb or injure any tree, shrub or plant upon the public highways or places of the City, nor shall any person set fire to or permit any fire to burn where such fire or its heat will injure any portion of any such tree or shrub.
(2) 
No person shall knowingly permit any leak to exit in a gas pipe or main within the root zone of any such tree or shrub.
(3) 
No person shall permit any toxic chemical, either solid or liquid, to seep, drain, or be emptied on or about any tree or shrub.
(4) 
No person shall knowingly permit any wire designed to carry electric current to come in contact with any such tree or shrub unless protected by approved methods.
(5) 
No person shall attach any electric insulation to any tree or shall excavate any ditches, tunnels, or trenches, or lay any drive within a radius of 10 feet from any tree or shrubs without first obtaining a written permit from the City Forester.
(6) 
Nothing in this subsection shall be construed so as to apply to the removal, under the direction of the Forestry Department, or by the Forestry Department, or any other department or subdivision thereof, of any tree, shrub or plant or part thereof when such removal shall be necessary for the construction of any sidewalk, sewer, main, conduit, or public improvement.
C. 
Planting and treating.
(1) 
No person shall plant, prune or do surgery work on any tree on any public highway or place without first obtaining a written permit from the Forestry Department. The application for such permit shall designate the location and the species of the trees, shrubs, or plants to be planted and the method proposed to be followed. The Forestry Department shall have the authority to refuse the granting of such permit, when such planting is likely to create a public danger or nuisance or be detrimental to the growth of adjacent trees.
(2) 
It shall be the duty of the Forestry Department to remove or cause to be removed all trees, shrubs or plants planted upon the public highway and public places within the City when, in its judgment, such removal shall be beneficial to the peace, health, and safety of the public and public improvements, or where the trees, shrubs, or plants, are detrimental to the growth of adjacent trees.
D. 
Permit. Every permit granted by the City Forester shall describe the work to be done, specify the species or variety, size, grade, and location; briefly specify the method of planting, method of support in trimming of all trees and shrubs concerned; and contain a definite date of expiration. Any permit may be declared void if its terms are violated.
E. 
Conditional permit to remove trees and shrubs. As a condition to any permit to remove any trees or shrubs, the City Forester may require that the permittee plant another tree or shrub in place of the one removed. Whenever such tree has been destroyed or removed pursuant to any conditional permit, the permittee shall plant another tree or shrub of the type, size and at the location specified in the permit within five months of the date of the issuance of the permit.
F. 
Fastening materials to trees. No person shall hitch any animal to a tree or shrub, nor fasten to, for purpose of anchorage, any wire, rope, chain, or cables, nor shall any person fasten any cards, signs, posters, boards, or any other article to any tree, shrub or plant upon any public highway or place within the City.
G. 
Protection during building.
(1) 
No person shall excavate any ditches, tunnels or trenches within a radius of 10 feet from any tree, shrub or plant growing upon any public highway or place within the City without a written permit from the Forestry Department.
(2) 
All trees, shrubs or plants within the limits of any public highway or place near an excavation shall be safeguarded with a good, substantial frame box not less than four feet square and six feet high, and all building material or other debris shall be kept at least four feet from any tree, shrub or plant.
Every owner of any tree, shrub or plant growing on private property overhanging a public street within the City of Mendota shall trim the branches so that they shall not obstruct the light of any street lamp or obstruct the view of any street intersection, and so that there shall be a clear space of 10 feet above the surface of the street or sidewalk. The owner shall remove all dead, diseased, or dangerous trees growing on private property and overhanging the public highway within the City and shall remove broken or decayed limbs from such trees which may be considered a menace to the safety of the public.
It shall be the duty of the Forestry Department to keep all electric power lines within the City and belonging to the City clear of all limbs of trees, shrubs or other plants.
A. 
Nuisance. Trees of all species and varieties of Ulmus (elm) and Zelkova affected with the fungus Ceratostomella Ulmi, as determined by laboratory analysis, are hereby declared to be a public nuisance. Trees of all species and varieties of Fraxinus (ash) infected with the emerald ash borer are hereby declared to be a public nuisance. Trees so affected or infested shall be removed and burned within 10 days following notification of the discovery of such infection or infestation. It shall be unlawful for any person, being the owner of property whereon such a tree is situated, to possess or keep such a tree after the expiration of 10 days following notification of the discovery of such infection or infestation.
B. 
Elm bark beetle breeding places. Trees or parts thereof of Ulmus (elm) or Zelkova in a dead or dying condition that may serve as a breeding place for the European Elm Bark Beetle, Scolytus Multistriatus, are hereby declared to be public nuisances, and it shall be unlawful for the person owning property whereon the same is situated to possess or keep the same.
C. 
Enforcement by City Forester. The City Forester is charged with enforcement of this section, and to that end may enter upon private property at all reasonable times for purposes of inspecting trees thereon, and may remove such specimens as are required for purposes of analysis to determine whether or not the same are infected or infested. It shall be unlawful for any person to prevent the City Forester or his representative from entering on private property for purposes of carrying out his duties hereunder, or to interfere with the City Forester or his representative in the lawful performance of his duties under this section.
D. 
Removal of nuisances. The City Forester or his representative shall give to the owner of the premises where the public nuisances described in this section are found a written notice of the existence of such nuisances, and requiring the removal and burning of same within 10 days following such notice, such removal and burning to be done under the direction and supervision of the City Forester or his representative. The notice shall also notify the owner of the premises that unless such nuisance is removed and burned in compliance with the terms thereof within such ten-day period, the City will proceed with the removal and burning of such nuisance and assess the cost thereof against the property owner.
E. 
Notice of removal to owner. Service of such notice to remove the nuisance shall be by personal service where the owner of the premises is a resident of the City. Where the owner is a nonresident of the City of Mendota, notice shall be served by registered mail, addressed to the owner at his last known address, and by publication at least one time in a newspaper of general circulation in the City. It shall thereupon become the duty of the owner of the premises to cause the tree or breeding place to be removed and burned, under the direction and supervision of the City Forester or his representative. In lieu thereof, the person charged with such removal and burning may request that the same be done by the City Forester or his representative. If the City shall remove and burn any tree or breeding place, all expenses incurred in connection therewith shall be assessed against the property owner.
F. 
City trees. Trees on City-owned property shall be removed at the expense of the City.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
A. 
It shall be unlawful to engage in the business of tree trimming or landscaping in the City of Mendota without first having obtained a license therefor. The annual fee for such license shall be set from time to time by the City Council, and application shall be made in compliance with the general provisions of Chapter 193, Licensing, Article I, of the City Code.
B. 
No tree trimmer shall trim any tree on any public parkway or other property owned by the City without permission of the Superintendent of Streets.
C. 
Any licensee hereunder shall be required to post a surety bond in an amount set from time to time by the City Council and shall also be required to provide evidence of liability insurance to the City.
D. 
Any licenses issued under provisions of this chapter may be revoked for repeated violations of this chapter or any provision hereof, or any other ordinance relating to the work done.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
Any person, firm or corporation violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall be subject to a penalty as set forth in Chapter 1, Article III, Penalties and Enforcement, of the City Code.
[1]
Editor's Note: Added at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).