[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Beverly 6-6-2002 by Ord. No. 161 (Art. XXXVI of the Code of Ordinances).
Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
Having determined that a well-managed urban forest provides many
benefits to the City, its residents and visitors, it is hereby declared
to be the policy of the City of Beverly to regulate, finance and control
the planting, removal, maintenance, and protection of trees and shrubs
upon or in all public areas of the City in order to:
(1)
Promote and enhance the aesthetics and general welfare of the City.
(2)
Eliminate and guard against dangerous conditions, which may result
in injury to persons using the public areas of the City.
(3)
Prevent damage to any public sewer, water main, street, sidewalk,
or other public property.
(4)
Protect trees and shrubs in public areas from undesirable and unsafe
planting, removal, maintenance and protection practices.
(5)
Protect all trees and shrubs from the damaging effects of construction,
alteration or repair of utility facilities and other improvements
in any public area.
(6)
Guard all trees and shrubs within the City against the spread of
disease, insects, or pests.
B.
The provisions of this chapter shall apply to all trees and shrubs
presently or hereafter planted in or upon any public area.
Due to the complex nature and often conflicting interrelationships
between living plants such as trees, shrubs, and turf, and public
improvements such as streets, sidewalks and underground facilities,
it is recognized that there is a need to manage both plants and improvements
in a manner that will minimize conflict and maximize the benefits
to be realized from each. Therefore, it is hereby declared to be the
intent of the City of Beverly that there shall exist at all times
a policy of open communication and coordination between the various
departments and divisions of City government regarding the management,
installation and maintenance of the plants or improvements for which
they are responsible.
In this chapter, unless the context clearly requires otherwise,
the following words and phrases shall be defined as follows:
The person designated under Chapter 58, Officers and Employees, of the City Code or his/her duly authorized representative designated to perform inspection or otherwise enforce the provisions of this chapter.
A triangle-shaped zone formed by the existing or proposed
curblines of two or more intersecting streets, roads, or alleys and
a third line connecting said curblines at a distance of 30 feet in
each direction from the point of curbline intersection, in order to
provide vehicular traffic an unobstructed view of cross traffic at
intersections.
Includes all operations of trimming, pruning, spraying, injecting,
fertilizing, treating, bracing, cabling and cutting any tree or shrub
above or below the ground.
Any individual, firm, partnership, association, corporation
or government entity.
Any tree or shrub, as herein defined, presently or hereafter
planted in or upon any public area.
Includes all public ways, parks, and other lands owned, controlled,
or leased by the City.
A woody plant, usually with multiple stems branched at or
near the base, reaching a height of less than 12 feet.
Any public tree presently or hereafter located in the public
way between the curb and public sidewalk, or between the curbs of
a median strip, or in the equivalent location with respect to future
curb, sidewalk or median strips where such curbs or sidewalks are
not yet installed.
A woody plant, usually with a single stem unbranched at the
base, reaching a height of 12 feet or more.
A zone of protected space not less than four feet high and
10 feet square, or at a distance in feet from the tree trunk equal
to the diameter of the trunk at breast height (DBH) in inches, whichever
is greater.
The most recent versions of following documents, each in its
entirety, are hereby adopted and made a part of this chapter upon
passage:
A.
Injury to public trees and shrubs prohibited. No person shall, without
permission from the City Arborist, do or cause to be done any of the
following:
(1)
Secure, fasten, or run any rope, wire, signal, electrical installation
or other device or material to, around or through any public tree
or shrub except in an emergency such as a storm or accident.
(2)
Break, injure, mutilate, deface, kill, or destroy any public tree
or shrub.
(3)
Top or make topping cuts on any public tree.
(4)
Permit any toxic chemical, gas, smoke, oil, or other injurious substance
to seep, drain, or be emptied upon or about any public tree or shrub,
except routine winter street maintenance by City departments.
(5)
Excavate any ditch, tunnel, or trench, or lay any drive, sidewalk
or other impermeable surface within the tree protection zone of any
public tree or shrub, without permission from the City Arborist.
(6)
Erect, alter, repair, raze, or excavate within the tree protection
zone of any public tree or shrub without placing suitable guards approved
by the City Arborist around such trees and shrubs that may be injured
by such operations.
(7)
Remove any guard, stake, or other device or material intended for
the protection or support of any public tree or shrub.
(8)
Place any earth fill, rock, trash, or other material within the tree
protection zone of any public tree or shrub that may compact or prevent
the entry of air and water to the root zone.
B.
Clear-vision triangle. No tree, shrub, hedge or other growth exceeding
30 inches in height above street grade shall be permitted in any clear-vision
triangle within the City.
C.
Obstruction of signs, signals or travel. All trees and shrubs located
upon any public way or upon any private premises adjacent to the public
way shall be trimmed so that the lowest projecting branches provide
a clearance height of not less than 14 feet above the travel portion
of a public street and not less than eight feet above the public sidewalk.
The City Arborist may waive the provisions of this section for newly
planted or naturally low-profile trees if he/she determines that they
do not interfere with public travel, obstruct the light of any streetlight,
obstruct the view of any traffic sign or signal, or endanger public
safety.
A.
No person shall plant, remove, maintain or protect any public tree
or shrub, or cause such work to be done, without obtaining permission
from the City Arborist.
B.
Any person desiring to plant, remove, maintain or protect any public
tree or shrub shall request in writing to the City Arborist for approval
to perform such work. Such request shall specify the location and
description of the proposed work. If the City Arborist determines
that the proposed work is necessary and in accord with the purposes
of this chapter, taking into account the safety, health, and welfare
of the public, location of utilities, public sidewalks, driveways
and streetlights, general character and aesthetic quality of the area
in which the tree or shrub is located or proposed to be located, and
the soil conditions and physiological needs of the tree or shrub,
he/she shall approve the request.
C.
Any person aggrieved by the decision of the City Arborist to permit
or deny a request to plant, remove, maintain or protect any public
tree or shrub may request a review of that decision by the Committee
on Public Services of the City Council.
D.
The City Arborist shall develop and maintain a list of desirable
trees for planting along streets. Efforts shall be made to ensure
a sufficient diversity of tree species.
The following specifications and standards are hereby established
for the planting, pruning, and removal of all public trees and shrubs
within the City:
A.
Planting.
(1)
No tree shall hereafter be planted which is less than 1 1/2
inches in diameter at six inches above the ground.
(2)
No street tree shall be planted less than 10 feet from any driveway
or fire hydrant, or within the designated clear-vision triangle or
less than 30 feet from any street corner, whichever is greater.
(3)
All street trees hereafter planted shall be spaced not less than
25 feet apart, except that a tree planted for the purpose of future
replacement of an existing declining tree may be planted less than
25 feet from the declining tree. The actual spacing, location, and
alignment of street trees shall be determined by the City Arborist
based on the mature size of the species to be planted and the specific
site limitations.
(4)
The following shall not be planted in the public ways of the City:
any conifer, any species of the genus Populus, any Ailanthus, Catalpa,
mountain ash, box elder, silver maple, willow, white bark birch, black
locust, or such other species that shall be determined to be unsuitable
for street planting.[1]
B.
Pruning.
(1)
All pruning of public trees and shrubs shall conform with the standards
set forth in ANSI A300 or the most recent version thereof as adopted
hereunder.
(2)
It shall be unlawful as a normal practice for any person, firm, or
City department to top any street tree, park tree, or other tree on
public property. "Topping" is defined as the severe cutting back of
limbs to stubs larger than three inches in diameter within the tree's
crown to such a degree so as to remove the normal canopy and disfigure
the tree. Trees severely damaged by storms or other causes, or certain
trees under utility wires or other obstructions, where other pruning
practices are impractical, may be exempted from this chapter at the
determination of the City Arborist.
C.
Removal.
(1)
The City Arborist may remove or order to be removed any tree or part
thereof which is in an unsafe condition or which by reason of its
nature is injurious to sewers, electric power lines, gas lines, water
lines, or other public improvements, or is affected with any injurious
fungus, insect, or other pest.
(2)
Trees shall be completely removed from the growing site and disposed
of in the proper manner. Any person or firm engaged in the removal
of any public tree or shrub shall have the necessary limits of insurance
and shall be held liable for any injury or damage to persons or property.
(3)
Stumps and roots that elevate sidewalks and/or boulevards shall be
removed from the growing site by grinding or other means to a depth
suitable for the future planting of trees, shrubs, or turf. The hole
created by removal of a stump shall be filled to the level of surrounding
grade with mineral topsoil, tamped to prevent settling and seeded
with a mixture of grass species appropriate for the site.
D.
Spraying, injecting, fertilizing, bracing, cabling or other arboricultural
operations or treatments shall be performed in a neat and professional
manner according to accepted arboricultural standards and in compliance
with all laws governing the use of pesticides.
The entire cost of planting, removal, maintenance, and protection of trees and shrubs in all public areas of the City, when performed by department employees or their contractors at the direction of the City Arborist, shall be borne by the City out of the departments' budgets, or from funds donated or otherwise acquired for this purpose. When a private party other than the City plants, removes, maintains, or protects public trees or shrubs pursuant to § 261-2 of this chapter, said party shall incur all expenses connected therewith.
Any person violating any provision of this chapter shall be,
upon conviction or a plea of guilty, subject to a fine not to exceed
$1,000. In addition to a fine, the City may require restitution for
the fair market value of the tree(s) and/or shrub(s) that was damaged
or destroyed as a result of a violation of this chapter.
