No person shall do or cause to be done any of the following acts upon a street or public highway within the City without first obtaining a permit therefor from the City Engineer:
A. Cut, trim, break, climb with spikes, disturb the roots of or otherwise injure or spray with any chemical any tree or shrub; remove any living shrub; injure, misuse or remove any structures or device placed to support or protect any tree or shrub.
C. Fasten any rope, wire, electric attachment, sign or other device to a tree or shrub or to any guard about a tree or shrub.
D. Close or obstruct any open space provided about the base of a tree or shrub to permit the access of air, water or fertilizer to the roots of thereof.
E. Pile any building material or install any mortar or cement within six feet of a tree or shrub.
No such permit shall be issued unless such requested action is necessary for properly authorized construction or other work and unless the City Engineer is satisfied that there is no other reasonable method of accomplishing same and that all precautions to eliminate any material soil erosion, drainage and/or similar problems have been implemented to minimize any potential damage or injury to trees, shrubs and that there will be no resultant damage to sidewalks, streets, or adjacent lots.
Every person having control over any wire for the transmission of electric current along a public highway shall at all times guard the trees through which or near which such wire passes against any injury from the wire or from the electric current carried by it.
No person shall permit any brine, gas or injurious chemical to come in contact with the stem or roots of any tree or shrub upon any street or highway.
[Amended 10-23-2018 by Ord. No. 18-15]
A. Any person who violates any provision of this article shall upon conviction thereof be punished by a fine not exceeding $1,000 or by imprisonment for a term of not exceeding 90 days, or both.
B. A separate offense shall be deemed committed on each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues.
For the purposes of this article, the below terms have the following defined meanings:
BALLED AND BURLAPPED (B & B)
A method of excavation in which the subject tree is removed along with soil surrounding its roots, and such soil and roots are wrapped and laced.
DRIP LINE
An imaginary line on the ground beneath a tree, the location determined by extending a vertical line from the outermost branches of a tree to the ground.
EMERGENCY REMOVAL
A removal which is necessitated by any event, whether natural or man-made, which requires the immediate removal of a regulated tree because it has been determined that such tree presents an imminent hazard to the public's safety. Such determination shall be made by a certified arborist or City official as authorized by the City Manager. Emergency removals may be authorized by the City Engineer prior to a permit; however, a permit and replacement plan shall be required within seven days of removal. If a permit application is not received within seven days of removal, the City may take the enforcement steps in this article.
LANDMARK TREE
Any tree designated and identified as such by the City Council pursuant to the standard set forth herein.
LANDMARK TREE REGISTRY
A register of all landmark trees within the City of Englewood which shall be promulgated by the City Council at a public hearing on public notice.
MAJOR TREE
A nursery-grown certified, balled and burlapped deciduous tree with a mature height of at least 50 feet and a DPM of 3 1/2 inches at the time of planting. All major trees shall be chosen from the following approved listing or other trees designated and approved by the City Arborist.
Common Name/Scientific Name of Acceptable Major Trees
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Red maple/Acer rubrum
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Sugar maple/Acer saccharum
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Sweet gum/Liquidambar styraciflua
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London plane/Platanus x acerifolia
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American sycamore/Platanus occidentalis
|
White oak/Quercus alba
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Pin oak/Quercus palustris
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Red oak/Quercus rubra
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American elm/Ulmus americana
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Copper beech/Fagus sylvatica v. purpurea
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PROJECT
Any undertaking whatsoever which would involve potential damage to or which may result in the planned or unplanned
removal of one or more regulated
trees. Such projects shall include, but not be limited to, new construction, modifications of existing structures, grade modification and drainage improvement works, except for those exempted in §
425-13 of this article.
REGULATED TREE
A deciduous or coniferous tree which has attained at least 30 feet in height or a DPM of at least eight inches prior to any pruning, limb removal or other such activity.
REMOVAL
Any activity which results in cutting down completely or substantially eliminating a regulated tree from the City's tree stock. "Removal" shall include, without limitation, the following:
A.
Soil compaction or damage inflicted to the root system of any tree;
B.
Change of the natural grade above or below the root system or around the trunk of any tree;
C.
Excessive pruning or thinning of any tree leading to a failure to thrive;
D.
Damage inflicted to any tree permitting fungus, pests or other infestation; or
E.
The application of any harmful or toxic substance.
REMOVAL PERIOD
A period of time consisting of 365 consecutive days after a permit is issued for a project which is regulated by this article.
REPLACEMENT PLAN
A plan developed in accordance with and conforming to the provisions of this article which has been approved by the City Engineer.
REPLACEMENT TREE
A nursery-grown certified, balled and burlapped tree bearing a durable label upon which the following data is set forth: genus, species, variety, watering and fertilization requirements. All replacement trees shall be chosen from the following approved tree listing or other trees designated and approved by the City Arborist. Replacement trees shall be selected within the same tree group as the removed tree(s) [i.e., a deciduous tree removed shall be replaced by deciduous tree(s)].
Common Name/Scientific Names of Acceptable Evergreen, Deciduous, and Ornamental Trees
|
Birch/Betula
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Dogwood/Cornus
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Red Maple/Acer rebrum
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Japanese Maple/Acer palmatum
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Sugar Maple/Acer saccharum
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Cherry/Prunus
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Sweet Gum/Liquidambar stryraciflua
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Crabapple/Malus
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London Plane/Platanus x acerifolia
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Magnolia/Magnolia
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American Sycamore/Platanus occidentalis
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Ornamental Pear/Pyrus calleryana "Chantcleer" or "Redspire"
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White Oak/Quercus alba
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Cedar/Cedrus
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Pin Oak/Quercus palustris
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Cypress/Cupressus
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Red Oak/Quercus rubra
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Arbrovitae/Thuja
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American Elm/Ulmus Americana
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Cryptomeria/Cryptomeria
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Copper Beech/Fagus sylvatica v. purpurea
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Dawn Redwood/Metasequoia glyptostroboides
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Fir/Abies
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Larch/Larix
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Spruce/Picea
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Pine/Pinus
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SITE PLAN
A plan as defined by Chapter
250, Land Use, of the Code of the City of Englewood.
SPECIES
For the purpose of this article, the common name of the tree.
In certain circumstances, the City Engineer may authorize a contribution to the City's Environmental Commission
Tree Fund in lieu of planting replacement
trees on site where he determines that the purposes of this article would be furthered thereby. Such contribution shall bear a reasonable relationship to the cost of planting
trees which would otherwise be required under §
425-11 of this article, but in no case shall it be less than $300 per required replacement.
The following shall be exempt from the requirements of this article:
B. Pruning within the right-of-way by utility companies for maintenance of utility wires or pipelines. The utility company shall notify the City Engineer prior to commencing such work.
C. Trees that are deemed to be removed by the City that are on or over a public right-of-way.
D. Public parklands owned by the City of Englewood or Flat Rock Brook Nature Center.
E. Any projects that have received building permits prior to enactment of this article.
F. Trees that are deemed to be removed as part of a municipal project.
An application for a tree removal permit shall be accompanied by the required fee as set forth below:
A.
Permit for each
tree removal: as provided for in Chapter
191, Fee Schedule.
C.
An escrow shall be established in the amount of $250 per replacement tree which shall be retained until the tree replacement plan is completed. Engineering review fees in connection with the implementation of a tree replacement plan shall be paid from the escrow at the rate established for engineering review fees in connection with site plan approval. In addition, in the event the tree replacement plan is not completed within the time specified by the City Engineer, the City may use such escrow to complete the tree replacement plan or, in lieu thereof, deposit said escrow in the Tree Replacement Fund. Upon completion of the tree replacement plan, the balance remaining in said escrow after payment of the foregoing fees, if any, shall be returned to the applicant.
Appeal of a decision by the City Engineer:
A. In the event that an applicant does not agree with either the rejection of an application or the conditions imposed by the City Engineer, or the applicant believes that the standards set forth in this article constitutes a hardship, the applicant may present an appeal to the City Manager, who at his discretion may request assistance from a representative of the Englewood Environmental Commission and/or the City Arborist, to render a decision or forward the appeal to the Planning Board, within 30 days of the submittal.
B. In the event that the decision of the City Engineer is so appealed, then:
(1) The effective date of such permit shall be stayed until the decision of the City Manager or Planning Board with respect to such permit shall have been rendered.
(2) The issuance of such permit, and the terms thereof, shall be subject to the decision of the City Manager or the Planning Board.
C. In the event that a notified property owner objects to the removal of any regulated tree or the decision of the City Engineer under this article, solely on the grounds that the removal or decision violates the City Tree Ordinance, then such property owner(s) may appeal the removal or the decision of the City Engineer to the Planning Board. Such appeal must satisfy all Board and City Land Use Code requirements.
Any and all
trees required to be planted by the applicant pursuant to §
425-11 of this article shall be planted within six months after the completion of the project for which the permit was issued. The applicant may submit a written request to the City Engineer for an extension of time of up to three months due to unforeseen circumstances, including weather conditions, which request shall not be unreasonably denied.