Any property owner may appeal a decision of the city forester
to the community services commission for final disposition. The appeal
should be made in writing and filed with the city clerk within fifteen
days following notice of decision of the city forester. Said appeal
shall state the grounds for the appeal. The city clerk shall, upon
receipt of the appeal set the matter for hearing before the community
services commission not less than fifteen days but no more than sixty
days following the filing of the appeal. The city clerk shall give
not less than ten days written notice to the appellant and the owner
of the affected property of the time and place of the public hearing
by United States mail or by personal delivery as such owner is shown
on the latest assessment roll of Los Angeles County. The failure of
any person to receive said notice shall not affect the validity of
any proceedings under this chapter.
(Ord. 1768 § 2, 2003)
Should the request of a property owner to remove a parkway tree be denied, and such property owner wishes to appeal this decision, the appellant shall deposit, with the written appeal, a sum of money sufficient to cover the cost of the city clerk's having published twice in the local newspaper a notice of the intention to "kill, cut down or remove" the city tree, which notice shall state the name of the applicant, the location of the tree, statement by the owner as to why the tree removal meets one of the stated criteria under Section 16.14.010(e) along with language to the effect that person(s) objecting to such removal may either in writing or in person state their objections to the community services commission. When the money and written appeal is received by the city clerk from the property owner, the city clerk shall cause notice to be published twice in the weekly newspaper of general circulation, printed, published and circulated in the city. At the time and place of the hearing, the community services commission shall hear and consider all relevant evidence and testimony including, but not limited to the report of the city forester and testimony, written or oral, relevant to the tree removal. The hearing may be continued if the commission wishes to receive additional information relevant to the appeal. However, in no case shall the hearing on the appeal be continued more than one hundred twenty days. Upon the conclusion of the public hearing, the community services commission shall, on the basis of the evidence and testimony presented at the hearing, determine whether one or more of the conditions listed in Section 16.14.010(e) exist, and, if so, whether the tree should be removed. If the community services commission finds that the tree should be removed, it shall, by resolution, order the same tree removal in a reasonable time to set forth in the resolution. The determination of the community services commission shall be final.
(Ord. 1768 § 2, 2003; Ord. 1932 § 4, 2010)
