[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Lebanon 3-20-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-05, effective 4-1-2024. Amendments noted where applicable.]
To enhance the quality of life and the present and future health,
safety, and welfare of all residents, and to ensure proper planting
and care of trees on public property and within City rights-of-way,
the City Council pursuant to RSA 31:51 and RSA 47:1 herein delegates
the authority and responsibility for managing public trees.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
As referred to in RSA 231:154 relating to tree rights, shall
mean the taking of ownership rights to trees that are located within
the City's rights-of-way or areas where the City has or acquires
an easement. Damages equate to the dollar amount that is paid to the
owner for the value of the trees taken and/or the property where the
trees are planted.
A tree planted or valued chiefly for its aesthetic value.
Trees located on land owned by the City.
The area of land which constitutes a public way under the
provisions of RSA 229:1, Highways, are only such as are laid out in
the mode prescribed therefor by statute, or roads which have been
constructed for or are currently used for motor vehicle, bicycle,
or pedestrian public travel over land which has been conveyed to a
city or town or to the state by deed of a fee or easement interest,
or roads which have been dedicated to the public use and accepted
by the city or town in which such roads are located, or roads which
have been used as such for public travel, other than travel to and
from a toll bridge or ferry, for 20 years prior to January 1, 1968,
and shall include the bridges thereon. Highway does not include any
bridge, trail, or path intended for use by off highway recreational
vehicles, as defined in RSA 215-A:1, or snowmobiles, as defined in
RSA 215-C:1.
A tree planted or valued chiefly for its shade from sunlight.
"Shrub" and "bush" shall have the same meaning. A woody plant
that is smaller than a tree and typically has multiple stems or branches
growing from a base. Unlike trees, which generally have a single trunk,
bushes or shrubs usually have a more rounded and bushy appearance.
Trees located within the City's rights-of-way or provided
by separate easement.
A woody perennial plant having a single usually elongated
main stem generally with few or no branches on its lower part.
The City Manager established a Tree Advisory Board in 2021
to facilitate the goals of educating the public and working in an
advisory capacity to DPW, the City Manager and the other boards/committees/commissions
of the City.
Relative to RSA 231:154, refers to owner of trees, whether
they are located in the City's ROW or on private property.
The City Manager may appoint a Tree Warden to manage trees
in the City's rights-of-way and City properties. The Tree Warden
position is established pursuant to RSA 231:139,I. The duties of the
Tree Warden are detailed in the job description created for the position
by the City Manager. In the absence of a Tree Warden, the duties of
this position shall fall to the Public Works Director.
As defined by RSA 229:5, IV and V. Class IV highways shall
consist of all highways within the compact sections of cities and
towns listed in RSA 229:5, V. The compact section of any such city
or town shall be the territory within such city or town where the
frontage on any highway, in the opinion of the commissioner of transportation,
is mainly occupied by dwellings or buildings in which people live
or business is conducted, throughout the year and not for a season
only.
A.
The Public Works Director is responsible for planting, care and maintenance of trees located within the City's public rights-of-way as well as other City-owned properties under the management of the Department of Public Works. All other trees located on City property or to be planted on City property shall be the responsibility of the director of the department which manages the property the tree is located on, except subject to provisions regarding the removal of trees as detailed in § 164-5A, unless otherwise proscribed in the Code of the City of Lebanon or applicable State law.
B.
The City shall have control of all shade trees, ornamental trees
and shrubs situated within the limits of the City's public ways,
state highways within the urban compact, village commons, parks, cemeteries,
and other public grounds, which have been or may be acquired by gift
or purchase, or planting by or with the advice of the Public Works
Director, or by condemnation by the Public Works Director as provided
in RSA 231:140.
A.
Taking tree rights. In accordance with the provisions of RSA 231:154,
when any highway shall be laid out, damages may be assessed to the
abutting owners to provide for the maintenance or planting, from time
to time, within the limits of such highway, of such shade and ornamental
trees as may be necessary for the preservation and improvement of
such highway. Damages may be assessed to abutting owners on any existing
highway upon petition therefor, and such proceedings had as in the
laying out of highways by the City Council to provide for the maintenance
and planting from time to time, of such trees within the limits of
such highways as may be necessary for the preservation and improvement
of the same. When such damage shall be assessed and paid, there shall
be, in addition to the right of travel over such highway, a public
easement to protect, preserve and renew the growth thereon for the
purposes aforesaid.
B.
Public ownership. In accordance with RSA 231:149, any young shade
or ornamental tree planted within the limits of a public highway by
the tree wardens or by any other person or persons, with the approval
of the City Manager, or any young seedling tree or sprout left within
the limits of the highway as specified in RSA 231:150 and designated
by the tree warden to be preserved for its future value as a shade
tree, shall become the property of the municipality; provided, that
the abutting landowner, having been notified of the intention of the
municipality to take and preserve such young tree, shall make no written
objection to the tree warden within 30 days from the date of such
notification.
A.
Shade and ornamental trees. Whoever desires the cutting and removal
in whole or in part of any public shade or ornamental tree owned by
the City may apply to the Public Works Director, who shall give a
public hearing at least 10 days' prior to the cutting or removal
of the trees, upon the application, at some suitable time and place,
after publishing and posting notices of the hearing in two or more
public places and also upon the tree or trees which it is desired
to cut and removed. No tree shall be cut, except to trim it, or removed
by the City staff, without such hearing. The decision of the Public
Works Director shall be subject to review by the City Manager.
B.
Hazardous trees. Notwithstanding the provisions of other sections
of this chapter and subject to the provisions of RSA 231:157 and RSA
231:158, the Public Works Director on Class IV, V, and VI highways
and City-maintained portions of Class II highways, may declare any
tree, either alive or dead, situated within the limits of City property,
highways, roads, or streets to be a public nuisance by reason of danger
to the general or traveling public, spread of tree disease, or the
reliability of equipment installed at or upon utility facilities authorized
under RSA 231:160 or RSA 231:160-a. After such declaration by the
Public Works Director and notice to the abutting landowner on whose
property such tree is located, the said authority shall within a reasonable
time remove the same without compensation or cost to the abutter.
However, no such declaration and notice shall be required when the
delay entailed by such declaration and notice would pose an imminent
threat to safety or property, including electric transmission and
distribution lines. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed
to relieve the public utility companies of their accepted responsibility
of tree trimming and tree removal for the protection of their lines,
or for the construction of new lines, or to alter the provisions of
RSA 231:150-182 in any manner. The Public Works Director may require
of the public utilities owning lines which pass through or near a
tree or trees which are condemned for removal as a public nuisance
to assist in their removal at their expense by either the temporary
removal of their lines or by causing to be removed at their expense
the top portion of said tree or trees from a point below their lines.
C.
Notice. As detailed in RSA 231:146, notice to the abutting landowner
of a tree declared a public nuisance shall be given by delivery at
their place of residence or by sending by registered mail to their
last known address and it shall clearly state the intention of removal
of such tree. The landowner may appeal to the superior court as to
the validity of such declaration within 30 days of delivery or mailing
of said notice, and shall be entitled to a speedy hearing. The final
judgment upon every appeal shall be a decree dismissing the appeal,
or vacating the declaration complained of in whole or in part, as
the case may be; but in case such declaration is wholly or partly
vacated the court may also, at its discretion, remand the matter to
the City for such further proceedings, not inconsistent with the decree,
as justice may require. Following expiration of the aforesaid thirty-day
period of appeal, or following waiver of said right of appeal, the
abutting landowner is relieved of any liability or responsibility
in connection with the tree or trees declared a public nuisance and
similarly is relieved of any liability or responsibility in connection
with any stump or stumps left remaining.
D.
Clearing highways. In accordance with the provisions of RSA 231:150,
the Public Works Director shall annually, and at other times when
advisable, cause to be cut and disposed of, from within the limits
of City-maintained highways, all trees and bushes that may cause damage
or pose a safety hazard to such highways or to the traveling public;
provided, however, that no tree which has a circumference of 15 inches
or more at a point four feet from the ground shall be removed in the
absence of notice to the abutter in the same manner as provided above,
except when the delay entailed by such notice would pose an imminent
threat to safety or property. Shade and fruit trees that have been
set out or marked by the abutting landowners or by the Public Works
Director, and young trees standing at a proper distance from the highway
and from each other, shall be preserved, as well as banks and hedges
of bushes that serve as a protection of the highway, or that add to
the beauty of the roadside.
E.
Scenic roads. The management of trees along scenic roads shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of RSA 231:158 and Lebanon City Code Chapter 134, excepting the removal of trees or portions of trees which have been declared a public nuisance pursuant to RSA 231:145 and 231:146, when such trees or portions of such trees pose an imminent threat to safety or property. Such exceptions must be preceded by authorization of the Public Works Director. Further, that a public utility when involved in the emergency restoration of service, may without such hearing or permission of the Public Works Director, perform such work as is necessary for the prompt restoration of utility service which has been interrupted by facility damage and when requested, shall thereafter inform the Public Works Director of the nature of the emergency and the work performed, in such manner as the Public Works Director may require.
A.
The Tree Advisory Board, in accordance with the provisions of its charge, may provide guidance to the Public Works Director regarding the planting, care, maintenance and removal of trees on public property or within public rights-of-way. Notices of public hearings shall be provided to the Tree Advisory Board on or before the time of posting under § 164-5, or in the case of § 164-5, Subsections B and C, on or before the time of notice. The Public Works Director shall take into consideration recommendations made by the Tree Advisory Board relative to the tree(s) that are under consideration for cutting or removal.
B.
The Tree Warden shall provide guidance and recommendations to the
Public Works Director relative to the planting, care, maintenance
and removal of trees on public property, including rights-of-way and
where the City has easements.
As detailed in the provisions of RSA 231:147, it shall be unlawful
to cut, destroy, injure, deface, or break any public shade or ornamental
tree; or to affix to any such tree a play bill, picture, announcement,
notice, advertisement, political or otherwise, or other device or
thing, or to paint or mark such tree, except for the purpose of protecting
it and under a written permit from the Public Works Director. Additionally,
persons responsible for the injury or defacement of trees shall make
restitution for the replacement and/or mitigation of trees injured
or defaced.
The provisions of this chapter are declared to be severable,
and if any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or part thereof
is, for any reason, held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court
of competent jurisdictions, such decision shall not affect the validity
of any remaining sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, or part
of this chapter.
This chapter shall become effective April 1, 2024.
