[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council
of the Borough of Edgewood as Ch. XXIV of the 1972 Code. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Brush, grass and weeds — See Ch. 93.
The following regulations, having been submitted
to the Council of the Borough of Edgewood by the Shade Tree Commission
of said Borough, be and the same are hereby approved.
All pruning, trimming, cutting and removing
of said shade trees shall be done under the supervision and direction
of the Shade Tree Commission, and by no one else.
No person shall in any manner injure, deface
or disfigure the bark or any portion of said shade tree.
No person shall place on, near or about any
of said trees any liquids, chemicals or other substances, or fire,
which might injure or damage any of said trees, nor shall any person
injure or damage said trees with liquids, chemicals or other substances,
or fire, or dig the soil in which said trees are growing, without
permission, in writing, from the Shade Tree Commission.
No person shall climb onto, in or about, whether
by means of ladders or otherwise, any of said trees, in such a manner
as to injure or damage them.
No person shall remove, relocate, or in any
manner change the location or position of any of said trees, except
under the supervision and direction of the Shade Tree Commission.
[Amended 8-1-2005 by Ord.
No. 1003]
Any owner of property violating or failing to
comply with any regulation or requirement contained in this chapter
shall, for each and every violation, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced
to pay a fine of not more than $600 and costs of prosecution, and
in default of payment of such fine and costs, to imprisonment for
not more than 30 days. Each week that any tree shall remain planted
in violation of any provision of this chapter, after expiration of
notice thereof from the Borough Council, shall constitute a separate
offense.
Plants, shrubs and trees, or brush and other
plantings, which are afflicted with the Dutch elm or other disease
that threatens to injure or destroy plants, shrubs and shade trees
in the Borough, and trees which are dead or so damaged as to be dangerous
to persons or property, are hereby declared a nuisance.
Council or its designated representative, may, if it has reasonable cause to believe that a nuisance as defined in § 188-8 hereof exists, enter upon private property to investigate and determine the same.
If such investigation, supported by the professional
opinion of a qualified tree expert or horticulturist, shows the existence
of such a nuisance, Council or its designated representative shall
give 30 days' notice to the owner of the property affected to abate
such nuisance by the cutting or removal of the plants, shrubs, trees,
brush, or other plantings constituting the nuisance.
Upon failure of the owner of the property involved
to comply with such notice, the Borough may cause the work to be done
by the Borough, and levy and collect the cost thereof from the owner
of the property.
The cost of such work shall be a lien upon the
premises from the time of the commencement of the work, which date
shall be fixed by the Borough Engineer and shall be filed with the
Borough Secretary and, if not paid by the property owner within 30
days after notification of the cost thereof, may be collected by action
in assumpsit or by a lien filed in the manner provided by law for
the filing and collection of municipal claims.
All other sections of and provisions in the
Borough Code with respect to shade trees and the power of Boroughs
as to shade trees, not otherwise herein set forth, are by reference
incorporated in this chapter.
