or ways within the City.

4-7-2: CITY TREE BOARD:

A.
Composition: The City Tree Board shall consist of seven (7) members, citizens
and residents of the City, who shall be appointed by the Mayor with the
approval of the Council.

B.
Term of Office: The terms of the seven (7) persons to be appointed by the
Mayor shall be for three (3) years and shall be staggered.

C.
Compensation: Members of the Board shall serve without compensation.

D.
Duties and Responsibilities: It shall be the responsibility of the Board to study,
investigate, counsel and develop and/or update annually, and administer a
written plan for the care, preservation, pruning, planting replanting, removal or
disposition of trees and shrubs along streets and in other public areas. Such
plan will be presented annually to the City Council and upon their acceptance
and approval shall constitute the Official Comprehensive City Tree Plan. The
Board, when requested by the City Council, shall consider, investigate, make
findings, report and recommend upon any special matter or question coming
within the scope of its work.

E.
Operation; Quorum: The Board shall choose its own officers, make its own
rules and regulations and keep a journal of its proceedings. A majority of the
members shall be a quorum for the transaction of business.

F.
Interference With Board: It shall be unlawful for any person to prevent, delay or
interfere with the City Tree Board, or any of its agents, while engaging in and
about the planting, cultivating, mulching, pruning, spraying or removing of any
street trees or trees on private grounds, as authorized in this Chapter.
G.
Review by City Council: The City Council shall have the right to review the
conduct, acts and decisions of the City Tree Board. Any person may appeal
from any ruling or order of the City Tree Board to the City Council which may
hear the matter and make a final decision.

4-7-3: ARBORISTS' LICENSE AND INSURANCE:

A.
License Required; Fee: It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the
business or occupation of pruning, treating or removing street trees within the
City without first applying for and procuring a license. The license fee shall be
fifty dollars ($50.00) annually in advance; provided, however, than no license
shall be required of any public service company or City employee doing such
work in pursuit of their public service endeavors.

B.
Liability Insurance: Before any license shall be issued, each applicant shall first
file evidence of possession of liability insurance in the minimum amounts of fifty
thousand dollars ($50,000.00) for bodily injury and one hundred thousand
dollars ($100,000.00) property damage indemnifying the City or any person
injured or damaged resulting from the pursuit of such endeavors as herein
described.

4-7-4: STREET TREE SPECIES TO BE PLANTED: The following list constitutes the
official street tree species for the City. No species other than those included in this list
may be planted as street trees without written permission of the City Tree Board
SMALL
TREES MEDIUM
TREES LARGE
TREES

Apricot
Ash, Green Hackberry
Coffee Tree
Crabapple
Honeylocust
Kentucky
Maple

Flowering (sp)
(thornless)
White Oak

Golden Rain Tree
Linden or Basswood (sp)
Sugar Oak

Hawthorne (sp)
Mulberry Red (fruitless male)
Bur Sycamore

Pear, Bradford
Pin Oak
Sycamore, London
Redbud
Oak,
English
Plantree
Soapberry
Oak,
Red
Cottonwood

Lilac, Japanese Tree
Pagodatree, Japanese
(Cottonless, Male)
Peach,
Flowering
Pecan

Plum, Purpleleaf
Birch, River

Serviceberry
Osageorange (male thornless)

Persimmon

Poplar,
White

Sassafras

4-7-5: PLANTING REQUIREMENTS AND RESTRICTIONS:
A.
Spacing Between Trees: The spacing of street trees will be in accordance with
the three (3) species size classes listed in Section 4-7-4 of this Chapter, and no
trees may be planted closer together than the following:


Small trees
30 feet

Medium trees
40 feet

Large trees
50 feet


Except in special plantings designed or approved by a landscape architect.

B.
Distance from Curb and Sidewalk: The distance trees may be planted from
curbs or curb lines and sidewalks will be in accordance with the three (3)
species size classes listed in Section 4-7-4 of this Chapter, and no trees may
be planted closer to any curb or sidewalk than the following:


Small trees
2 feet

Medium trees
3 feet

Large trees
4 feet

C.
Distance from Street Corners and Fireplugs: No street tree shall be planted
closer than thirty five feet (35') of any street corner, measured from the point of
the nearest intersecting curbs or curb lines; nor closer than ten feet (10') of any
fireplug.

D.
Utilities: No street trees, other than those species listed as small trees in
Section 4-7-4 of this Chapter, may be planted under or within ten (10) lateral
feet or any overhead utility wire, or over or within ten (10) lateral feet of any
underground water line, sewer line, transmission line or other utility.

4-7-6: PUBLIC TREE CARE: The City shall have the right to plant, prune, maintain
and remove trees, plants and shrubs within the lines of all streets, alleys, avenues,
lanes, squares and public grounds, as may be necessary to insure public safety or to
preserve or enhance the symmetry and beauty of such public grounds.
The City Tree Board may remove or cause 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
sewers, electric power lines, gas lines, water lines, or other public improvements, or is
affected with any injurious fungus, insect or other pest. This Section does not prohibit
the planting of street trees by adjacent property owners; providing, that the selection
and location of said trees is in accordance with Sections 4-7-4 and 4-7-5 of this
Chapter.

4-7-7: TREE TOPPING: It shall be unlawful as a normal practice for any person, firm
or City Department to top any street tree or other tree on public property. "Topping" is
defined as the severe cutting back of limbs to stubs larger than three inches (3") 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 Tree
Board.

4-7-8: PRUNING, CORNER CLEARANCE: Every owner of any tree overhanging any
street right of way within the City shall prune the branches so that such branches shall
not obstruct the light from any street lamp or obstruct the view of any street intersection
and so that there shall be a clear space of eight feet (8') above the surface of the street
or sidewalk. Said owners shall remove all dead, diseased or dangerous trees, or
broken or decayed limbs which constitute a menace to the safety of the public. The City
shall have the right to prune any tree or shrub on private property when it interferes with
visibility of any traffic-control device or sign.

4-7-9: DEAD OR DISEASED TREE REMOVAL ON PRIVATE PROPERTY: The City
shall have the right to cause the removal of any dead or diseased trees on private
property within the City when such trees constitute a hazard to life and property or
harbor insects or disease which constitute a potential threat to other trees within the
City. The City Tree Board will notify in writing the owners of such trees. Removal shall
be done by said owners at their own expense within sixty (60) days after the date of
service of notice. In the event of failure of owners to comply with such provisions, the
City shall have the authority to remove such trees and charge the cost of removal as a
lien against the property.

4-7-10: REMOVAL OF STUMPS: All stumps of street trees shall be removed below
the surface of the ground so that the top of the stump shall not project above the
surface of the ground.

4-7-11: PENALTY: Any person violating any provision of this Chapter shall be, upon
conviction or plea of guilty, subject to a minimum fine of forty dollars ($40.00) and
maximum fine not to exceed one hundred dollars ($100.00).