Chapter XII · Public Property

ARTICLE 4. TREES

Sections 12-401 to 12-410 · 10 sections

12-401 Cutting or trimming; consent required.

It shall be unlawful for any person, except when acting under the direction and authority of the state, to cut or trim any trees within this city, without the consent and approval in writing of the owner of such trees, if the same be growing upon private property, or to cut or trim any trees growing upon the streets of the city except as shall hereafter be provided in this article; provided, the governing body may by resolution direct the manner of planting and cultivating trees, shrubbery and parking in the part of the street where they shall be planted or cultivated; and provided further, it shall be lawful for the city manager on behalf of the city to receive the written consent of the owners of private grounds where trees or shrubbery may be grown or cultivated which may thereafter interfere with the location, building or maintenance of any electric transmission line of the city by which the owner shall give his or her approval of the duly authorized officers or employees of the city to cut or trim any such trees.

(Code 1972, 20-57)

12-402 Same; when hazardous or an obstruction.

Any trees, shrubbery, vines or hedge standing or growing in the parking of any street or public way of the city may be cut or trimmed by employees of the city acting under the supervision of the city manager when the same shall interfere with or be an obstruction to public travel thereon or to other public uses or when such trees, shrubbery, vines or hedge shall be or become dangerous to public safety; provided, all such cutting or trimming shall be done in a careful and workmanlike manner as not to injure or destroy the tree, shrub, vine or hedge, and no branches or parts thereof shall be removed by virtue of this section which do not actually interfere with or obstruct the street or public way, unless the same shall be deemed imminently hazardous and likely to injure the public by falling on the traveled portions of any public way; provided further, the city manager may, before ordering the cutting or trimming herein authorized, notify in writing the owner or occupant of the lots abutting the parking where any such interference, obstruction or hazardous condition may be, to cut, trim or otherwise remove the same; and provided further, in the case of a nonresident owner, written notice may be given to the agent of such person or the occupant of any such abutting lots. The notice shall, as near as may be specify the nature of the obstruction, interference or hazardous condition affecting public travel, and shall request that the same be removed within 10 days.

(Code 1972, 20-58)

12-403 Same; authority and duty of owner.

It shall be lawful at all times for the owner or occupant of any lot abutting any street parking of the city to cut or trim any shade or ornamental tree, shrubbery, vine or hedge standing or growing thereon to prevent or remove any obstruction, interference or condition hazardous to the safe use of the streets or public ways of the city, and it shall be the duty of all such owners or occupants to cut or trim the trees, shrubbery, vine or hedge in the parking for any such purpose. It shall also be the duty of such owners or occupants to prevent interference with or obstruction of travel along the public ways of the city by cutting, trimming or removing any branches or roots projecting over or into the public ways from trees, shrubbery, vine or hedge immediately adjacent to the ways but which may be growing on private grounds; provided, the~ limbs or branches of any such trees, shrubbery, vine or hedge shall not hang or extend lower than eight feet from the surface of any portion of the street used for a sidewalk or driveway or lower than 12 feet six inches from the surface of any street otherwise used for vehicular traffic; provided further, any dead tree or branches thereof and the dead branches of any tree, shrubbery, vine or hedge which shall overhang the traveled portion of any street or sidewalk which shall be deemed imminently dangerous to the public safety whether lower than any of the distances from the street or sidewalk or not, shall be cut or removed immediately by the abutting owner upon such determination by the city manager; and provided further, in every case the owners of any lots abutting any street parking, where any obstruction to the street or sidewalk or any condition dangerous to public safety shall be or exist which shall have been ordered removed, · it shall be lawful for the owner to request the city manager in writing to remove the same at the expense of the owner. Thereupon, the city manager shall cause the same to be removed and the city treasurer shall receive the costs of such removal and on behalf of the city, and the same shall be credited to the general operating fund. .

(Code 1972, 20-59)

12-404 Maximum height of hedge; encroaching on street.

It shall be unlawful for any person owning or controlling any hedge fence bordering on any street or sidewalk in the city to permit the same to grown to a height of more than four feet or to permit the same to overhang or obstruct in any way the street or sidewalk adjacent thereto.

(Code 1972, 20-60)

12-405 Planting of street trees.

(a)Definition. Streets trees are herein defined as those trees on the parkway or immediately adjacent to the parkway of any public street, avenue or way within the city.

(b)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 governing body.

Small Trees	Medium Trees	Large Trees
Flowering Crabapple	Honeylocust (thornless)	Siberian Elm
Redbud	Chinaberry (soapberry)	Burr Oak
Hawthorne (Washington)	Kentucky Coffeetree	Hackberry
Bradford Pear	Goldenraintree	London Planetree
Purple-leaf Plum	Japanese Pogodatree	Red Oak
Flowering Peach	Hard (sugar) Maple	Black Walnut
Goldenraintree	Linden	Green Ash
Serviceberry		Marshall Seedless Ash
Common Apricot		Cottonwood (cottonless)
Amur Maple		Basswood

(c)Spacing. The spacing of street trees will be in accordance with the three species, size classes listed in section 12-405(b) of this ordinance, and no trees may be planted closer together than the following: Small Trees, 20 feet; Medium Trees, 30 feet; and Large Trees, 40 feet.

(d)Distance from Curb and Sidewalk. The distance trees may be placed from curbs or curblines and sidewalks shall be no closer than four feet from any curb or curbing, and no closer than two feet from any city sidewalk for small size trees; no closer than five feet from any curb or curbing, and no closer than three feet from any city sidewalk for medium size trees; no closer than six feet from any curb or curbing, and no closer than four feet from any city sidewalk for large size trees.

(e)District from Street Corners and Fireplugs. No street tree shall be planted closer than 30 feet of any street corner, measured from the point of nearest intersecting curbs or curblines. No street tree shall be planted closer than 30 feet of any fireplug.

(f)Utilities. No street trees other than those species listed as small trees in section 12-405(b) of this article may be planted under or within 10 lateral feet of any overhead utility wire, or over or within six lateral feet of any underground water line, sewer line, transmission line or other utility.

(g)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 safety when servicing city utilities or to preserve the symmetry and beauty of such public grounds. The governing body of the city 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 to sewers, electric power lines, gas lines, water lines or other public improvements or is affected with any injurious fungus, insect or other pest.

(h)Penalty. It shall be unlawful to plant any street trees in violation of this ordinance. Any street trees planted in violation of this ordinance shall be subject to removal by the city governing body. Provided, however, that no street trees may be planted without the written permission of the city governing body.

(i)Existing Trees Exempt. The provisions of section 12-405, subsections (a) through (f) of this code shall not apply to any existing street trees planted previous to the 2nd day of April, 1973.

(Ord.1811, Sec. 2; Ord.1900, Sec. 2)

12-406 Diseased plants; entry on property to suppress.

The governing body through its duly authorized agents and employees may enter private property for suppressing plant disease, insect pests, or larvae infesting trees and shrubbery where there is danger of such plant disease, insect pests or larvae infesting or damaging the trees and shrubbery on public property of the city or property of others.

(Code 1972, 20-63)

12-407 Nuisance; dead or diseased trees declared.

All dead or broken trees or branches thereof, all diseased and infested trees within the corporate limits of the city, which have become dangerous to the public safety or to the occupants or to other trees and shrubbery located on private premises or public property are hereby declared to be and constitute a public nuisance. .

(Code 1972, 20-64)

12-408 Same; abatement by owner.

It shall be the duty of the owners of any private property upon which any nuisance as described in section 12-407 may be located to cause the same to be promptly abated. All dead and dying trees or branches shall not be left standing, but shall promptly be removed and destroyed by burning in an area provided by the city for such purpose.

(Code 1972, 20-65)

12-409 Same; notice to owner.

It shall be the duty of the city clerk to see that due notice of the existence of any nuisance as described in section 12-407 shall be given to the owner or occupants of the property upon which the same is situated. The above mentioned notice as provided in K.S.A. 12-3204 shall require that all such nuisances be abated within five days after such notice is given.

(Code 1972, 20-66)

12-410 Same; abatement by city at owner’s expense.

If the owner or occupant of private premises shall fail or refuse to abate such nuisance within the time specified in section 12-409, it shall be the duty of the city clerk to cause such nuisance to be abated and have the actual cost charged to and collected from the owner or occupant of such property and the same shall be paid by the owner or occupant of such property. In the event the cost thereof shall not be paid by the owner or occupant of the private property, the actual cost of such treatment or removal shall be assessed and charged against the lot or parcel of ground on which the tree or shrub was located and the city clerk shall at the time to certify other city taxes to the county clerk, certify the unpaid cost and charges and the county clerk shall extend the same on the tax rolls of the county against the lot or parcel of ground.

(Code 1972, 20-67)