Ordinance - 709ORDINANCE NO. 709
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
WEST COVINA AMENDING THE WEST COVINA MUNICIPAL
CODE BY THE ADDITION THERETO OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS
RELATING TO THE PLANTING, PRUNING, INJURY AND
REMOVAL OF TREES UPON CITY STREETS, PARKS AND
OTHER PUBLIC PLACES.
• follows: The City Council of the City of West Covina does ordain as
SECTION 1. The West Covina Municipal Code is hereby amended
by the addition to Article VII of a new Chapter 4 consisting of Sections
7400 to 7409, inclusive, reading as follows:
"CHAPTER 4 - TREES
7400. DEFINITIONS.
'Director►, as used in this Chapter, shall mean the Director
of the Recreation and Park Department of the City or his authorized
representative.
7401. TREES. RESPONSIBILITY.
The planting and maintenance of all trees in or upon any
street, park, parkway or public place in the City, and the
pruning, trimming and removal of the same, shall be at all
times subject to the supervision of the Director, subject to
the authority and control of the City Council. The Director may
authorize the removal or pruning by the City, or by any other
person as herein provided, of any tree or shrub in or upon any
street, park, parkway or public place which interferes with the
construction of any driveway, sidewalk, curb or other construction
work, or the maintenance thereof, or any tree or shrub which is
dead, or which creates a hazard to the public safety or which
does not conform to the type or variety designated for the par-
ticular place in which the same is situated.
7402. DESIGNATION OF TYPE OR VARIETY. APPEAL.
The Director shall maintain a master list of trees approved
by the City Council upon the recommendation of the Recreation and
Park Commission for planting in streets and parkways throughout
the City and indicating rules and regulations governing the
planting, location, spacing and maintenance of the various
varieties of trees on said list. The Director shall designate
the kind and variety of trees or shrubs to be planted upon any
street, park, parkway or public place of the City and the location,
spacing and planting procedure to be followed. No person shall
plant or install any tree or shrub upon any portion of any street,
park, parkway or other public place which does not conform to
the type, variety, location and spacing designated by the Director
for such portion of such street, park, parkway or public place;
provided, however, that owners of property fronting upon any
street for which a type or variety of tree or shrub has not been
designated by the Director, or who are dissatisfied with that
which has been designated, may petition the Director to designate
•. such type and variety or to change the designation, and if they
are dissatisfied with the action of the Director, may appeal to
the Recreation and Park Commission which shall have the power to
designate or change the designation of the type or variety of tree
or shrub for such street or portion thereof. Any action of the
Director or of the Recreation and Park Commission may be set aside,
changed or altered by the City Council.
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7403. PLANTING, REMOVING, PRUNING, INJURING, ETC.
No person shall cut, trim, prune, plant, remove, injure or
interfere with any tree, shrub or plant upon any street, park,
parkway or public place of the City without prior written per-
mission and approval therefor from the Director. The Director is
hereby authorized to grant such permission at his discretion, and
• may grant the same subject to the condition that any removed tree
be replaced by a tree of the type designated for the street and
meeting the specifications of the Director and/or such other con-
ditions as may be appropriate in the circumstances. No such per-
mission shall be valid for a longer period than thirty days after
its date of issuance.
7404. SAME. REQUEST FOR PERMIT.
Any person maintaining any overhead wires or any pipes or
underground conduits along or across any street, park, parkway
or public place of the City, or owning any property abutting upon
any street, park, parkway or public place of said City, or pro-
posing to erect, repair, alter or remove any building or structure,
desiring to have any tree, shrub or plant cut, trimmed, pruned or
removed,may file with the Director a written request for a permit
for such work to be done and it shall be within the discretion of
the Director to require a written agreement upon the part of the
petitioner to pay the costs thereof and to do such work in the way
stipulated by the Director before the issuance of any permit here-
under.
7405. INTERFERING WITH DIRECTOR.
No person shall interfere with the Director or persons acting
under his authority while engaged in planting, mulching, pruning,
trimming, spraying, treating or removing any tree, shrub or plant
in any street, park, parkway or public place of the City, or in
the removing of any substance or plant material from about the
trunk or roots of any tree, shrub or plant in any such street, park,
parkway or public place.
7406. HARMFUL LIQUIDS AND PAVEMENT.
No person shall cause, authorize or permit any brine water,
oil,.liquid dye or other substance deleterious to tree life to lie,
leak, pour, flow or drip upon or into the soil about the base of
any tree, shrub or plant in any street, park, parkway or public
place of the City, or onto any sidewalk, road or pavement within
said City at a point from which such substance may flow, drip or
seep into such soil, injure such tree, shrub or plant, or to other-
wise harm or kill any such tree, shrub or plant. No person, with-
out the written approval of the Director shall place or maintain
any stone, cement or other substance so that it shall substantially
impede the free access of water or air to the roots of any tree,
shrub or plant in any street, park, parkway or public place of the
City.
7407. ATTACHING FOREIGN MATERIALS OR SUBSTANCES.
No person, without the written permission of the Director,
shall place, apply, attach or keep attached to any tree, shrub or
plant in any street, park, parkway or public place of the City, or
to the guard or stake intended for the protection thereof, any
wire, rope, sign, paint or any other substance, structure, thing
or device of any kind or nature whatsoever which shall be injurious
to the tree, shrub or plant, or which shall be a public nuisance.
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7408. PROTECTION DURING CONSTRUCTION WORK.
During the erection, repair, alteration or removal of any
building, house or structure in the City, no person in charge of
such work shall leave any tree, shrub or plant in any street,
park, parkway or public place of the City in the vicinity of
such building or structure without such good and sufficient
• guards or protectors as shall prevent injury to said tree, shrub
or plant arising out of or by reason of said erection, repair,
alteration or removal.
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7409. PREVENTING ENCROACHMENT OR HAZARD.
No person owning or controlling property abutting upon any
public street or public place in the City, upon which are located
hedges, trees, shrubs or plants, shall permit said plantings to
encroach upon the sidewalk, curb or street or the branches thereof
to overhang said sidewalk, curb or street in such a manner as
to impede or interfere with vehicular or pedestrian traffic,
drainage flow, or maintenance thereof, or to create a hazardous
condition, and he shall keep said plantings trimmed as the public
convenience shall require.
If any such hedge, tree, shrub or plant is hazardous to the
traveling public or impedes the progress or the vision of said
public on any such street or public place, or the maintenance
thereof, the City may order the same or such part or parts thereof
as are hazardous or impair or impede normal use, to be trimmed or
removed so as to remedy such condition. If such tree, hedge,
shrub or plant standing on any private property shall not be cut
down or removed or trimmed to remove said condition within ten
days after notice in writing.of said order is given by the City
to the owner, occupant or agent of said property upon which such
described condition exists, the same, shall be deemed a public
nuisance and may be abated as such.,"
SECTION 2. The West Covina Municipal Code is hereby amended
by the addition thereto of a new Section 8215 reading as follows:
118215. PROTECTION OF STREET TREES.
If necessary to protect trees, shrubs or plants within
streets, parks or parkways, the City may require that said house,
building or portion thereof be cut into segments small enough to
fit the available width between such trees, shrubs or plants along
the designated route. As a condition to approving any route for
the moving of any building, house or portion thereof, the City may
require the person doing such work to enter into an agreement and
post sufficient bond to pay all costs incurred for any labor,
equipment or material used to protect or preserve such trees,
shrubs or plants either before or after such moving."
SECTION 3. The City Clerk shall certify to the passage of
this ordinance and shall publish the same as required by law.
Passed and approved this 12th day of June , 1961.
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STATE OF CALIFORNIA.
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES SS.
CITY OF WEST COVINA
I, ROBERT FLOTTEN, City Clerk of the City of West Covina,
do hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance No.709 was regularly
introduced and placed upon its first reading at a regular meeting of
•the City Council on the 22nd day of May , 1961. That, thereafter,
said ordinance was duly adopted and passed at a regular meeting of the
City Council on the 12th day of June , 1961, by the following vote,
to -wit:
AYES: Councilmen: Towner, Barnes, Snyder, Mayor Heath
NOES: Councilmen: None
ABSENT:Councilmen: Brown 7,
City Clerk
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