Important notice: This publication has moved to General Code's eCode360 platform and this site is no longer being updated. View the current version on eCode360.

13.30.080 Replacement of protected trees.

    Any protected trees that are removed shall be replaced as follows:

    (a)   Replacement shall be three fifteen-gallon-size or two twenty-four-inch-box-minimum-size landscape trees for each tree removed as determined below. However, the director maintains the right to dictate size and species of trees in new developments. Permits for tree removal shall expire after four months. Applicants shall reapply if work has not been completed within four months after the director’s approval. A deposit to the tree planting fund shall be made by an applicant and held by the parks and recreation department for tree replacements. Deposits will be refunded on proof of replanting trees. If proof that the replacement trees have been planted has not been submitted to the director within four months of the tree removal, a payment to the tree planting fund in the amount of the current cost of two twenty-four-inch-box trees of a species dictated by the director shall be made.

    (b)  Any protected tree removed without a valid permit shall be replaced by three twenty-four-inch-box-minimum-size landscape trees, of a species approved by the director, for each tree so removed as determined below. If proof that the replacement trees have been satisfactorily planted has not been submitted to the director within four months of the tree removal, a payment to the tree planting fund in the amount of the current cost of three twenty-four-inch-box trees, of a species dictated by the director, shall be made to the city, in an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars. Such payment shall be in addition to any other penalties imposed by the city for violation of this chapter.

    (c)   Replacement of a protected tree can be waived by the director if a sufficient number of trees exists on the property to meet all other requirements of this tree preservation chapter.

    (d)  At the director’s discretion, if replacement trees, as designated in subsection (a) or (b) of this section, as applicable, cannot be planted on the property, payment in the amount of the replacement value of the tree as determined by the International Society of Arboriculture Standards, plus the costs to the city to plant an equivalent tree elsewhere in the city, shall be made to the city.

    (e)   All payments made in restitution for violation of this tree preservation chapter, or non-refunded tree replacement deposits retained by the city, shall be deposited in the tree planting fund, to be drawn upon for public tree purchase and planting. (Ord. 1514 § 1, 2016; Ord. 1271 § 1, 2000; Ord. 1060 § 1, 1989)