Piedmont Municipal Code Art. IV Trees on Public Property

The street trees of Piedmont provide multiple benefits to the residents and to the public at large. The trees are a verdant urban canopy, providing beauty, shade and privacy. The uniformity and maturity of the street trees in Piedmont distinguish the city from vacant suburban subdivisions and add significant aesthetic and economic value to the city’s residential housing stock. As a matter of public policy, the overwhelming benefit of the city’s urban forest to the city’s residents and to the general public outweighs the occasional regulatory limitations on individual properties, taking into consideration that there is an established process in Section 3.213(b) for individuals to obtain city review of view claims relating to city street trees. It is therefore in the public interest to regulate street trees and to provide penalties for noncompliance.

The vegetation on public property is owned by the City of Piedmont. No person other than a City employee or other contractual agent of the City may plant, prune, treat, or remove vegetation on public property. A property owner may request that the City plant, prune, treat or remove a tree in a parking strip or other City right-of-way as provided in this Article IV.

Parks

3-18

The Park Commission shall have the authority to designate the species of tree to be planted on public property, including but not limited to parking strips. No planting of alternative species shall be allowed on a street for which one or more species have been designated by the Park Commission. A list comprised of the designated species for each street shall be maintained by the Public Works Department.

No person shall prune a tree in a parking strip or in another city right-of-way. Only City personnel or agents of the City may trim or prune street trees and other trees on public property.

Parks

3-19

It shall be unlawful for any person to use any fertilizer, insecticide, fungicide, or other chemical on city street trees including application to soil, spraying and injecting of chemical substances without the express written authorization of the Public Works Director.

Parks

3-20