ORDINANCE NO. ___
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GARDEN
GROVE AMENDING PROVISIONS OF CHAPTER 11.32 OF TITLE 11 OF
THE GARDEN GROVE MUNICIPAL CODE PERTAINING TO THE
REMOVAL AND REPLACEMENT OF CITY TREES.
CITY ATTORNEY SUMMARY
This Ordinance revises various sections of Chapter 11.32 of the Garden Grove Municipal Code pertaining to the application by property owners to remove City trees on or adjacent to their properties. The revisions remove the requirement for majority neighbor consent and will generally require that property owners wishing to remove City trees on or near their properties agree to replace the tree(s) or pay a fee to enable the City to replace the tree(s) elsewhere in the City. Applications for removal and replacement of City trees will be reviewed and approved by the City Manager or designee in the case of one tree and the Planning Commission in the case of more than one tree. Decisions of the City Manager or designee will be appealable to the Administrati ve Board of Appeals while decisions of the Planning Commission will be final. The fine for failing to replace a tree is increased from $50 to $250 for each tree not planted.
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GARDEN GROVE HEREBY ORDAINS AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Subdivisions A and B(1) of Section 11.32.010 of Chapter 11.32 of Title 11 of the Garden Grove Municipal Code is amended to read as follows (deletions shown in strikethrough, additions shown in bold/underline):
A. It is the purpose of this chapter to preserve, protect and promote the health, safety and general welfare of the public by providing for the regulation of trees located on thoroughfares, parks and public areas owned or controlled by the City. These regulations also apply to new developments and alterations to previous developments on private property.
B. It is the intent of this chapter to:
1. Preserve, maintain, and care for trees on public property , while encouraging replanting of City-approved trees.
SECTION 2. The following definition of Section 11.32.020 of Chapter 11.32 of Title 11 of the Garden Grove Municipal Code is amended to read as follows (deletions shown in strikethrough, additions shown in bold/underline):
"Adjacent property owners owner" means the owners owner of property directly adjacent to the parcel on which the subject tree is located. If the tree is located on Garden Grove City Council
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City-owned property or right -of-way owned in fee, the "adjacent property owners owner" include is the owners owner of property(ies) within 10 feet of closest to the tree as determined by the City Manager and the parcels adjacent thereto.
SECTION 3 . Subdivision B of Section 11.32. 025 of Chapter 11.32 of Title 11 of the Garden Grove Municipal Code is amended to read as follows (deletions shown in strikethrough, additions shown in bold/underline):
B. The City Manager shall prepare and publish guidelines and specifications for tree planting, tree species selection, care, maintenance, removal and landscape design in a document entitled “Tree Ordinance Guidelines” for reference and use by property owners, developers, consultants and the general public in furtherance of the requirements and intent of this chapter.
The Guidelines guidelines shall be reviewed periodically by the Planning Commission.
SECTION 4. Subdivision A(2) of Section 11.32. 030 of Chapter 11.32 of Title 11 of the Garden Grove Municipal Code is amended to read as follows (deletions shown in strikethrough, additions shown in bold/underline):
2. It is unsafe and constitutes a hazard to the life, health, safety, or property of the public.
SECTION 5. Subdivisions A, B, C, and L of Section 11.32.040 of Chapter 11.32 of Title 11 of the Garden Grove Municipal Code is amended to read as follows (deletions shown in strikethrough, additions shown in bold/underline):
A. No person shall spray, fertilize, injure, remove, destroy, cut, top, or otherwise severely prune, including the root system, or treat any tree or shrub having all or any portion of its trunk in or upon any public property without first obtaining a written permit from the City, and without complying strictly with the provisions of the permit , and this chapter, and the “Tree Ordinance Guidelines.”.
B. No person shall plant any tree or shrub on any public street right -of-way or public property without first obtaining a permit from the City and without complying strictly with the provisions of the permit , and the provisions of this chapter and the “Tree Ordinance Guidelines.”.
C. No person shall damage, nail, cut, or carve any tree or shrub having all or any portion of its trunk in or upon any public property; attach any object, including, but not limited to, rope, wire, nail, chain or sign to any such tree or shrub, or to the guard or stake intended for the protection of such tree.
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L. Any tree service person performing tree pruning or removal activities on public property must have an arborist or authorized City employee, as defined in this chapter, present onsite to perform or oversee the work.
SECTION 6 . Section 11.32. 050 of Chapter 11.32 of Title 11 of the Garden Grove Municipal Code is amended to read as follows (deletions shown in strikethrough, additions shown in bold/underline):
§ 11.32.050. Permit Application and Issuance.
A. No permit shall be issued under this chapter until the application is submitted in compliance with this chapter and the appropriate fee is paid, not less than two weeks in advance of the time the work is to be done, unless otherwise permitted by the City Manager to abate an immediate hazard.
B. The City Manager or Planning Commission shall issue the appropriate permit as provided for herein if, in his or her judgment, the proposed work adheres to specifications contained in this chapter and in the Tree Ordinance Guidelines guidelines.
C. The person receiving the permit shall abide by all conditions stated on the permit and by the standards established in the Tree Ordinance Guidelines guidelines.
D. Any tree permit granted shall contain a definite date of expiration. The work shall be completed in the time allowed on the permit, and only in the manner as therein described.
E. Notice of completion shall be given within five days to the City Manager for inspection.
F. Where a tree permit for removal has been denied, the property owner may appeal the decision to of the City Manager within 10 15 days of the denial to the Administrative Board of Appeals or the decision shall be deemed final . The appeal may be heard by an official or designee not involved in the denial of the permit. The decision of the official or designee shall be final. The Administrative Board of Appeals shall consider the appeal and the decision of the Board in respect thereto shall be final and conclusive. Decisions of the Planning Commission are not appealable and are final and conclusive. Pursuant to Code o f Civil Procedure Section 1094.6, any petition for judicial review shall be filed not later than 90 days after the Board or Planning Commission makes its final decision. The provisions of Section 1094.6 shall apply. The Garden Grove City Council
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secretary of the Board or the Planni ng Commission shall notify the appellant that filing a petition for an administrative writ is subject to the 90-day time limitation set forth in Code of Civil Procedure Section 1094.6.
SECTION 7 . Section 11.32. 060 of Chapter 11.32 of Title 11 of the Garden Grove Municipal Code is amended to read as follows (deletions shown in strikethrough, additions shown in bold/underline):
§ 11.32.060. Resident Petition for Street Tree Removal and Replacement.
A petition may be presented by citizen action in a given area for the removal and replacement of existing City trees, if in the opinion of the petitioners, the trees are undesirable. The following conditions must be met:
A. The petition must be signed by the adjacent property owners in accordance with the following percentage schedule based upon the number of trees involved:
1. Zero to 15 trees: 75%.
2. 16 to 25 trees: 80%.
3. 26 trees and over: 85%.
An application may be presented by an adjacent property owner for the removal and replacement of existing City trees in compliance with this chapter. Applications for removal and replacement of a single tree shall be made to the City Manager. Applications for removal and replacement of more than one tree shall be made to the Planning Commission. The following conditions must be met:
A. The applicant shall agree to one of the following before the application approval is considered:
1. The applicant agrees to replace the tree(s) with a City-approved tree and acknowledges they will care for the establishment of the newly-planted tree(s), or
2. The applicant refuses to replace the tree(s) and pays a fee of $250 per tree for the City to plant replacement tree(s) elsewhere in the City. The fee may be adjusted by the C ity Council by resolution from time to time. The request does not need to include a reason or statement of safety or undesirability.
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B. All costs for removal and mitigation will be borne by the applicant. Mitigation may include replacement with an approved species, or payment of fees as established by resolution of the City Council.
C. The work is to be performed by contract, under City specifications and administered by the City. The cost will be determined by the City Manager, and would be placed on deposit with the City prior to removal being initiated.
D. It will be the responsibility of the petitioners to collect and deposit the necessary funds with the City to cover the cost of the project. No reapplications will be considered on application denials by the City Manager, Planning Commission or Administrative Board of Appeals for five (5) years after the date of their decision.
E. In that granting requests initiated by petitions The approval of applications is discretionary, and each petition application request will be considered individually, and will be determined on the merits of the individual request.
Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to enable automatic City approval of any application.
SECTION 8. Subdivisions B(1) and B(5) of Section 11.32.160 of Chapter 11.32 of Title 11 of the Garden Grove Municipal Code is amended to read as follows (deletions shown in strikethrough, additions shown in bold/underline):
1. Failure to plant original or replacement trees in accordance with this chapter shall be subject to a fine of $50.00 $250.00 for each tree not planted. No civil penalty shall be assessed until the person alleged to be in violation has been notified of the violation and given an opportunity within a reasonable time to correct the violation. If the site is not brought into compliance within the time specified in the notice of violation, a civil penalty may be assessed from the date the notice of violation is received. The failure to plant each individual tree shall constitute a separate, daily and continuing violation.
5. Any other action that constitutes a violation of this chapter may subject the violator to a civil penalty of $50.00 $250.00, and each day of continuing violation shall constitute a separate violation. However, the maximum amount of the penalty shall not exceed $1,000.00.
SECTION 9: If any section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, word, or portion of this Ordinance is, for any reason, held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this Ordinance and each section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, Garden Grove City Council
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clause, phrase, word, or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, subdivisions, sentences, clauses, phrases, words or portions thereof be declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 10: The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall certify to the passage and adoption of this Ordinance and shall cause the same, or the summary thereof, to be published and posted pursuant to the provisions of law and this Ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days after adoption.