§ 606. Trees.

A.

Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings given herein.

Abutting property owner shall mean any person, firm, partnership or non-municipal corporation owning property abutting a public right-of-way.

Arterial street shall mean that street as defined in Section 200 hereof.

City shall mean the City of Tulsa, Oklahoma, a municipal corporation.

Code official shall mean the person or persons designated by the City to implement the provisions of this chapter.

Council shall mean the governing body of the City of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Expressway shall mean a divided highway for through traffic with full or partial control of access.

Freeway shall mean an expressway with full control of access.

Mayor shall mean the Mayor of the City of Tulsa, Oklahoma, or his or her designated representative.

Park trees shall mean trees in designated public parks or in any area owned by the City to which the public has free access.

Person shall mean every natural person, firm, partnership or non-municipal corporation.

Public land shall mean any real property within the corporate limits of the City in which the City has any ownership interest.

Shrub shall mean a low woody plant, usually multi-stemmed.

Sight-distance triangle shall mean the area within an imaginary triangle formed at a street corner as follows: Extend the curb lines (or the edge of the pavement where no curbs exist) into the street to a point where those lines interest; from that point of intersection measure along both curb lines (or edges of pavement) to two (2) points, the length of each arm shall be defined by the Traffic Engineer based upon type of street and traffic counts; the connecting of these three (3) points shall form the sight-distance triangle.

Street trees shall mean trees within the entire width of every public way or right-of-way when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for the purpose of vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

Topping shall mean the cutting back of tree limbs within the tree's crown to stubs larger than three (3) inches in diameter thereby removing the natural canopy and/or disfiguring the tree.

Tree shall mean a woody perennial plant having a well-defined stem or trunk and a definite crown which attains a mature height of at least eight (8) feet.

B.

Street trees.

1.

Approved street trees. The mayor shall adopt, subject to the approval of the Council, and file with the City Clerk an official list of approved street trees designating small trees, medium trees and large trees. No species other than those included on the official list of approved street trees may be planted as street trees unless permission to do so is given by the Director.

2.

Spacing and clearance. Spacing requirements for street trees are as follows:

a.

No tree on an arterial street shall be planted closer than seven (7) feet from the face of the street curb or closer than four (4) feet from a sidewalk, except that in the central business district street trees may be planted two (2) feet from the curb; provided that where no curb exists, the measurement shall be taken from the edge of the paving;

b.

At the intersection of any arterial street with any other street, no abutting property owner shall allow any tree or shrub to exceed a height of thirty (30) inches above street grade within the sight-distance triangle as defined herein;

c.

No tree or shrub planted closer than fifty (50) feet from the end of any arterial street median shall be allowed to exceed a height of thirty (30) inches above street grade; trees on arterial street medians should be spaced no closer than thirty (30) feet from each other;

d.

At the intersection of any arterial street with any other street, no abutting property owner shall allow any tree within one hundred (100) feet of the intersection, measured from the point of intersecting curbs or curb lines or from the edge of the paving where no curbs exist, to have any branches within five (5) feet of the street grade;

e.

Tree plantings on freeways and expressways shall be no closer than thirty (30) feet from the edge of the outside driving lanes and twenty (20) feet from any fencing and spaced no closer than twenty-five (25) feet apart; provided, however, that trees may be planted in a cluster and mulched so that mowing between the clustered trees is not required; and

f.

No tree shall have limbs which project over a public sidewalk or street which are less than eight (8) feet above the surface of the public sidewalk and nine (9) feet above the surface of the street.

g.

No tree or shrub shall be planted within fifteen (15) feet of any fire hydrant so as to obstruct the fire hydrant when viewed from the street.

C.

Trees in public utility easements. No trees other than those species listed as small trees on the official list of approved street trees on file with the City Clerk may be planted under or within twenty (20) lateral feet of any overhead utility wire, or over or within five (5) lateral feet of any underground public utility line.

D.

Care of trees.

1.

The City shall have the right to prune and remove trees, plants and shrubs within the right-of-way lines of all streets, alleys, avenues, lanes, squares and public grounds as may be necessary for construction, to ensure public safety, to preserve or enhance the symmetry and beauty of the public area or to protect public utility facilities thereon.

2.

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 infected with any injurious fungus, insect or other pest.

3.

This section shall not prohibit the planting of street trees by abutting property owners, providing that the selection and location of such trees is in accordance with Chapter 5 herein.

E.

Tree topping.

1.

Tree topping prohibited generally. It shall be unlawful as a normal practice for any person or for any City department to top any street tree, park tree or other tree on public property.

2.

Exception. Where other pruning practices are impractical, the code official may exempt from this section trees which have been severely damaged by storms or other causes and certain trees under utility wires or other obstructions.

F.

Removal of trees which obstruct light or view.

1.

Owner's responsibility. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the owner of any tree overhanging any street or right-of-way within the City shall prune the branches so that the branches shall neither obstruct the light from any street lamp nor the view of any street intersection.

2.

City's right to prune. The City shall have the right to prune any tree or shrub on private property when it interferes with the proper spread of light along the street from a street light or interferes with visibility of any traffic control device or street sign.

G.

Dead or diseased trees. The code official shall have the right to cause the removal of any dead or diseased trees on private property within the City according to the provisions of Title 24, Tulsa.

H.

Interference with City personnel. It shall be unlawful for any person to prevent, delay or interfere with City personnel while they are engaged in planting, cultivating, mulching, pruning, spraying or removing any street trees, park trees or trees on private grounds as authorized by this section.

I.

Appeals. Any person aggrieved by a decision of a code official may appeal that decision by following the procedures outline in Section 803 hereof.

J.

An approved License Agreement is the "permit" for this activity.

(Ord. No. 22845, § 1, 3-14-2013)