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AN ORDINANCE BY PLANNI NG AND DEVELOPME NT COMMI TTEE BE IT ORDAINED BY THE MAYOR AND BOARD OF ALDE RMEN o f th e Cit y of Atl anta as f ollow s: SECTION 1. Purp ose a nd I nte nt. The purpos e of this ordinance is to est a blish protective r e eulat ions f or trees in the City of At lanta in order to better control prob lems of flooding , soil conservation, air pollution, and noise in the Ci ty of Atlanta and to make the City of Atlanta a more at t ractive, healthier a nd safer place in which to live. The intent of the ordinance is to encourage the protection of t ree s for which Atlanta is nationally recognized and which the City stands to loose unless p~ot e ctive measure s are taken. The intent is not punitive; or to cause hardship to any individual, government a l ag ency, private or public company who use every care and diligence to protect trees within the City of Atlanta; nor is it meant to inflate the cost of development over a reasonable value of the trees involved. SECTION 2. Tree: Definit i ons. Any woody plant except Dogwood that has a single trunk with a caliper of five inches or more a t six inches above the ground. A Dogwood with a caliper of two inches or more six inches above the ground is define d as a tree. St reet: Any officially recognized public right-of-way in the City o f At lanta. Build ab le Arc a : That part of any lo t exclusive of t he fro nt, s ide and re a r yards as establishe d by the Zoning brdinance. Park: Any.publicly owned land set aside for park and re cre a tio n purpos es. Pub lic Plac e s: All lands located in th e City of A ia nta which a r e owned by the City of Atlanta or any public corpor ation or authorit y created by Georgi a l aw benef iting re s idents of the City of A lanta . Tree Protective Zone: That portion of any l ot covered by the fr ont , s i de a nd rea r yard re qui rement~ as est ablish ed by t he Ci y of Atlanta Zoning Ordinanc e . �. General Manager : The Genernl Ma nager of the De partmen t of Parks and Re creation or his a uthor ized re pre s e ntative. Annua l Tree Permit: That written consen t given by the City Arborist to a pers on, public or priva te firm or age ncy to prune , treat or remove any tree in the City of At l anta . SECTION 3 . Ci ty Arborist . Th~ position o f City Arb orist shall be cre ated within the Department of Parks and Re creat ion. The City Arb o rist, as the a gent of the De partment o f Parks and Re creat ion, shal l dire c t , regul ate, a nd control the ca re o f and necessary removal of all trees growing now o r hereafter in the City of At l a nta . SECTION 4. Of fi c ial Tre e of At l a nt a . The Dogwood (C ornus florida) s ha ll be the off icial tree of Atlant a. SECTION 5. Tree Planting and Ma inte nance Reg ul ations . The Gene ral Manager sha ll prepare Tree Planting and Ma intenance Reg ul at ions subject to the approval o f the Mayor and Board of Al dermen af ter a publi c hearing with reasonable no ti c e of t he hea ring to those affected, t o impl ement this ordin.a nc e . SECTION 6 . Tre e Prot ect ion Prior to Developmen t. To prevent the unn ecessary dest ruction of tree s on land where a building permit or subdivision app roval has not been issu ed, the destruction, withi n a ny f ive - year period, of more t han 25 per cent of t he trees on any one pa rcel of re~l property within the City, without prior approval of the City Arborist, shall be prohibited . SECTION 7. Tr ee Prote c tive Zone . The Tree Protective Zone sha ll corres po nd with that port i on of t h e lot covere d by t he front, side a nd rea r ya rd requi re ment s as establish ed by t he Zoning Ordinanc e . To prevent the unne c es s ary destruc t ion of tree s duri n~ develop ment o r r ed eve lopment of any trac t or lot with in t he City of At l a nt , t r ee s sha ll not be cu t , otherwise damaged or dest ro ye d within the Tr ee Prote ctive Zo ne excep t in a c co rdanc e with the Tree Pl a nting a nd Ma in tenance R gulations a nd th e provisions of this ordinanc e . -2- �SECTION 8 . Submissi on of Si t e Pl ans for Dev e lop me nt to City Arborist . A site plan for th e develo pme nt ·or improvement of any tract of land located in the City o f At l anta shal l be submitted to the City a long with the appli cati on f or a bu ild ing permit . No building permi t shal l be issued until the site plan has been r evi ewed an d approved, i n writing , by the City Arborist and a p ermit as provided in Sectio n 10 has been issued. Such plans shall be rev iewed and either app roved or denied and a permit as provid ed in Se ctio n 10 is s ued or denied within fourteen (14) day s of submitt al. Otherw ise s uch plans shall be considered a pprove d and such permit consi de red issued by the City Arborist. In the event such plans are denied the reasons therefore shall be reported, in writing, to the applicant. The site pla n shall show, in addition to t he usual requirements the following information. A. All existing trees within the Tree Protective Zone which are at least 5 inch caliper at 6 inch es above the ground and all Dogwood trees wh ich are at l east 2 inch caliper at 6 inches above the ground. 'B. Trees to be removed and trees to be maintained. C. Specifications for the removal of existing trees and protection of existing t r ees during construction. D. Grad e change s or other wo rk adjacent to a tree wh ich would af fect i t adv ersely with specifica t ions on how the grade, drainage a nd aerati on will be ma intai ned around the tree •. The fun c tion of the City Arborist in the review of s it e pl ans will be t o ass ur e that trees are retai ned in l awn or paved are a s within the Tree Protect ive ~o ne without making demands on the owner whi c would deny him the reasonable use of his l a nd. SECTION 9. Tree Prote ctio n During Deve lop ment . During any building, reno vating or razing .operat io ns, t he builder shall ere c t ' sui tab l e protecti ve barriers around al l trees spe ci f i ed to be ma in tained a nd sha ll not allow st o rage of e quip ment, m3terials, debris ... or fill to be pla c ed in thi s area exc ept a s may be necess ary f or a re~s onab l e time if no o ther storage spa c e is availab l e . SE CTION 10. A. Permits . No ne of t he following ac ts to any tree within the Tree Protective Zone or on publi c property shal l b e committ ed wi thout t1 e proper pe rmit of the City Arborist , exc ept as provi ded in Sectio n 11 . -3- �B. 1. CuttinB, prunin g , damag i ng, removing o r kil ling a tree by any means . 2. Pnving with c oncrete, nsph alt or other impe rvi ou s mat e rial withi n 5 fee t of th e ou ts i de diamete r of tree . A wr i tten appli c ati on f or a permit i s req uired for a ny wo rk on or affe c ting trees as l i sted in Se ction A above. 1. Such app licati on for a permit must be made to t he City Arboris t in advance o f the time the work is to be done. 2. The City Arb ori s t shall specify the work t o be done, accordi ng to the Tree Planting and Ma i nt enanc e :!:{eg ulations, and may ins pe c t t he work in pro gres s and mak~ a final inspection upon the complet ion of th e work if ne ce ssary . SECTION 11. A. Permits - Excrnpi:i o o.s. Publi c u t ili t y companies , governme nt a l agen ci es and p rivate compan i es emp loyi ng tree experts sh a l l be exempte d from th e provis io ns o f thi s ordinance, provided , however, that such compani e s or agencies sh al l obtain fr om the City Arborist an An nual Permit. Such permit shall certi fy t he familiarity of such companies or a ge nties and their agreeme nt to comply with the Tree Pl anting and I'~ intenanc e Regulations follo wi ng t heir issuanc e a nd approval. B. The owners of pro perty of t he i r authorized representatives in areas zoned R-1 thr ou gh R-7 will not be s ubject to obt a ini ne permi ts for worl to be pe rfon~d on trees locat ed on such property under the provi s ions of Se ctio n 8 and 10, exce pt wh ere more than two a djacent lots are b eing deve lo ped at one time. SECTION 12. Bui lding I'-::oving Permit s . The Ci ty Arb ori st, along with any other affe cted ci ty de pa rtment, s ha ll re vi ew and approv e all a pp lications for building movi ng permit s be fo re the City wil l g r a nt said permit . SECTION 13. Tran sr,1::_i: t::ibl e Diseases . The City sh a ll h nv e ti1c a ut hori t y to re c1uire that riro pe rt y owner s tr e at , or rc~ui r e pro? ert y owners to have trea t ed any trees or s tor ed port ions of trees cont a ining tre e killing ins e c ts or ve c tors o f tr ee disea ses . If the City i\:rbori st dete r mine s t he d isease wa 1.-ra nts i m,ned i ate <l c-i:io . t o curb it s spread to he a lthy trees , the City ma y cut or destroy s a id Lrces or stored portions thereo f us i ng the mi nioum a c tion requir e d to pre ve , t the -L+- �sp read of di s c ~s e . SECTION 14 . Tree s Inte rfc r :;.n3 ,.J:i.th Use of St r ee t s . The Ci t y Arboris t s hall have the a uthor i ty a t any time t o remove any t r ee or parts the r eof, gr owi ng on publ i c or pr iva t e property wh i ch i nte rfere s wi t h or endange r s t he use of a s t r eet or other publ ic p l a ce i n t he Ci t y of At l a nt a . Th e owne r , where practic ab l e , s h a ll b e no ti f i ed in writing by c ertified mail of t h e existe nce of the condi t i o n i nter f eri ng with or endangeri ng the us e o f a s tree t o r othe r public pla c e i n t h e City and given a reas onab le time for its corre cti on or removal. If not c orre c ted or remove d wi th i n the time a llo t t ed , t he Ci t y Arborist s ha ll c ause the c ondition t o b e corre c t ed or removed . SECTION 15. Eme r ge ncie s. In c a se of emergenci es such a s wi ndstorms, i c e storms or ot her disas te rs , the re qu ireme nt of Se c t i on 10 may b e wa ived by t he Ge nera l Hanage r during the eme.rgency pe riod s o tha t the requireme nts of th i s ord ina nce would in no way hampe r pri va t e or publi c wo:dc to res t ore orde r i n t he Ci t y. SECTION 16. Enf orci ng Author i t y. The Dep~r tme nt of Parks and Recreatio n s ha ll be c ha r ged with the enforc ement of t h i s ordinance . SECTION 17. Viol a t i o n and Pe na lty . Any pe rson v iolat i ng or fa i ling to comply tJi t h a ny o f t he provi s i ons o f th i s ordinanc e, upon convict ion the reof, sha ll be fi ned a sum not exceedi ng $500. 00, or may be i mprisoned f or a te r m no t exc eedi ng 60 days, or both f or each offe nce . SECTION 18 . Appea ls . I n t he ev e nt any pers on i s dis s ~t i s fi ed wi th a de ci sion of t he City Ar borist adve r s e ly affe c t i ng s uch pers on inv olving the app l ic at io n of th i s ordina nce , s uch pe r son may make a wri t te n reques t to the Ch air~an o f t he Pa rks Com.rnitte e of t he Board of . l de;:-me n, whi ch Commi t tee , t oge t he r ,vi t h the Bui ldi ng Of fi ci al , s ha ll he ar a ny compla int s of s uch p er s on . Af t e r a f u ll a nd compl e t e he ari ng of t he c ompla i nts of s uch pe r s on , t h e app eal boa rd consist i ng of the ab ov e -named pa rt i es sha l l r e nder i t s wri t t en opi ni on a ffi rming , overruling or modifyi ng t he dec is ion of the City Aroor i s t as may be fi t a nd p roper under t he exi st i ng c ircums t anc es . - 5- �SECT!ON 19. Fines . Mo ney coll e c ted fr om fines shall be deposit ed in the City's General Fund . SECTION .20 . Q.ther .Ordinanc es Repea l ed . Any a nd a l l ordina nces and parts .o f ordinance s i n co nf lict herewith are hereby rep ea l ed . SECTION. 21. Lega lity of Ordinances or Par ts The r eof . Shou ld any sec t ion, claus e or pr ovi s ion of thi s ord inance be dec lared by the cou rt s to b ~ i nvalid , the same sha ll not affe c t the va lidity of any ot her provision of this ordinance . SECTION 22. This ordina nce shall become effective upon adoption by the Board of Aldermen _and approva l of · t he Mayor. -6- �