12.10.020 Maintenance and repair of adjacent trees and landscaping and duty to warn.
A. The property owner of a lot or portion of a lot adjacent to or fronting on any portion of a street shall maintain and replace, if necessary, any street trees, shrubs, hedges or other landscaping adjacent to or fronting on the subject property in such condition that the street trees, shrubs, hedges or other landscaping comply with this chapter. Each property owner shall plant and/or replace any removed or otherwise missing street trees in accordance with the requirements of subsection C of this section.
B. A property owner required by this section to plant, maintain, and replace, if necessary, trees, shrubs, hedges and other landscaping shall owe a duty to members of the public using streets to maintain such trees, shrubs, hedges or other landscaping in a safe and nonhazardous condition for users of the streets. For purposes of this section, maintenance of trees, shrubs, hedges and other landscaping includes, but is not limited to: watering, pruning, fertilizing, pest control, removal of branches, leaves, and other debris, weed abatement, and protection of the critical root zone.
C. A property owner required by this section to maintain any street trees, shrubs, hedges, or landscaping shall comply with the following:
1. Immediately notify the director of public works of any dangerous or hazardous conditions of the adjacent public right-of-way;
2. Provide the necessary maintenance so that the street tree, shrub, hedge or landscaping is not in a hazardous condition or in a condition that will likely become a hazardous condition;
3. Provide a minimum eight-foot vertical pedestrian clearance from the top of the sidewalk and a minimum fourteen-foot vertical vehicular clearance from the top of the street to any part of a tree;
4. Provide adequate clearance for unobstructed pedestrian and vehicular view of all authorized traffic signals, traffic cameras, street lights, regulatory signs, street name signs, and other similar type of equipment or signs;
5. All maintenance shall be completed in accordance with the Atherton Municipal Code, Heritage Tree Protection Guidelines and other applicable permit requirements and standards. (Ord. 662 § 4, 2023)