A Green Lake resident asked us to help spread the word about a little-known city ordinance concerning street trees.
“So many people just hack away at street trees [in Green Lake],” the resident, who asked to remain anonymous, says. “Street trees are part of what makes some neighborhoods like Ravenna so appealing.”
Seattle City Ordinance #90047 requires that “all persons who prune and/or remove privately maintained trees within the public right-of-way area obtain a street use permit.”
A “privately maintained tree” is defined as “any tree found growing within the public right-of-way area that has not been planted or is being maintained by the City of Seattle.”
The City Arborist office issues the permit. There is a permit fee of $101.
Work must be done according to the Seattle Department of Transportation’s Tree Pruning Guidelines and all contracted work must be performed by a qualified tree service company.
According to Deborah Brown, Arboriculturist with the Seattle Department of Transportation, a pear tree on Densmore Ave N, pictured here, was improperly pruned without a permit in July of this year:
“The tree had poor structure to start with, and has now been topped, meaning all the branches were cut at about 10’ off the ground,” Deborah says. “As a result, it would likely grow back with poorly connected branches, making it more likely decay and fail. The best solution for this tree is to remove and replace it.”
“I contacted the man who [pruned the tree without a permit],” Deborah adds, “and let him know he is required to remove and replace the tree at his expense.”
For more information about Tree Pruning and Removal Permits, call the City Arborist office at (206) 684-TREE (8733).
Update, Thursday September 8:
Deborah Brown, SDOT Arboriculturist, provided us with a detailed explanation of the tree permitting process:
To encourage proper tree care and tree planting, SDOT Urban Forestry waives almost all fees for tree permits. When charged, the fee for a tree removal or pruning permit is $146. A permit is not required to prune branches under 3” in diameter, although it is required for any tree removal. Permit fees are always waived for planting, minor pruning, and removal without major equipment. When we receive a permit application, we inspect the tree or planting site to ensure that appropriate species are planted for the site and only trees in poor or hazardous condition are removed.
If a tree is pruned improperly or removed without a permit, a double permit fee may be charged. In the case of a removal without a permit, if the adjacent property owner plants a replacement tree, the double permit fee may be waived. Our goal is to increase urban forest canopy, not to charge punitive fees.
Fees are only required to use equipment in the right-of-way, such as a bucket truck, chipper, or crane, or to close a lane or street. Even these fees are waived if the tree company has an annual truck permit. Here is a list of tree companies with annual truck permits: http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/treecompanypermits.htm. The annual permit allows them to operate their equipment in the city right-of-way, close a non-arterial street for up to 8 hours, or to close a lane of an arterial for up to 2 hours, using approved traffic control methods. For major traffic diversions or work requiring longer closures, a traffic control plan is required, with fees varying based on the volume of the street, distance of street closure, and length of time for the work.
Homeowners are also required to keep these trees/bushes pruned to allow for an 8′ pedestrian clearance if it hangs over the sidewalk, even if it means having to pay the permit fees to do so. There’s nothing more annoying than having to walk in the street to dodge a low-hanging branch!
I live in this area and was SO SAD when the guy came over and started hacking this tree. He didn’t even have a work truck, and simply tried to tie the limbs to the top of his VW van. Not very professional. I wonder if they will have the same guy with the VW bus over to “remove and replace the tree”?
Fined if you don’t prune the trees on public property in front of your home and charged $101 for a permit to do so (perhaps $20/limb). Now isn’t that a pickle.
That’s precisely the sort of government the poor Prussians stuck themselves with. “Everything that is not mandatory is forbidden,” is how other Europeans described life in Northern Germany. G. K. Chesterton wrote of a friend who’d rather be in Munich than heaven but would also rather in in hell than (Prussian) Berlin. It was still that way in late 1978 when I visited the city.
That attitude breed an attitude of unthinking obedience that Hitler would later exploit, so it’s not something we should approve of in Seattle. It’s a bit like those fines against property owner/victims when the city is doing nothing to catch or punish the vandals themselves. Get too many laws, and the good laws aren’t enforced, just the bad one.
Trees on public land clearly belong to the City of Seattle. And if that’s their rationale for charging the trimming fee, it’s also an excellent rationale for assigning to the city the bother and expense of trimming the trees. And if a tree is trimmed badly, we can blame them. We don’t have to point fingers at one another.
Well, on the the use of planting strips for trees and gardens – we’ve seen some significant growth in the last over the last few years – see:
http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/stuse_docs.htm
specifically Urban Forestry, CAM 2300, 2304, and 2305. All good to know.
Great info — thanks @seattler0cks:disqus!
So you have to have a permit ($101!) to prune a tree. Do you have to have a permit to PLANT a tree on public property?
Yes, you do need a permit to plant a street tree, but there is no charge for the permit. Here’s some info, via this PDF from SDOT: http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/cams/cam2300.pdf”The City of Seattle encourages the planting of trees along
public streets. A property owner may plant a tree in a
planting strip if he or she first obtains a permit from the City
Arborist’s Office.
There is no charge for the permit, but the City Arborist must
approve the type of tree and the planting location. After
you receive the permit to plant, you will be responsible for
properly planting and maintaining the tree in perpetuity.
This includes watering during the drier seasons, mulching
and pruning.”-Amy
Whether there is a charge for tree pruning would appear to be based upon the circumstances. Under the third bullet of #3, here (the language on this page could be made more clear):
http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/treepruning.htm
this clause appears:
“The Arborist may decide to waive the permit fee if the work to prune or remove a tree does not require the use of any specialized equipment and does not require the services of a hired person(s)”
My guess is this clause refers to pruning performed with a saw or pruner – the typical small pruning job done in the vast majority of cases. Of course, as #1 states, the city must still must come out for an inspection, and I suspect in many, many cases neither the permit or inspection is ever done. And, I have to say, when you’re lopping off small branches in small quantities – maybe a two or three minute exercise – a permit might appear to many people to be just a little over the top, so to speak.
I used to live in Ann Arbor, Michigan. There, the city does it the easy way: trees planted between the sidewalk and the curb are managed by the City Forester, who takes care of pruning, etc. Much simpler.
Most trees in my neighborhood were planted in violation of the city guidelines (the no closer than 20 feet to a streetlight, utility pole or existing tree, i.e. that of your neighbors, is the clause that pretty much insures that you can only have one tree in your planting strip, or if your neighbor has two, you might not be able to plant any):
http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/treeplanting.htm
Trees must be planted to the following standards:3½ feet back from the face of the curb.5 feet from underground utility lines10 feet from power poles (15 feet recommended)7½ feet from driveways (10 feet recommended)20 feet from street lights or other existing trees.30 feet from street intersections.
Well, I’d hardly liken this to pre-war Germany…LOL!
The permit fee is in place to help ensure certified arborists are doing the “hacking”, so we don’t wind up with a city full of the tree pictured here!
Trees add a special ambience to a neighborhood and guess what? EVERYTHING requires maintenance…even asphalt!
We all have a responsibility for our environment, and it’s not all free. Just imagine the costs of not doing this?!
The city planted a tree that will eventually block our view of Mt Rainier. We offered to plant a smaller tree but were rebuffed by the chief of forestry. The city tree is watered with a semi truck that already has collided with a car. It takes two men to water the trees plus the cost of the truck. We are responsible to keep the branches clear of the sidewalk.My wife and I are third generations Seattlites our family’s have lived in the city for over a hindered years. The trees here in Ballard were cut down but the salmon runs continued to be goodfor years It’s the population in the Puget Sound area not the number of trees that is the problem. I don’t doubt that humans are at least part of the build up of co2 concentrations and that new trees will mitigate this problem. Having said that I believe that the city’s tree program is going to have a backlash from people like myself. You cannot force people to be “green”. I want all you green types to maintain you trees and cut them back from the sidewalk to keep us old folks from hitting our heads when we walk to the store. Don’t forget to get your permit and consult with the aborist before you do so. If you still don’t feel green enough we have five heavily wood acres and are willing to sell carbon credits if it makes you feel better. As a matter fact you don’t have to send the money to us just mail it to Bangladesh.