The City of Inglewood contains many species of native and non-native trees of significant size and quality that contribute in a positive way to its environment. Trees that are properly maintained increase property values, maintain the natural ecology, temper the effects of extreme temperatures, reduce runoff, prevent erosion of topsoil, and help create and maintain the identity and visual character of the City. Trees can help to provide protection from flooding and risks of landslides. They also increase oxygen output, which helps to combat air pollution. This Article is intended to protect and preserve significant trees and control the re-shaping, removal or relocation of those trees that provide benefits for the neighborhood or the entire community while recognizing that there are rights to develop private property.

The City Council hereby finds that the wanton and wholesale destruction of trees could impair the scenic beauty of the area, cause erosion of top soil, create flood hazard and risk of landslides, reduce property values, and increase the cost of construction and maintenance of drainage systems through the increased flow and diversion of surface waters.

For these reasons the City Council finds it in the public interest, convenience and necessity to enact regulations as may be reasonably consistent with the economic enjoyment of private property which will control the cutting or trimming, relocation, or removal of trees within the City in order to ensure that such tree work is in conformance with the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) standards.

The Tree Preservation Ordinance is applicable to all types of existing industrial, commercial, residential-medical and multifamily development, and to new development, under-developed properties, or undeveloped properties. Maintenance and removal of street trees is managed by the City's Parks, Recreation and Library Services. On developed single-family properties, only those trees that were required to be planted as part of the Zoning Ordinance or were required to be planted or protected in place as a condition of approval for development are protected trees that require a permit for trimming or cutting, relocation or removal. Trees required to be planted on a single-family lot as part of the Zoning Ordinance include street trees or trees required to be planted in the front yard as street trees. Side yard trees on a corner lot outside of the fence are also protected trees under this Article. Trees within the rear yard area of single-family properties are exempt unless they were required to be planted or protected in place as part of the conditions of approval or discretionary action. Examples of non-exempt trees in rear yards may include trees planted such as a specimen tree that was in place prior to the homes being developed. Trees planted by a single-family homeowner for purposes other than as a condition of approval are exempt from all portions of this Article.

For the purposes of this Article, the following words shall have the meanings indicated in this Section:

The following trees, when located on properties to which this Article applies as set forth in Section 12-111, shall be protected trees:

Any person who owns, controls, or has custody of any real property within the City shall maintain all protected trees located thereon in a state of good health. This includes parcels designated as permanent open space or for recreational purposes. Failure to maintain said trees in a state of good health will constitute a violation of this Section.

Nothing in this Chapter shall be deemed to impose any liability for damages or a duty of care and maintenance upon the City or upon any of its officers or employees. The person in possession of any public property or the owner of any private property shall have a duty to keep protected trees upon the property and under their control in a safe and healthy condition.

No person shall remove, destroy, perform cutting of branches over one inch in diameter, or disfigure or cause to be removed or destroyed or disfigured any protected tree without having first obtained a permit to do so. All protected trees shall require a permit for removal, relocation, cutting or reshaping. All removed or disfigured trees shall also require replacement with like-size, like-kind trees or an equal value tree or trees as determined by the City's Master Plan or the Parks, Recreation and Library Services Department. If a replacement tree is unavailable in like size or kind, the value of the original protected tree shall be determined using the latest edition of "Guide for Plant Appraisal" by the International Society of Arboriculture. The valuation shall be used to determine the number and size of replacement trees required.

The replacement trees shall be located on site wherever possible. Where there is not sufficient room on site for the replacement trees in the judgment of the City's Parks, Recreation and Library Services Department, another site may be designated that is mutually agreeable. These replacement trees shall not be counted as part of the required trees to meet zoning standards for the original site.

Routine maintenance of protected trees shall not require a permit. However, no protected tree shall be severely pruned, topped, pollarded or otherwise pruned in a way that disfigures the natural form of the tree. This maintenance shall include only tree pruning practices that are approved by the International Society of Arboriculture or practices authorized by the City of Inglewood. Except in emergency situations where a branch is causing immediate danger to the public in the opinion of a certified arborist, major pruning or trimming of a protected tree, cutting of live branches over one inch in diameter, pollarding, removing of large branches obscuring a sign, or other large scale limb removal will require a permit prior to any work being performed.

A one-year pruning permit that is not site-specific may be issued under the following circumstances: (1) the applicant has a certified arborist on staff who is listed on the City's list of certified arborists; (2) the applicant has agreed in writing to perform work in accordance with City-approved International Society of Arboriculture standards; and (3) the applicant has submitted a written protocol describing the proposed activity. Utilities or their sub-contractor, whose work is performed or supervised by a certified arborist included on the most recently approved list of certified arborists maintained by the City, may receive a yearly permit for all protected trees to be trimmed but shall demonstrate to the City's satisfaction the use of International Society of Arboriculture best practices for all work. All other permits shall be site-specific. Tenants of any property shall have the express written consent of the owner prior to removing or cutting any protected trees on that property and prior to obtaining any required permits.

An application for a Protected Tree Removal or Cutting Permit shall be filed for all protected trees along with the inspection fee as specified in the Master Fee Schedule. The application shall be filed and approved prior to any tree removal, relocation, or cutting. Where protected tree removal, relocation, or encroachment into the protected zone of a tree is requested as part of the development of a lot or parcel, the application must be processed prior to the issuance of any grading, trenching, encroachment, demolition, or building permit for development. On receipt of a completed application, the City's Parks, Recreation and Library Services Director or designated representative shall inspect the premises and determine which protected trees may be removed or what reshaping or cutting may occur.

The following criteria will be used when evaluating Protected Tree Removal or cutting requests:

No person shall cut, move, or remove any protected tree in violation of the terms or conditions of any permit granted hereunder. Tree Removal or Cutting Permits shall include such conditions of approval as are appropriate to affect the purpose of this Article. Such conditions may include, but are not limited to, the following:

If personal injury or property damage is determined by the City's Parks, Recreation and Library Services Director, or designated representative to be imminent due to the hazardous or dangerous condition of a protected tree, or if the protected tree is an immediate impediment to the work of any public safety officers, a protected tree may be cut or removed without a permit. A protected tree that is removed under these conditions shall be replaced by a twenty-four inch box tree since the removal of a protected tree under emergency circumstances does not negate the conditions of approval or zoning requirements for a site.

Any affected party may appeal a permit decision made by the Parks, Recreation and Library Services Director, or designated representative, to the Parks and Recreation Commission in accordance with the appeals process detailed in Section 5-68 of the Inglewood Municipal Code. The Parks and Recreation Commission may approve, conditionally approve or disapprove the application based on the criteria listed in Section 12-118.

The decision of the Parks and Recreation Commission may be appealed to the City Council in accordance with the appeals process detailed in Section 5-68. The City Council may approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove the application based on the criteria listed in Section 12-118. In the event significant new evidence, which may include substantial changes in the application, is presented in conjunction with the appeal, the matter shall be returned to the Parks and Recreation Commission for further consideration and action. In the absence of significant new evidence, the action of the City Council shall be final and conclusive.

Should a protected tree be substantially re-shaped, topped, removed, damaged or destroyed without a permit, a fine equal to the value of the protected tree shall be charged in addition to the replacement of the protected tree with a like-kind, like-size tree. The value of the original protected tree shall be determined using the latest Edition of "Guide for Plant Appraisal" by the International Society of Arboriculture. If the size of the protected tree cannot be determined due to the unauthorized removal of a protected tree, the size shall be determined by measuring the stump that remains or may be determined by anecdotal evidence or interpolated from photographs or adjacent trees. A missing protected tree shall be assumed to have been in perfect health, unless the property owner can prove otherwise by photo or other verifiable evidence.

The Parks, Recreation and Library Services Department shall notify the property owner and alleged violator (if different than the property owner) of the violation and fine in writing. The notice shall include a description of the alleged violation and provide the owner ten business days to request an administrative hearing before the City's Parks, Recreation and Library Services Director, or designated representative. The notice shall also indicate that the decision of the Parks, Recreation and Library Services Department is final unless appealed to the Parks, Recreation and Library Services Director. The Parks, Recreation and Library Services Director shall consider all relevant evidence. All decisions of the Parks, Recreation and Library Services Director are final subject to provisions of Section 12-125.

Fines for violation of this Article are payable at the City's Finance Office. Fines must be paid within thirty business days. The City's Finance Department is authorized to collect all unpaid civil fines.

Violation of any provisions of this Article shall be chargeable as a misdemeanor as provided in Inglewood Municipal Code Section 1-18. In addition to the foregoing criminal penalty, violation of any provisions of this Article shall be the basis for injunctive relief.

Any unpaid costs or penalties imposed pursuant to this Article shall constitute a special assessment against the real property upon which a violation of this Article has occurred. All costs and/or fines shall be itemized in a written report of assessment. The Finance Director shall cause a copy of the report and assessment to be served on the owner of the property not less than five days prior to the time fixed for confirmation of the assessment. Service may be made by enclosing a copy of the report of assessment in a sealed envelope, postage prepaid, addressed to the owner at his or her last known address as the same appears on the last equalized assessment rolls of the County of Los Angeles and depositing the same in the United States mail. Service shall be deemed complete at the time of mailing.

A copy of the report of assessment shall be posted in the office of the City Clerk on the bulletin board designated for the posting of agendas, not less than three days prior to the time when the report shall be submitted to the City Council. The City Council shall hear the report, together with any objections by the property owner. After the assessment is made and confirmed by the City Council, it shall be a lien on said property.

Any permit issued shall be valid for a period of one year from issuance, or, if an appeal is taken, one year from the final decision.

A permit shall be subject to revocation if the conditions of the permit or the regulations set forth herein or incorporated herein are violated. Before taking any action to revoke the permit, the Parks, Recreation and Library Services Department shall give notice to the permittee in writing of the proposed revocation, the reasons therefor, and the time and place the permittee will be given an opportunity to show cause to the Parks, Recreation and Library Services Department why the permit should not be revoked. The written notice may be personally served upon the permittee or mailed to the permittee at the address shown on the application at least ten days prior to the hearing. Upon conclusion of the hearing, the Parks, Recreation and Library Services Department may revoke the permit upon a finding of noncompliance with the conditions of the permit or the regulations herein.

The Parks, Recreation and Library Services Department's decision to revoke the permit may be appealed as set forth in Section 12-121.

Any permittee who has had an annual, non-site specific permit revoked shall not be eligible for a new annual, non-site specific permit for a period of six months from the date of the final decision revoking the permit. During the six-month period, the permittee may apply for only individual, site-specific permits and must meet the requirements of Section 12-117.