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“Arboriculture” refers to that part of horticulture which deals with the study and care of trees and other woody plants.

“City” means the incorporated City of Vancouver, Clark County, Washington.

“City Forester” means the City's Urban Forester, or designee.

“Director” means the city’s Director of Public Works, or designee.

“Dead” means no longer alive.

“Drip line” means that area on the ground below the tree in which the boundary is designated by the edge of the tree’s branches.

“Emergency” means an imminent threat to persons or property.

“Hazard tree” means any street tree, or part thereof, that the City Forester determines is subject to a high probability of failure, due to structural defect or disease, and which poses a potential threat to persons or property in the event of failure. Hazard trees are not in danger of imminent failure.

“Imminent” means that a street tree, or part thereof, could fail at any moment.

“Improper pruning” means maintenance practices that do not follow national arborist organization standards and which may result in preventing a street tree from achieving its mature size or full, environmental function. Improper pruning includes, but is not limited to, the removal of more than twenty-five percent of the foliage of any street tree; “topping,” the cutting back of a street tree to buds, stubs or laterals not large enough to assume the role of leader; and “lion tailing,” the pruning practice in which the limbs of a street tree are thinned from the inside of the crown to a clump of terminal foliage.

“Knowingly” means that a person knows or acts knowingly or with knowledge when he or she is aware of a fact, circumstance or result which is described by this chapter as being a violation, whether or not the person is aware that the fact, circumstance or result is a violation of this chapter.

“Maintenance” or “Maintain” means to plant, prune, trim, water, feed, protect or any other activity intended to help a street tree achieve its mature size and full, environmental function.

“Major pruning” means the pruning or cutting out of branches three inches in diameter or greater; root pruning; or cutting out of branches and limbs constituting greater than fifteen percent of the tree’s foliage bearing area and retaining the tree’s natural form.

“Minor pruning” means pruning or cutting out of water sprouts, suckers, twigs, or branches less than three inches in diameter; or cutting out of branches and limbs constituting less than fifteen percent of the tree’s foliage bearing area and retaining the tree’s natural form. Removal of dead wood, broken branches and stubs are also considered minor pruning.

“National arborist organization standards” means nationally recognized arborist association standards including those of the International Society of Arboriculture, Tree Care Industry Association and the American National Standards Institute.

“Permit holder” means that person who is issued a street tree work permit under this chapter.

“Person” includes any individual, business, firm, association, corporation, agency, or organization of any kind.

“Planting” means necessary steps taken during the installation of trees and shrubs within the right-of-way to ensure survival.

“Planting strip” means that area between the back of a street curb to the front of a sidewalk or the area in a raised median, used for street trees, grass and approved landscaping plants.

“Private tree” means a tree in which the trunk wholly resides on a property owner’s parcel outside of the right-of-way.

“Property owner” means a person, or agent thereof, who owns, leases or manages real property adjacent to or within the right-of-way.

“Removal” means the act of taking out or reducing a part of an entire tree or shrub so that the tree or shrub will not regain its mature size or function.

“Right-of-way” means property subject to public use for existing or future streets, curbs, planting strips, or sidewalks. Property subject to a right of way may be through an express, implied, or prescriptive easement granted to or controlled by the city or other public entity or may be owned by the city or other public entity in fee simple or other freehold interest.

“Sidewalk” means a facility made of concrete or other approved material for the conveyance of pedestrians adjacent to a street.

“Serious bodily injury” means bodily injury that creates a substantial risk of death or that causes the loss or impairment of the function of any body part or organ for a protracted period of time.

“Severely damaged” means a street tree that has been harmed by people or nature, including, but not limited to, storms, disease or insect infestation so that the street tree will not achieve its mature size or full, environmental function.

“Street” means a right-of-way which is the public’s principal means of access to abutting property, including avenue, place, way, drive, lane, boulevard, highway, road, and any other thoroughfare, but not including alley.

“Street tree” means a tree in which the trunk is wholly or partially located within the right-of-way. A “street tree” may also be the portions of a private tree residing in the right-of-way.

“Street Tree Manual” means a publication that contains the City Forester’s list of approved street tree species; standards of practice for the planting, pruning, removal and maintenance of street trees; and a program for developing and improving the street tree resources of the community.

“Topping” means cutting back a tree to buds, stubs or laterals not large enough to assume the role of leader.

“Tree” means any self-supporting perennial woody plant, generally single-stemmed, that matures at a height of at least twenty feet and is recognized by the city as a tree.

“Urban Forestry” means the cultivation and management of trees and related plants for their present and potential contribution to the physiological, sociological and economic well-being of urban society. Inherent in this function is a comprehensive program designed to educate the urban populace on the role of trees and related plants in the urban environment. In its broadest sense, urban forestry is one essential component of a multi-managerial system that includes watersheds within the City, wildlife habitats, outdoor recreation opportunities, landscape design, recycling of municipal vegetative wastes and tree care in general.

“Utility” means any business, organization or entity that legally uses the public right-of-way to deliver electrical, telephone, water, sewer, natural gas, and cable television services. “Utility” also means the actual commodity delivered or sold by the business, organization or entity. (Ord. M-3766 §1, 2006; Ord. M-667 §2, 1963)