Springfield City Code Title IX, Chapter 99, Article III, Section 99.20 ('Trimming; nuisance') declares it a nuisance when limbs and foliage of trees on premises abutting a street, alley, or sidewalk are not trimmed at least 10 feet above a sidewalk and 15 feet above any street or alley. The abutting owner, occupant, or person in control must trim them, and the city may do the work and recover the cost if the owner fails to comply.
Springfield regulates private tree trimming through Title IX, Chapter 99, Article III of the City Code. Section 99.20 makes overhanging or obstructing tree growth a nuisance and places the trimming duty squarely on the abutting property owner; failure to trim can draw a health violation ticket under Chapter 95 of the Code. Under Section 99.21, where owners fail to comply after notice, the city traffic engineer causes the required trimming to be done at city expense and the city may recover that cost by suit. Trees in the public parkway (the strip between street and sidewalk) fall under the jurisdiction of the City Arborist, and the city's Arboricultural Specifications Manual (ASM), which implements the Urban Forestry Ordinance at Title IX, Chapter 102, requires a Tree Work Permit from the City Arborist before anyone prunes, removes, or otherwise works on a City-owned (parkway) tree. The ASM also prohibits topping and pollarding of City-owned trees except by written permission of the Arborist, and bars 'excessive pruning' (removing more than 25 percent of the crown or root system, or pruning that fails to conform to ANSI A-300 standards).
An owner who fails to trim after notice may be served a health violation ticket under Chapter 95. Under Section 99.21 the city may perform the trimming and recover the cost by suit. Violators are also liable to the city and to private persons for any injury or damage arising from the untrimmed vegetation.
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