Section 2. For the purpose of this Ordinance the following terms, phrases, words, and their derivations shall have the meaning given herein. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future, words in the plural include singular, and words in the singular include the plural. The word Shall is mandatory and not merely directory.

MUNICIPALITY is the City of Roswell, in the County of Chaves, and State of New Mexico.

PARKS shall include public parks owned by the City of Roswell.

PARKS DEPARTMENT shall have jurisdiction over trees and plant life in Parks and Public Places.

PERSON is any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company, or organization of any kind, including public utility companies and City employees.

PROPERTY LINE shall mean the outer edge of privately-owned land as it adjoins public property.

PROPERTY OWNER shall mean the person owning such property as shown on the records of the County Tax Accessors’s Office of Chaves County, State of New Mexico.

PUBLIC NUISANCE TREES are trees which shall be controlled by removal or by no new plantings.

PUBLIC PLACES shall include all streets, highways and grounds owned by the City of Roswell, or having jurisdiction thereof.

PUBLIC TREES shall include all shade and ornamental Trees now or hereafter growing on any Street or any Public Place.

STREET or HIGHWAY means the entire width of every public way or right-of-way when any part thereof is open to the use of public, as a matter of right, for purposes of vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

STREET TREES are located in that part of a Street or Highway usually used for vehicular traffic.

TREE is any tree, shrub, or other plant.

URBAN FORESTER or other qualified designated official of the Municipality assigned to carry out the enforcement of this Ordinance.

A. There shall be created a commission to be known and designated as Tree Advisory Commission (T.A.C.), composed of nine (9) citizens of Municipality of Roswell, a majority of whom shall be residents of the Municipality of Roswell or of Chaves County. Six (6) of said members shall be appointed by the Mayor with the approval of the Council. Three (3) members who shall be ex-officio member are; (1) Director of the Departments of Parks and Street Trees (Parks Director); (2) County Extension Agent; (3) Urban Forester. All members of the commission shall serve without pay. The six (6) members appointed by the Mayor, shall be appointed as follows: two (2) for two (2) years; two (2) for three (3) years; and two (2) for four (4) years, and shall serve until their successors are duly appointed and approved by the Council. Successors to those members appointed by the Mayor shall, thereafter be appointed for terms of four (4) years. Vacancies caused by death, resignation, or otherwise, shall be filled for the unexpired term by the Mayor.

B. The T.A.C. shall perform the following duties:

1. Within a reasonable time after the appointment of the T.A.C., upon call of the chairperson of the T.A.C., the T.A.C. shall meet and adopt rules and procedures for regular and special meetings to fulfill the duties imposed upon it by this ordinance.

2. The T.A.C. shall advise and consult with the Urban Forester on any matter pertaining to the Municipal Tree Ordinance. The topics under which this advice and consultation may be given may include, but are not limited to, the following:

a) amendments to the Municipal Tree Ordinance, and alterations or revisions to any plans and/or specifications developed by the Urban Forester.

b) policy concerning selection, planting, maintenance, and removal of trees, shrubs, and other plants on Public Places or Parks.

c) allocation of funds to the Urban Forester, and expenditures of funds by the Urban Forester of the Parks Department.

d) establishment of educational and informational programs.

e) development of policies and procedures regarding the Urban Forester’s duties.

3. The T.A.C. and the Parks Director, upon the request of any person who disagrees with the decision of the Urban Forester, shall hear all issues of the disputes which arise between the Urban Forester and any such person whenever those issues involve the matters of the interpretation or enforcement of the specifications manual, any urban forest plan, or of the interpretation or enforcement of this ordinance. The decision of a majority of the appointed members of the T.A.C. with regard to such dispute shall be referred to the Parks Director. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the jurisdiction of any Court of Law with respect to such disputes.

The Urban Forester shall be a person skilled and trained in the arts and sciences of municipal arboriculture, and shall hold a college degree or its equivalent in arboriculture, ornamental or landscape horticulture, urban forestry, or other closely related field. The Urban Forester shall have, at a minimum, three (3) years work related experience.

The Urban Forester shall have the authority to promulgate the rules, regulations, specifications and standards of practice governing the planting, maintenance, removal, fertilization, pruning, and bracing of trees on the Streets or other Public Places in the Municipality, and shall direct, regulate, and control the planting, maintenance, and removal of all Trees growing now or hereafter in any Park or Public Place of the Municipality. The Urban Forester shall cause the provision of this Ordinance to be enforced, or in his absence these duties shall be the responsibility of a qualified official, designated by the Parks Director.

A. The Urban Forester shall have the authority and jurisdiction of regulating the planting, maintenance, and removal of Trees on Streets, Parks or Public Places, to insure safety or preserve the aesthetics of such public sites.

B. Supervision. The Urban Forester shall have the authority and duty to supervise or inspect any tree work done on Streets, Parks, or Public Places.

C. Master Street Tree Plan. The Urban Forester, and other authorized persons shall have the authority to formulate a Master Street Tree Plan as advised by the T.A.C. The Master Street Tree Plan shall specify the species of the Trees to be planted on each of the Streets or other Public Places of the Municipality. The Urban Forester shall consider all existing and future utility and environmental factors when recommending specific species for each of the Streets and other Public Places of the Municipality. From and after the effective date of the Master Street Tree Plan, or any amendment thereof, all planting shall conform thereto, unless subsequently amended. The Urban Forester with the approval of the T.A.C., shall have the authority to amend or add to the Master Street Tree Plan.

A. Scope of Requirements: A Property Owner whose property line adjoins a Park or Public Place shall consult with the Urban Forester prior to any of the following:

1. Cultivate, treat, prune, remove, or otherwise disturb any Tree, located on Public Places.

2. Trim, prune, or remove any Tree or portions thereof if such tree or portions thereof reasonably may be expected to fall on any Public Place.

3. Locate on any Public Place, either above or below ground level, a container or Tree, or other plants.

4. Damage, cut, tap, carve, or transplant any Tree, shrub, or other plant located on any Public Place.

5. Attach any wire, nail, sign, poster, or any other man made object to any Tree, or other plant located on any Public Place.

6. Dig a tunnel or trench on any Public Place.

B. The Urban Forester shall consult and advise on the felling of any tree or part thereof located on private property which as a result of such felling may reasonably be expected to fall upon any Public Place, and if such felling is done by one other than the Property Owner on which the felling is done, then the adjacent Property Owner shall agree to indemnify and to hold the City of Roswell, harmless for all damages resulting from the work conducted. The Property Owner or such other person shall deposit with the City Clerk a Liability Insurance Policy in the amount of $100,000 per person, $300,00 per accident for Bodily Injury Liability and $50,00 aggregate for Property Damage Liability, which shall name the City of Roswell as an additional insured.

Unless specifically authorized by the Urban Forester, no person shall intentionally damage, cut, carve, transplant, or remove any Public Tree; attach any wire, nails, advertising poster, or other contract to any Public Tree, allow any gaseous liquid, or solid substance which is harmful to such Public Trees to come in contact with them; excavate or construct any building, structure, or street work under the Tree canopy; or set fire or permit any fire to burn when such fire or the heat thereof will injure any portion of any Public Tree.

It shall be the duty of any person or persons owning or occupying real property bordering on any Street upon which property there may be Trees, to prune such Trees in such manner that they will not obstruct or shade the street lights, obstruct the passage of pedestrians on sidewalks, obstruct vision of traffic signs, or obstruct view of any Street or alley intersection. The minimum clearance of any overhanging portion thereof shall be ten (10) feet over sidewalks, twelve (12) feet over all Streets, and sixteen (16) feet over truck thoroughfares.

A. Notice to Prune or Remove. Should any Property Owner bordering on any street fail to prune or remove Trees as herein above provided, the Urban Forester shall order such person or persons, within ten (10) day after receipt of written notice, to so prune or remove such Trees.

B. Order Required. The order required herein shall be served by mailing a copy of the order to the last known address of the Property Owner, by certified mail.

C. Failure to Comply. When a person to whom an order is directed shall fail to comply within the specified time, it shall be lawful for the Municipality to prune, or have pruned such Trees, and the exact cost thereof may be assessed to the Property Owner as provided by law in the case of special assessments.

No person shall hinder, prevent, delay, or interfere with the Urban Forester or any of his assistants while engaged in carrying out the execution or enforcement of this Ordinance; provided, however, that nothing herein shall be construed as an attempt to prohibit the pursuit of any remedy, legal or equitable, in any court of competent jurisdiction for the protection of property rights by the owner of any property within the Municipality.

No person shall deposit, place, store, or maintain upon any Public Place of the Municipality, any stone, brick, sand, concrete, or other materials which may impede the free passage of water, air or fertilization to the roots of any Tree growing therein, except by written permit from the Urban Forester.

1. SALT CEDAR (Tamarix gallica)

a. These trees shall be removed from all Public Properties within the City of Roswell.

b. The Tree Advisory Task Force recommends that all Private Property Owners remove such Trees on their property.

2. TREE OF HEAVEN (Ailanthus spp.)

a. These trees and all their sprouts shall be removed from all Public Properties within the City of Roswell.

b. The Tree Advisory Task Force recommends that all Private Property Owners remove such Trees on their property.

3. MULBERRY (Morus rubra, alba, etc.)

No new plantings of the male (Fruitless Mulberry) will be allowed to be planted on Public or Private Properties within the City of Roswell.

Any person, tenant or property owner violating or failing to comply with any of the provisions of this Ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined a sum of no less than one dollar ($1.00), nor more than one hundred ($100.00) dollars.

Any person, firm or corporation doing business violating or failing to comply with any of the provisions of this Ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined a sum of no less than one dollar ($1.00), nor more than five hundred ($500.00) dollars, and may be imprisoned for a term not exceeding ten (10) days.

Should any section, clause, or provisions of this Ordinance be declared by the Courts to be invalid, the same shall not affect the validity of the Ordinance as a whole, or parts thereof, other than the part so declared to be invalid.

This Ordinance is hereby declared to be of immediate necessity for the preservation of public peace, health, and safety, and shall be in full force and effective from and after its passage and publication as provided by law.

PASSED, ADOPTED, SIGNED AND APPROVED on this 12th day of December 1996.