Maturing willow oaks rounded over, no cuts >4".
Big fines for bad tree cuts
Raleigh tells Leith to pay $57,000
Raleigh has fined Leith BMW on Capital Boulevard for improper pruning.
A tree service swept through the lots of Leith Auto Center on Capital Boulevard, chopping branches from 44 trees.
Those who did it call it pruning. City foresters consider it a hack job.
This week, the city fined the dealership $57,000. That's the largest fine for illegally pruning trees in the city. In fact, it's one of the heftiest fines levied by the city for any kind of violation.
And "there's a potential for this to happen to anybody," Andy Gilliam, a city forestry specialist, said of the fine.
At Leith's Honda, BMW and Mercedes-Benz dealerships, the tops of dozens of trees still look as if they've been shaved. Keith Elks, a representative of Leith, said the pruning happened last spring or summer.
The dealership is figuring out what to do next. The fine can be negotiated with the city attorney's office, which sometimes reduces fines depending on the circumstances.
"Our landscape company did this, and the pruning was just part of their regular maintenance," Elks said. "I don't know how to say it. It's just routine. Obviously they pruned more than allowed, and they didn't know and neither did we."
It is the latest violation of the city's pruning ordinance. And city officials promise they're going to be more vigilant in enforcing the law, which is about a dozen years old. The city has tripled its staff of forestry specialists, adding two new staffers last year.
The rules in Raleigh
The city's rules apply to trees required by the city's landscape ordinance -- typically trees planted by businesses in parking lots or along a street. It also could apply to trees in common areas in subdivisions. Most homeowners, unless they own more than two acres, don't have to comply with the rules on their property.
The ordinance's goal is twofold: to improve the aesthetic of the city and keep its trees healthy. It aims to protect the natural size and form of a tree. It limits how much of a tree's crown can be cut off and guides how trees can be pruned. Improper pruning can lead to diseased trees and dead ones.
City rules also require a permit and mandate the work must be done under the supervision of a certified arborist. Only a couple of dozen permits are issued each year, so city officials believe most pruning happens without permits.
Typically, chopping limbs larger than 3 inches in diameter to stubs is considered poor pruning.
Property owners usually get in trouble when they go with the cheapest bid from a tree service that might not be knowledgeable about how to properly prune a tree and what the ordinance allows, said Chris Crum, a city forestry specialist.
Others are just trying to cut away the trees to get more visibility for their business, Gilliam said. "Everybody says they weren't aware of it," he said. "The fact is, these are trees required by city zoning code, and they are regulated."
Problem trees are easy to spot. They're the ones with few limbs and chopped off branches.
The practice is sometimes called "hat racking," because badly pruned trees often end up looking like hat racks.
Some recent violators
In December, the city fined Ray Price Harley-Davidson for cutting off the tops of seven maples and eight Chinese Pistache trees. Trees were pruned to just below the wide orange stripe that rings the building. The dealership was fined $10,700, though the final penalty is still being determined.
A representative for the dealership refused to comment.
A Jiffy Lube on Atlantic Avenue, a World of Floors on Glenwood Avenue and a Comfort Inn on Capital Boulevard all are recent offenders. Messages left at the stores or their corporate offices were not returned.
Property owners aren't the only pruning abusers. In 2004, the city fined itself $9,400 for illegally pruning 11 trees on West Street.
The city doesn't keep the fines, however. The law requires that they be sent to Wake County schools.
In some cases, when more than half of the tree's crown is removed, business owners are required to plant new trees -- another expense on top of the fine. If they can't replant all the trees on the property, they must pay a fee to the city. That money goes toward NeighborWoods, the city's street tree-planting program.
Gilliam said property owners can avoid bad pruning by hiring a certified arborist and asking the city what is allowed.
"If you're unsure, call us and ask us what the regulations are," he said. "I've met with businesses and tree services who want to have their trees pruned and literally have been afraid to do it because they heard of these large fines."
Big fines for bad tree cuts
Raleigh tells Leith to pay $57,000
Raleigh has fined Leith BMW on Capital Boulevard for improper pruning.
A tree service swept through the lots of Leith Auto Center on Capital Boulevard, chopping branches from 44 trees.
Those who did it call it pruning. City foresters consider it a hack job.
This week, the city fined the dealership $57,000. That's the largest fine for illegally pruning trees in the city. In fact, it's one of the heftiest fines levied by the city for any kind of violation.
And "there's a potential for this to happen to anybody," Andy Gilliam, a city forestry specialist, said of the fine.
At Leith's Honda, BMW and Mercedes-Benz dealerships, the tops of dozens of trees still look as if they've been shaved. Keith Elks, a representative of Leith, said the pruning happened last spring or summer.
The dealership is figuring out what to do next. The fine can be negotiated with the city attorney's office, which sometimes reduces fines depending on the circumstances.
"Our landscape company did this, and the pruning was just part of their regular maintenance," Elks said. "I don't know how to say it. It's just routine. Obviously they pruned more than allowed, and they didn't know and neither did we."
It is the latest violation of the city's pruning ordinance. And city officials promise they're going to be more vigilant in enforcing the law, which is about a dozen years old. The city has tripled its staff of forestry specialists, adding two new staffers last year.
The rules in Raleigh
The city's rules apply to trees required by the city's landscape ordinance -- typically trees planted by businesses in parking lots or along a street. It also could apply to trees in common areas in subdivisions. Most homeowners, unless they own more than two acres, don't have to comply with the rules on their property.
The ordinance's goal is twofold: to improve the aesthetic of the city and keep its trees healthy. It aims to protect the natural size and form of a tree. It limits how much of a tree's crown can be cut off and guides how trees can be pruned. Improper pruning can lead to diseased trees and dead ones.
City rules also require a permit and mandate the work must be done under the supervision of a certified arborist. Only a couple of dozen permits are issued each year, so city officials believe most pruning happens without permits.
Typically, chopping limbs larger than 3 inches in diameter to stubs is considered poor pruning.
Property owners usually get in trouble when they go with the cheapest bid from a tree service that might not be knowledgeable about how to properly prune a tree and what the ordinance allows, said Chris Crum, a city forestry specialist.
Others are just trying to cut away the trees to get more visibility for their business, Gilliam said. "Everybody says they weren't aware of it," he said. "The fact is, these are trees required by city zoning code, and they are regulated."
Problem trees are easy to spot. They're the ones with few limbs and chopped off branches.
The practice is sometimes called "hat racking," because badly pruned trees often end up looking like hat racks.
Some recent violators
In December, the city fined Ray Price Harley-Davidson for cutting off the tops of seven maples and eight Chinese Pistache trees. Trees were pruned to just below the wide orange stripe that rings the building. The dealership was fined $10,700, though the final penalty is still being determined.
A representative for the dealership refused to comment.
A Jiffy Lube on Atlantic Avenue, a World of Floors on Glenwood Avenue and a Comfort Inn on Capital Boulevard all are recent offenders. Messages left at the stores or their corporate offices were not returned.
Property owners aren't the only pruning abusers. In 2004, the city fined itself $9,400 for illegally pruning 11 trees on West Street.
The city doesn't keep the fines, however. The law requires that they be sent to Wake County schools.
In some cases, when more than half of the tree's crown is removed, business owners are required to plant new trees -- another expense on top of the fine. If they can't replant all the trees on the property, they must pay a fee to the city. That money goes toward NeighborWoods, the city's street tree-planting program.
Gilliam said property owners can avoid bad pruning by hiring a certified arborist and asking the city what is allowed.
"If you're unsure, call us and ask us what the regulations are," he said. "I've met with businesses and tree services who want to have their trees pruned and literally have been afraid to do it because they heard of these large fines."
