CITY FORESTER

Denver Revised Municipal Code ch. 57, art. II

in effect

Denver Revised Municipal Code § 57-16 Employment of city forester.

Sec. 57-16. - Employment of city forester. The manager of parks and recreation, for the purpose of promoting the health, safety, welfare, and quality of life of the residents of the city through the development of a sustainable community forest and, specifically, the preservation of trees, and the establishment of standards for removal, maintenance, and planting of trees, shall employ a person to be known as the city forester, whose powers and duties are specified in this article. The city forester may promulgate such rules and regulations as the city forester deems necessary to carry out the purposes of this article. (Ord. No. 121-02, § 1, 2-19-02; Ord. No. 1017-17, § 1, 10-16-2017)

Denver Revised Municipal Code § 57-17 Definitions.

Sec. 57-17. - Definitions. Words and phrases used in this article shall have the following meaning ascribed to them: Established tree shall mean any live, self-supporting woody perennial plant which has a trunk diameter of six (6) inches or more measured at a point four and one half (4½) feet above ground level and which normally obtains a height of at least ten (10) feet at maturity, usually with one (1) main stem or trunk and many branches. Maintenance shall mean any and all work performed on a trees including, but not limited to, planting, watering, pruning, removing, stump grinding, treating for insects or diseases, protecting and enhancing soils, and preserving and protecting during construction. Private property means all land and improvements, including fixtures and appurtenances, located within the property lines of a property. Property owner shall mean any person or entity having a legal or equitable interest in real property and its fixtures and appurtenances, including the interests of a tenant or lessee. Public place shall mean and include all real property owned by, leased to, or under the control of the City and County of Denver, specifically including all public right-of-way. Public right-of-way shall mean the entire area between the curb, or street where no curb exists, and the property line of a property, and between the centerline of the alley and the property line of a property. Responsible party shall mean the property owner or an entity or person who, acting as an agent for or in any other legal capacity on behalf of the owner, has authority over property subject to this article or is responsible for the maintenance or management of said property. Tree shall mean any perennial woody plant, usually, but not necessarily, single stem and long-lived, with a height greater than overall spread. (Ord. No. 121-02, § 1, 2-19-02; Ord. No. 1017-17, § 1, 10-16-2017)

Denver Revised Municipal Code § 57-18 Responsibility for maintenance of trees on public right-of-way or other public place.

Sec. 57-18. - Responsibility for maintenance of trees on public right-of-way or other public place. (a) The manager of parks and recreation shall have the responsibility, through the city forester, to either maintain or order the maintenance of trees on the public right-of-way, and other public places. (b) The responsible party of property abutting the public right-of-way shall have the duty to maintain trees on the abutting portion of the public right-of-way. (Ord. No. 121-02, § 1, 2-19-02)

Denver Revised Municipal Code § 57-19 Planting, maintaining, replacing, and removing of trees on public property.

Sec. 57-19. - Planting, maintaining, replacing, and removing of trees on public property. Through the development and permitting process, the city forester may require the planting of trees on the public right-of-way or other public places in the city. The city forester shall establish rules and regulations for the planting, replacing, and maintaining of trees on any public right-of-way or other public place in the city and it shall be unlawful for any person to plant trees upon any public right-of-way or other public place in the city except as prescribed in such rules and regulations. The rules and regulations shall contain: (1) Planting and spacing requirements for trees; (2) The types of trees which are prohibited from being planted; (3) Tree diversity standards; (4) Tree preservation specifications; (5) Requirements for maintenance, replacement, and removal of trees; and (6) Development and plan review fees to be charged by the city forester for review of developments on more than ten thousand (10,000) square feet of land area, developments required to have a site development plan review under the Denver Zoning Code, or other recurring plan reviews. (Ord. No. 121-02, § 1, 2-19-02; Ord. No. 325-08, § 1, 6-23-08; Ord. No. 1017-17, § 1, 10-16-2017)

Denver Revised Municipal Code § 57-20 Permit required.

Sec. 57-20. - Permit required. (a) It shall be unlawful to plant trees on, perform trunk injections of pesticides into trees on, or remove trees from, the public right-of-way or other public place without a permit issued by the city forester. (b) The city forester shall require mitigation, which may include compensation for the lost monetary value of the tree to the satisfaction of the city forester as determined through arboriculture industry standard tree and landscape appraisal methods, as a condition of permit approval for the removal of trees located on the public right-of-way or other public place except when the city forester has determined one of the following applies: (1) The tree is dead or in poor health; (2) The tree is structurally unsound or dangerous; (3) The tree is infested with any destructive or communicable disease, or other pestilence which may be detrimental to or endanger the good health and well being of trees in the city; (4) The tree is of an undesirable or nuisance species; or (5) The tree has been or must be impacted beyond repair by an unavoidable event such as, but not limited to, emergency utility work not within the control of the applicable responsible party. (c) It shall be unlawful to injure, damage, or remove established trees during the course of residential demolition or construction without a permit issued by the city forester as provided in section 57-25 for the following areas: (1) In the front setback of a zone lot in an R-0, R-1, R-2, or R-2-B zone district under former chapter 59 during the course of residential demolition or construction; (2) In the primary or side street setback of a zone lot containing a single unit dwelling, a two-unit dwelling or a multiple-unit dwelling on any zone lot in a residential zone district under the Denver Zoning Code during the course of residential demolition or construction; (d) The city forester may, by rules and regulations, establish fees for the review and monitoring required by this section 57-20. (Ord. No. 121-02, § 1, 2-19-02; Ord. No. 1024-02, § 3, 12-16-02; Ord. No. 325-08, § 2, 6-23-08; Ord. No. 1017-17, § 1, 10-16-2017)

Denver Revised Municipal Code § 57-21 Removal of dead or dangerous trees, limbs or shrubs.

Sec. 57-21. - Removal of dead or dangerous trees, limbs or shrubs. The responsible party of any property shall remove any dead, dying or structurally unsound trees, limbs or shrubs from the premises of that responsible party or the public right-of-way abutting said property, when said dead, dying or structurally unsound trees or limbs are dangerous to life, limb, or property. When a dead, dying or structurally unsound tree, limb or shrub has the potential to affect adjacent property, and is dangerous to life, limb or property, the responsible party shall remove such tree or limb so as to avoid injury or damage to or on the adjacent property. The responsible party, shall remove any live, dead or dying tree, limb or shrub that is blocking a sight triangle or traffic sign causing a potential traffic hazard. The city forester may order the responsible party to remove any such tree, limb or shrub. (Ord. No. 121-02, § 1, 2-19-02; Ord. No. 1017-17, § 1, 10-16-2017)

Denver Revised Municipal Code § 57-22 Infected or infested trees.

Sec. 57-22. - Infected or infested trees. (a) The city forester may inspect any tree or tree part, including logs or branches existing or growing upon any property within the city. The city forester shall conduct surveys to determine if any destructive or communicable disease, or other pestilence exists which may be detrimental to or endanger the good health and well being of trees in the city. (b) Upon discovery of any destructive or communicable disease, breeding place of the disease, or pestilence that endangers the good health and well being of trees, or is capable of causing an epidemic spread of communicable disease or insect infestation, the city forester shall at once notify in writing the responsible party, of the condition thereof and order such responsible party to eradicate, remove, or otherwise control such condition within a specified time. (Ord. No. 121-02, § 1, 2-19-02)

Denver Revised Municipal Code § 57-23 Obstruction of public property.

Sec. 57-23. - Obstruction of public property. (a) The responsible party of any property shall maintain and care for the trees upon said property and upon the public right-of-way abutting said property so that the trees do not interfere with, obstruct, or obscure signs or public safety signals that in any way endanger the safe public use of streets, alleys, sidewalks, or other public places. (b) Stumps are not permitted on the public right-of-way or other public place and must be removed to at least twelve (12) inches below original grade. (c) The responsible party shall maintain all trees to provide for clear and safe use of the public right-of-way in accordance with applicable department of transportation and infrastructure rules and regulations. (d) When the city forester determines that a tree is in such a condition that it interferes with, obstructs, obscures signs or public safety signals, or in any way endangers the safe public use of streets, alleys, sidewalks, or other public places, the city forester shall issue an order directing the responsible party to prune, remove, or otherwise take such action as is necessary to eliminate the interference, obstruction, or dangerous condition of the tree. (e) In the case of an emergency, the city forester immediately may cause the necessary remedial action to prune, remove, or otherwise take any action necessary to eliminate the interference, obstruction, or dangerous condition. (Ord. No. 121-02, § 1, 2-19-02; Ord. No. 1017-17, § 1, 10-16-2017; Ord. No. 39-20, § 264, 2-3-20)

Denver Revised Municipal Code § 57-24 Injuring, damaging or removing trees on public property.

Sec. 57-24. - Injuring, damaging or removing trees on public property. It shall be unlawful to injure, damage, destroy, or remove any tree situated upon the public right-of-way, or other public place within the city. (1) Any person who shall injure, damage (including by excessive pruning or topping), or destroy (including by failure to maintain) any tree situated upon the public right-of-way or other public place shall promptly notify the city forester of such occurrence and shall, within such reasonable time as specified by the city forester in an order, repair said damage to the satisfaction of the city forester. (2) If the city forester deems the tree to be beyond repair, or if the tree has been removed without a permit, the responsible party, shall compensate the City of Denver for the lost monetary value of the tree to the satisfaction of the city forester. Tree values shall be determined through arboricultural industry standard tree and landscape appraisal methods. Compensation may include tree replacement. (3) If any person causes removal of any tree upon the public right-of-way, or other public place, after being denied a permit to do so, the city forester shall cause a penalty of up to treble damages of the appraised value of said tree to be assessed against the responsible party. (Ord. No. 121-02, § 1, 2-19-02; Ord. No. 1017-17, § 1, 10-16-2017)

Denver Revised Municipal Code § 57-25 Injuring, damaging or removing established trees on certain residential properties.

Sec. 57-25. - Injuring, damaging or removing established trees on certain residential properties. (a) As provided in section 57-20(c), certain established trees shall not be removed during the course of residential demolition or construction unless the responsible party obtains a permit for removal of the tree from the city forester. The city forester shall issue such a permit only upon a finding that: (1) The tree is irreparably damaged, diseased, dying or dead; (2) The tree poses a threat to public health and safety; (3) The tree is of a type the city forester has determined by regulation to be undesirable or a nuisance species; or (4) The responsible party demonstrates to the city forester that preservation of the tree would leave the subject property with no access areas to the property greater than fifteen (15) feet in height and greater than fifteen (15) feet in width or would prevent the responsible party from developing the subject property in a manner otherwise permitted by applicable city laws and regulations. (b) If a responsible party to whom the requirements of section 57-20 applies injures, destroys or removes an established tree without obtaining a permit as required by this section, the city forester may order and enforce remediation of the violation as provided in sections 57-27 and 57-28, which order may include a requirement that the responsible party replace any destroyed or removed tree, or pay mitigation for the full appraised value of the tree as determined by the city forester using arboricultural industry standard tree and landscape appraisal methods. (c) In order to protect an established tree from damage or destruction and to enhance the tree's chance of survival after construction activities on the property are completed, a responsible party shall take and maintain throughout the course of demolition or construction the following measures: (1) Erect and maintain temporary fencing surrounding the area beneath the tree in order to mitigate the chance of impact injuries to the tree during demolition or construction; (2) Refrain from operating construction equipment or storing construction materials beneath the canopy of the tree or engaging in other activities that would cause the undue compaction of the soil in the tree's root zone; (3) Refrain from any excavation beneath the canopy of the tree that would cause undue destruction of the tree's roots; and (4) Provide tree maintenance, including watering, to maintain tree health. (Ord. No. 121-02, § 1, 2-19-02; Ord. No. 1024-02, § 4, 12-16-02; Ord. No. 1017-17, § 1, 10-16-17; Ord. No. 122-19, § 1, 3-11-18)

Denver Revised Municipal Code § 57-26 Unauthorized use of trees on public property.

Sec. 57-26. - Unauthorized use of trees on public property. It shall be unlawful for any person other than those authorized in writing by the manager of parks and recreation, employees of the manager of parks and recreation, officers of the city, employees of a public utility, or a person licensed to perform work on trees or their employees to climb, and/or attach any lumber, fabric, wire, nails, bolts, cables, ropes or any other material foreign to the natural growth of a tree to any tree located within the public right-of-way, or other public place. (Ord. No. 121-02, § 1, 2-19-02)

Denver Revised Municipal Code § 57-27 Unlawful to disobey order.

Sec. 57-27. - Unlawful to disobey order. (a) It shall be unlawful for any person to fail or refuse to obey an order of the manager of parks and recreation or the city forester issued under this article within the time specified in the order. (b) If the responsible party to whom an order has been issued fails or refuses to take remedial action, which may include compensation, in accordance with and within the time specified in an order, the city forester may cause the remedial action so ordered to be performed at the expense of the responsible party. (c) Upon completion of the remedial action ordered to be performed, or completion of emergency remedial action taken without order, the city forester shall mail a notice of the final cost of such to the responsible party. (d) Any person subject to an order of the city forester may appeal the order to the manager of parks and recreation within fifteen (15) days of the order. Any appeal to the manner must be in writing. The manager of parks and recreation or the manager's designee, which may include a hearing officer, shall hear the appeal within thirty (30) days of the appeal. An appeal of the decision of the manager or his designee may be had in accordance with the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure. (e) The manager of parks and recreation or the manager's designee, may enter into an agreement with the owners, or responsible party, allowing the costs of remediation to be paid in payments over a period of time. If any person fails or refuses to abide by any such agreement, the manager of parks and recreation may file a lien as provided in section 57-28. (f) In addition to any other method of enforcement of this article, the city forester may, by rules and regulations, utilize administrative citations pursuant to article XVII (Administrative citations), chapter 2, Denver Revised Municipal Code, to enforce this article. (g) Whenever work is, or has been performed, that injures, damages, destroys, or removes any tree situated upon the public right-of-way or other public place within the city, or established trees in certain residential districts without a permit for their removal, the city forester may order any work stopped until authorized by the city forester to proceed. The responsible party, once notified of the order, shall not allow any further work upon the public right-of-way or other public place until so authorized. Any such order shall be by written notice served on the responsible party of the property abutting the public right-of-way or other public place upon which work was or is being performed or where the condition exists, or any person engaged in the work, causing the work to be performed or having a permit to perform the work. Service of any order may be made by personal service or by certified mail, return receipt requested, and service shall be deemed complete upon delivery. (Ord. No. 121-02, § 1, 2-19-02; Ord. No. 325-08, § 3, 6-23-08; Ord. No. 1017-17, § 1, 10-16-2017)

Denver Revised Municipal Code § 57-28 City's lien.

Sec. 57-28. - City's lien. If the responsible party fails to pay the costs of remediation or enter into an agreement as provided in 57-27(e) within thirty (30) days of the notice sent under Section 57-27, the costs of remediation shall constitute a lien against the real property where the remediation took place or, if the remediation was on public right-of-way, the abutting property. The department shall thereafter pay the cost and expense of the remediation from any appropriation made available for that purpose, and shall certify a statement of payment to the manager of revenue, who shall assess and charge the same against the property involved and collect the same, together with interest at the rate established by law for delinquent real estate property taxes. (1) The lien created hereby shall be superior and prior to other liens, regardless of date, except liens for general and specific taxes. (2) For the purpose of this article, cost of remediation shall include the administrative cost incurred therewith. (Ord. No. 121-02, § 1, 2-19-02; Ord. No. 1017-17, § 1, 10-16-2017; Ord. No. 122-19, § 2, 3-11-18)

Source: City and County of Denver, Revised Municipal Code and Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/co/denver/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TITIIREMUCO_CH57VE_ARTIICIFOFetched: 10/27/2026