ORDINANCE 442
AN ORDINANCE REPEALING AND REPLACING IN ITS ENTIREY CHAPTER XIII, ARTICLE 3 OF THE NORWICH, KANSAS MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO TREES AND SHRUBS
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF NORWICH, KINGMAN COUNTY, KANSAS:
SECTION 1: That Chapter XIII, Article 3 of the Norwich Municipal Code is hereby repealed and replaced in its entirety as follows:
“13-301 RIGHT TO REMOVE TREES ON PUBLIC PROPERTY OR PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAYS. (a) The City shall have the right to plant, trim, spray, preserve and remove trees, plants and shrubs or any part thereof within the lines of all streets, alleys, avenues, lanes, squares and public grounds as may be necessary to ensure safety or to preserve the symmetry and beauty of public ground;
(b) The owner of abutting property shall be responsible at his or her expense to prune, maintain and remove trees, plants and shrubs or any part thereof lying within the right-of-way of any street or alley; and
(c) The City may remove or cause or order to be removed any tree, plant and shrub or any part thereof situated within the right-of-way of streets, alleys or avenues which is in an unsafe condition or which by reason of its nature is injurious to public utilities or other public improvements or is infected with any injurious fungus, insect or other pest or constitutes a traffic hazard.
13-302. IMMEDIATE REMOVAL OF TREES AND PREVENTING SPREAD OF DISEASE. No tree, plants, tree materials or shrubs as mentioned herein which have been cut down, either by the property owner or by the city shall be permitted to remain on the premises, but shall immediately be treated, removed and burned or immediately burned upon the premises, if safe to do so, so as to prevent the spread of the tree disease.
13-303. RIGHT TO REMOVE TREES ON PRIVATE PROPERTY; DUTY OF OWNER TO PREVENT OBSTRUCTION OF VIEW. (a) The City shall have the right to cause the removal of any dead or diseased trees, plants and shrubs or any part thereof on private property within the city, when such trees, plants and shrubs or any part thereof constitute a hazard to life or property, or harbor insects or disease which constitute a potential threat to other trees within the city. The City shall have the right to trim any tree, plant and shrub or any part thereof on private property when it interferes with the proper spread of light along the street from a street light, interferes with visibility of any traffic control device or sign or constitutes a traffic hazard.
(b) Every property owner at his or her expense shall remove all dead, diseased, or dangerous trees, plants and shrubs or any part thereof or broken or decayed limbs which constitute a menace to the safety of the public.
(c) Every property owner of any tree, plant and shrub or any part thereof overhanging any street or right-of-way within the city shall prune at his or her own expense the branches so that such branches shall not obstruct the light from any street lamp or obstruct the view of any street intersection and so that there shall be a clear space of 8 feet above the surface of any sidewalk or driveway and there shall be a clear space of 12 feet over the curb and of 14 feet above the crown of any street or alley.
13-304. NOTICE; NOTICE SERVED; COSTS ON TAX ROLLS. (a) In the event of any failure of property owners to comply with any provision of Article 3 herein, the City will notify in writing said property owners of said failure and the means to cure said failure; said notice shall be by personal service or certified mail to the property owner’s last known address. Said cure shall be completed by the owners at their own expense within 60 days after the date of service of notice. Thereafter, if said failure is still not cured, the City shall proceed to have the designated tree, plant and shrub or any part thereof treated or removed and document the cost to the city clerk. In lieu of city employees performing any such work, the governing body may contract with any competent person, company or corporation for the performance of such work.
(b) In the event of failure of property owners to cure the failure as noted above, the city clerk shall, at the time of certifying other city taxes to the county clerk, certify the unpaid costs for treatment or removal performed under the authority of Article 3 cited herein, and the county clerk shall extend the same on the tax roll of the county against the lot or parcel of ground. The cost of such work shall be paid from the general fund or other proper fund of the City, and such fund shall be reimbursed when payments therefor are received or when such assessments are collected and received by the City.
13-305. INJURING TREES AND SHRUBS. No person shall willfully break, cut, take away, destroy, injure, mutilate, or attempt to willfully break, cut, take away, destroy, injure or mutilate any tree, shrub, vine, flower or landscaping standing, growing, or being upon the premises in the possession of another, or growing on any public ground, street, sidewalk, promenade or park in the city.
13-306. FIRE, HYDRANTS, PLANTING ADJACENT TO. No person shall plant or cause to be planted nor allow to grow upon property owned by him or her any shrubs, trees, or planting of any kind within 10 feet of any fire hydrant in the city, in order that every fire hydrant shall be in full view day or night, to fire apparatus approaching from any direction.
13-307 PENALTY. Any person violating any provisions of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined in a sum not to exceed $200, or be imprisoned not to exceed 30 days, or be both so fined and imprisoned.”
SECTION 2: That Chapter XIII, Article 3 of the Norwich Municipal Code, and all other ordinances, or portions thereof, in conflict herewith, are hereby repealed.
SECTION 3: This ordinance shall be published once in the official city newspaper and shall take effect on September 11, 2025.
PASSED AND APROVED BY THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF NORWICH, KINGMAN COUNTY, KANSAS, THIS 2ND DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 2025.
SEAL
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Mayor, Mitchell J. Hewitt
ATTEST:
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City Clerk,
Carol Poe
