No person or corporation shall cut, break, trim, remove, or in any way injure or deface
the tree, shrubs, plants, tree posts or tree guards, in or upon any of the public
highways of or within the city. Any person desiring to cut, break, trim or remove
any shade tree or plant in or on any public highway of the city, may apply to the
commissioner of streets, sidewalks and parks of said city for a written permit therefor,
and upon such permit being granted, may climb, cut, break, trim, or remove any tree
or trees mentioned in such permit in accordance with the terms thereof; provided that
when at any time hereafter, the limbs or branches of any trees grown on any land in
the city extend over or into any of the public highways or alleys of or in said city
and interfere with the free and uninterrupted use of such highways for any lawful
purpose, the commissioner of streets, sidewalks and parks may trim or detach, or cause
to be trimmed or detached from any such trees, such part of such limbs or branches
as extend into such highway. And if such limbs or branches extending are required
to be cut off or detached for any other purpose than for ordinary travel on the surface
of the highway, the expense of detaching or cutting off such projecting limbs or branches
shall be defrayed by the person, firm or corporation whose use of such highway shall
require the detaching or trimming of such limbs as project into the highway, and at
all times the detaching or trimming of such limbs or branches projecting into a highway
shall be done under the direction and supervision of the commissioner of streets,
sidewalks and parks, and no limbs or branches so protecting into a highway shall be
detached or trimmed by person without the written permission of the commissioner of
streets, sidewalks and parks. The commissioner of streets, sidewalks and parks shall
have power and authority to direct the owner, or authorized agent of such owner, of
property upon which any trees are located which trees or any of the limbs thereof
project into, over or upon a highway, to cut and trim such tree or trees under the
direction of such commissioner, and if such owner, or authorized agent of said property
does not comply with such direction of said commissioner within a reasonable time,
said commissioner shall proceed to cut and trim such tree or trees so projecting,
as aforesaid, in a proper and suitable manner.
