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From the Police Chief Imagine if you will that while you are driving around town you come to an intersection, but cannot see due to trees and shrubs blocking your vision. You slowly creep out into the intersection, then WHAM, get hit in the side of your car by the other vehicle that was driving down the road. Not a good thing, right? Recently I worked with Public Works folks and checked all the streets and intersections in town, and I can tell you that we have a LOT of obstructions in the streets. We have had our first freeze, and information I’ve gotten from arborists is that this is the time to trim trees for the health of the tree. Cottonwood City Ordinance 12.12 requires trees that are over sidewalks to be trimmed to a height of seven and one half (7 ½) feet, over a street to be thirteen (13) feet, and to not encroach on public right of way nor create a hazard to traffic. The ordinance also states that to not trim the trees and shrubs could be an infraction with a $100 fine, and that the Public Works Department could trim the trees if it isn't done, and charge the owner for the cost of doing the work. What all that means is this. There are a lot of low hanging trees over sidewalks that folks have to duck and dive to get past. There are a lot of low hanging branches over streets that hit the top of pickups and trucks, and cause issues with the public works equipment. There are a lot of trees and shrubs in the middle of the block that have branches sticking out past the edge of the curb. And finally, there are some very dangerous intersections that driver’s cannot see clearly due to shrubs and low hanging branches. Folks, this needs to be fixed before there is a bad incident. I am asking, please, that you check your property and if you see trees or shrubs that are causing issues, trim them. Let's take care of this problem ourselves, and not need to involve the city crews. I am asking that we, as property owners, take care of our property. However, if that doesn’t happen, there will be letters sent out to the identified problem locations property owners, and by ordinance once a property owner receives the notice they have 5 days to remedy the problem, or the City Crews may end up trimming your trees, again, at the property owner's expense. On the 5 day deadline, I would add that if your specific tree is way above what you can personally do, and it will take over 5 days, notify City Hall so that at least they know it is an issue you are working on. I would really rather NOT have to do citations or have folks pay extra money that seems all too short nowadays, just to get trees trimmed and keep everyone safe.
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