Can you imagine coming home from a vacation to find
your neighbor’s tree has fallen over?
Your fence is destroyed.
The tree landed on your roof.
On top of that, the City Code Enforcement gives you
a Notice of Violation for a “fallen tree”.
Well, Bill & Pam Holler have been living that horror.
In this situation the “neighbor’s tree” actually belongs to the City of San Antonio. And it is the City that has given Bill & Pam a “Notice of Violation”.
This is just one of the issues with this City property along Jones Maltsberger.
There are other trees that a leaning and threatening to push over other trees or utility poles. It is only a matter of time before another large limb or tree topples
Since 14 of our neighbors have homes that back-up to Jones Maltsberger, I decided to look into the City Code to understand the basis for such a Violation.
Unfortunately, I have more questions than answers. So in this Newsletter, I will lay out the questions that I am posing, When keep you updated in future Newsletters.
City Code Section 29-10: requires the “occupant, owner, or agent of every premises in the city to keep all trees and shrubs on his premises well trimmed . . . “
Section 29-11: refers to “abutting owners” as “any property owner, or person, firm or corporation making special use of any sidewalk, curb, parkway, or driveway for purposes of ingress and/or regress . . .”
SAPMC Section 104.1: The code official has the authority to “render interpretations of this code and to adopt policies and procedures…”. “Such interpretations . . . shall be published.”
Questions
- Why is the City (owner of the trees) not required to remove weakened and damaged trees?
- Why is the homeowner required to pay to repair the damaged caused by the City’s tree?
- Why is the homeowner required to pay for removal of the downed-tree debris?
- Because of the fence, property owners do not have access to the Jones Maltsberger sidewalk area for use or ingress and/or regress, why are they considered abutting property owners?
- If a City Code Official has answered these questions before, where are those interpretations published?