Question: Does the LFUCG have an ordinance that requires property owners to take care of street trees? If there is an ordinance, what is the fine for disobeying this law?

Answer: According to LFUCG Urban Forester Tim Queary, street trees that are located in the public right-of-way easement in Lexington are the responsibility of the abutting property to maintain, pursuant to Chapter 17B of the Code of Ordinances.

The urban forester and his designees (2 arborists) enforce the street tree ordinance in Lexington.

The Urban County Council recently approved a revision to the ordinance that allows the urban forester and his arborists to cite property owners for nuisance violations such as hazardous and/or dead street trees, tree limbs blocking road signs, tree limbs hanging too low over sidewalks and streets, planting unacceptable tree species, etc. Lexington has over 53,000 street trees in the Urban Services Area and each one will need some level of continued maintenance over the life of the tree.

If a problem is discovered, the city will send a property owner a notice and include a photo and date of the violation. If after ten days the problem still isn’t fixed, the city will issue a citation which starts out at $75. If a person corrects the problem within a reasonable amount of time, there’s a good chance they can get the fine waved.

Linda Niemi

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