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Barberton committee backs drafting of ordinance to address dangerous trees on private property
Summary
The Public Welfare and Safety Committee accepted a law director request to draft additions to Barberton Codified Ordinances Chapter 670 to give the city authority to address hazardous trees on private property and in some cases remove limbs that fall into the street.
The Public Welfare and Safety Committee voted to call for legislation to amend Barberton Codified Ordinances Chapter 670, “Trees, weeds and grass,” to add new sections giving the city limited authority to address dangerous trees on private property and to allow for emergency action when limbs fall into the street. The request was presented from Law Director Lisa Kolish Miller and carried by Council Member Thompson.
The change aims to let the city address trees that are not in the right of way but are dead or diseased and causing repeated power outages or that lose limbs that fall into the public street. Law Director Lisa Kolish Miller said the ordinance would supplement existing authority that applies only to trees and shrubbery in the right of way and would mirror provisions used in other older Ohio communities, noting the draft was modeled in part after Shaker Heights and Cuyahoga Falls.
Council members asked for the exact proposed wording before the legislation goes forward; Councilman Heideck specifically requested a copy of the three new sections. Miller said the draft had been approved internally and promised to deliver the text “forthwith.” Thompson said representatives from Barber & Tree and an arborist will appear at the next committee meeting to speak on the proposal.
The committee moved the request forward by voice vote; the motion to call for legislation passed. No final ordinance text or enforcement procedures were adopted at the committee meeting, and committee members asked staff to provide the full proposed language and implementation details before a vote on adoption.
The action is a call for legislation only: it directs preparation of ordinance language and does not itself amend the code. Committee discussion made clear council members want the draft ordinance and an expert arborist’s input before taking final action.
