A. “City” means the City of Belvedere.

B. “Complainant” means any owner of real property in the City of Belvedere who alleges that one or more trees, shrubs or hedges located on another property in the City of Belvedere are an unreasonable obstruction of his or her view or sunlight.

C. “Hedge” means any plant material, trees, stump growth or shrubbery planted or growing in a dense continuous line so as to form a thicket barrier, or living fence.

D. “Personal injury or property damages hazard” means trees and limbs of trees, which by reason of either their size or location, condition, root structure or natural tendencies, are liable to fall upon public streets or upon structures built upon adjacent private property; and any plant growth protruding into roadways and obstructing clear vision from automobiles driving along public or private streets and any growth creating a blind intersection.

E. “Shrubs” or “shrubbery” means a woody perennial plant smaller than a tree, usually having permanent stems branching from or near the ground.

F. “Stump growth” means a new growth from the remaining portion of the tree trunk, the main portion of which has been cut off.

G. “Tree” means a perennial plant having a permanent, woody, self-supporting main stem or trunk ordinarily growing to a considerable height, such as eucalyptus, cypress, pine, fir, oak and acacia.

H. “Tree owner” means any owner of real property in the City of Belvedere, upon whose land is located one or more trees, shrubs or hedges which a complainant alleges have become an unreasonable obstruction of the complainant’s view or sunlight.

I. “Unreasonable Obstruction” as used in this Chapter means an obstruction of a Preexisting View that impairs the economic value, use or comfortable enjoyment of a parcel of real property and is caused by the growth of trees, shrubs or hedges on another parcel of property, the adverse effect of which growth can be reduced or eliminated without material impairment of the economic value, privacy, use or comfortable enjoyment of the property on which it exists, or the aesthetic value of the community generally. The Preexisting View from or sunlight reaching a parcel shall not be assumed to be unreasonably obstructed simply because it is partially impeded. Maintenance of an Unreasonable Obstruction of a Preexisting View or sunlight constitutes a public nuisance.

J. “Preexisting View” is the view that existed at the time the property owner purchased their property. “Preexisting View” means a scene or vista which includes, but is not limited to, one or more of the following: Mt. Tamalpais, Belvedere, Tiburon, San Francisco Bay and/or its environs, the bridges, neighboring communities, and surrounding hills. The term “view” is not intended to mean an unobstructed panorama of all or any of the above.

K. “View” means a scene or vista which includes, but is not limited to, one or more of the following: Mt. Tamalpais, Belvedere, Tiburon, San Francisco Bay and/or its environs, the bridges, neighboring communities, and surrounding hills. The term “view” is not intended to mean an unobstructed panorama of all or any of the above. (Ord. 2016-11 §§ 3-4, 2016; Ord. 98-8 § 1, 1998.)