§ 9-161. Definitions.

The following terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meaning ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning. Words used in the present tense shall include the future, and the singular number includes the plural, and the plural, the singular.

(a)

Applicant shall mean and include all sole proprietors, business organizations, and governmental agencies which apply for or request licensure from the County.

(b)

Business organization shall mean and include any partnership, corporation, business trust, joint venture, or other legal entity which engages or offers to engage in the business of contracting to perform tree trimming services or acts as a tree trimming contractor.

(c)

Contractor shall mean and refer to any person who undertakes to, or submits a bid to, perform tree trimming on the property of another person within Broward County.

(d)

Division shall mean and refer to the Broward County Permitting, Licensing and Consumer Protection Division, its successor agency or designee.

(e)

Governmental agency shall mean the state of Florida, Broward County, municipalities within Broward County, dependent and independent special districts, and the South Florida Water Management District.

(f)

Hearing officer shall mean a member of The Florida Bar who shall conduct hearings in accordance with this article and Chapter 162, Florida Statutes, as amended.

(g)

Job site shall mean each street address at which tree trimming activities take place.

(h)

License holder shall mean a sole proprietor, business organization, or governmental agency possessing a Class A or Class B Tree Trimmer License required pursuant to Chapter 9, Article XI, of the Broward County Code of Ordinances.

(i)

Repeat violation shall mean a recurring violation of a provision of this article by a violator whom a hearing officer has previously found to have violated the same provision, or a violator against whom penalties were assessed for the same provision, within five (5) years prior to the violation.

(j)

Sole proprietor shall mean an individual who engages in, or proposes to engage in, the business of contracting as a tree trimmer in the individual's own name, or a fictitious name.

(k)

Subcontractor shall mean any sole proprietor or business organization, which contracts with a tree trimming contractor to perform all or part of the tree trimming contractor's work.

(l)

Trained person shall mean a sole proprietor or an employee who complies with the provisions of Subsection 9-163(a)(2), Broward County Code of Ordinances.

(m)

Tree shall mean any living, self-supporting, dicotyledonous or monocotyledonous, woody, perennial plant which has a DBH (diameter breast height) of no less than three (3) inches, and which normally grows to an overall height of no less than ten (10) feet in southeast Florida.

(n)

Tree trimmer shall mean any sole proprietor or business organization, which contracts to perform tree trimming services, or any governmental agency, which trims trees, and is required to obtain one of the following licenses:

Class A Tree Trimmer License. A license which requires a sole proprietor, a qualified individual for a business organization, or a governmental agency to possess an International Society of Arboriculture Arborist Certification or to be a Registered Consulting Arborist with the American Society of Consulting Arborists and to provide an annual affidavit stating that the required number of employees have either successfully completed the training course offered by the Broward County Extension Education Section, or any successor agency, or have completed a substitute training course.

Class B Tree Trimmer License. A license which requires a sole proprietor, a business organization, or a governmental agency to demonstrate that the sole proprietor, the business organization, or the governmental agency has the required number of employees who have successfully completed the training course offered by the Broward County Extension Education Section, or any successor agency, or have completed a substitute training course and have passed the examination offered by the Broward County Extension Education Section, or any successor agency.

(o)

Tree trimming shall mean the removal of branches more than one inch in diameter from a tree or the removal of live palm fronds from any type of palm tree with six feet or more of clear trunk, or cutting down, digging up, destroying, effectively destroying, removing, or relocating any tree.

(1)

Tree trimming shall not include the removal, destruction, or relocation of any tree performed pursuant to a Broward County Environmental Protection and Growth Management Department or municipal tree removal license, or a Broward County Environmental Protection and Growth Management Department environmental resource license or general license, in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 27 of the Broward County Code of Ordinances, as amended.

(2)

Tree trimming shall not include the removal, destruction, or relocation of any tree performed as part of land development clearing activities which otherwise comply with the Broward County Code of Ordinances, as amended.

(3)

Tree trimming shall not include the removal, destruction, or relocation of any nuisance tree, as defined in Section 27-404 of the Broward County Code of Ordinances, as amended.

(p)

Unlicensed shall mean a sole proprietor, business organization, or governmental agency which does not possess a Class A or Class B Tree Trimmer License required pursuant to Chapter 9, Article XI, of the Broward County Code of Ordinances.

(Ord. No. 2009-14, § 2, 3-24-09)