Article title
THE ROAD DIRECTORY OF THE ZLÍN REGION hereby notifies the citizens that:
- the owner of the land from which vegetation (mainly woody plants - trees and bushes) grows, located in the vicinity of the road or encroaching (e.g. by branches) into the road protection zone, i.e. within 15 m from the road axis or from the axis of the adjacent lane of the road II. or III. class, is obliged under the Civil Code to take the necessary measures to prevent or limit the occurrence of damage to life, health or property that may reasonably be required in view of the specific time and local situation, i.e. to regularly inspect trees with regard to their age and growth and to regularly maintain them, i.e. trimming branches or cutting down old damaged trees;
- the said obligation applies not only to owners of land directly adjacent to a road (i.e. sharing a common physical boundary) but also to owners of land likely to endanger road traffic, irrespective of the distance from such road;
- in the event of a breach of this legal obligation, the landowner is liable for the damage caused, since according to the above-quoted Art. In accordance with the law, the tree is part of the land.
If the owners, administrators or lessees fail to remove the defective conditions, we will be obliged to proceed in accordance with the provisions of Act No. 13/1997 Coll. (the Act on Roads), among others, when they are detected, as administrators of Class II and III roads owned by the Zlín Region:
§ 35 Protection of motorways, roads and local roads
1) Owners of real estate in the vicinity of a motorway, road and local road are obliged to ensure that the necessary measures are taken on their land to prevent landslides, falling stones, avalanches and trees or parts thereof if this danger arises from the construction or operation of the motorway, road and local road or from natural influences; if this danger arises from the actions of these owners, they are obliged to take the necessary measures at their own expense. The extent and manner of the necessary measures and who shall carry them out shall be decided by the road administration authority.
2) The road administration authority shall identify the sources of danger to the motorway, road and local roads and the sources of traffic disturbance on them. If it finds a source of endangerment other than those referred to in paragraph 1, the road administration authority shall order its operator or owner to remove the source of the endangerment. If the operator or owner of the source of danger does not comply, the road authority shall decide to remove the source of danger at his expense. We are therefore entitled to make a complaint to the competent road authority, which will then decide to impose the obligation to take such necessary measures; failure to comply with the obligation imposed by the road authority may be enforced by execution.