Do you need a permit?
No permit required for most private trees
Canton does not make you get a permit to take down a tree in your own yard — but it does regulate who you hire, anywhere in the city. Under Canton Code 917.09, nobody may engage in the business of cutting, pruning, treating or removing trees within the city limits without a City of Canton license, which costs $100 a year and requires ISA certification, a $5,000 performance bond and $500,000 in liability coverage. Ask your tree company for its Canton license before you sign anything.
What's protected in Canton
- Trees in public streets, rights-of-way, parks and other municipal property, which the Canton Tree Commission and the Park Commission oversee
- Trees on private property that are a hazard to life or to city property outside your lot, or that harbor insects or disease threatening other trees in the city — the city can order those removed
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Fee
- Not applicable to homeowners; there is no removal permit. The tree contractor's annual city license is $100 under Canton Code 917.09(e).
- Penalties
- Canton Code 917.99: "Whoever violates any provision of this chapter shall be fined not more than one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00). Each day the violation continues shall be considered a separate offense."
- Ordinance
- Codified Ordinances of the City of Canton, Part Nine, Chapter 917 — Trees (Tree Commission at 917.03; public way removal duties at 917.05; private property at 917.06; contractor license at 917.09; penalty at 917.99). Ord. 165-2018, passed July 30, 2018; license fee amended by Ord. 97-2024, passed May 6, 2024.
Worth knowing
- Canton Code 917.09 sets the licensing bar: the applicant must satisfy the Director of Public Service and/or Engineering Department of their ability, demonstrated by International Society of Arboriculture certification and adherence to current ANSI standards; register for a calendar-year license at Canton City Engineering, 2436 30th Street N.E.; pay the $100 fee; and post a $5,000 performance bond, a certificate of insurance showing at least $500,000 liability and $250,000 property damage, workers' compensation evidence, and current certified arborist accreditation. A list of licensed contractors is public.
- Section 917.05 puts a real duty on you. Each adjacent property owner on a public street, lane, alley or highway must remove dead trees or parts of trees that have become a nuisance or hazard, whether they stand on your premises or in the tree lawn between your lot and the curb, and must keep branches pruned so the lowest branch is at least 20 feet above the pavement and above the sidewalk. When an entire tree is removed the stump must come out and the ground be restored.
- That duty extends to unimproved public rights-of-way where no roadway exists, running to the centerline of the right-of-way, and to the US 62 and US 30 rights-of-way, where the Director works with owners to trim or remove at the owner's cost.
- If you ignore a 917.05 or 917.06 notice, the city does the work after 10 or 30 days' written notice, bills you, and if unpaid after 30 days certifies the amount to the Stark County Auditor as a lien on the property collected like taxes.
- Any contractor whose work will block a public street must notify the Directors of Public Service and Safety and/or the Engineering Department at least one business day ahead.
- The Canton Tree Commission is advisory. Its five commissioners advise Council and the Canton Park Commission on trees in public streets, rights-of-way, parks and other municipal-owned property. It meets the first Thursday of February, March, April, May and November at 4:30 p.m. at the Engineering Department, City Service Center Building A.
What we could not confirm
We would rather tell you what we don't know than guess. Call the office below to confirm these before you cut.
- — Any diameter threshold or protected species list on private property. Canton publishes none.
- — Whether the Canton Planning and Zoning Code requires tree retention or landscaping when a private lot is developed.
- — The text of Canton Code 917.04, which requires a permit and a fee to plant trees in the city right of way, and 917.08 on tree topping. Read those before doing right-of-way work.
- — A direct phone number for the Engineering Department tree licensing desk. The Street Department number above is the city's published line for street tree issues.