Tree Removal Permits in Cedar Rapids, IA

Verified against Cedar Rapids city sources · last checked 2026-08-06

Do you need a permit?

No permit required for most private trees

Cedar Rapids requires a written permit from the City Forester to touch a tree in a street, park or public place, and requires nothing at all to remove a tree standing on your own private lot. The city says the boundary out loud: "The City cannot touch private trees unless they are impeding on public surfaces." The most useful thing in the whole Cedar Rapids code is Section 10.08, which sets up a certificate of approval for tree workers and then says in the same breath that it is voluntary and that nobody needs one to do tree work in the city.

Size threshold

None. There is no diameter, DBH or circumference threshold anywhere in Chapter 9 (Streets, Alleys and Sidewalks) or Chapter 10 (Parks and Public Places). The only measurements in the tree sections are clearance heights: Section 9.20(a) requires "not less than 10 feet over any sidewalk, 12 feet over any street or alley, and 16 feet over streets which are primary extensions of state highways."

What's protected in Cedar Rapids

Any tree or shrub in a street, park or public place. Section 10.07(b): "No person shall plant, move, spray, fertilize, brace, trim, cut, or otherwise disturb any tree or shrub in any street, park, or public place without first obtaining a written permit from the City Forester." Trimming is named, so pruning a parkway tree needs the permit too.
The PARKWAY, which is the word to learn in Cedar Rapids. Section 9.18(a): "A parkway is an area of public right-of-way between the curb or edge of the street and the sidewalk and/or right-of-way line." It is public right-of-way, so Section 10.07(b) applies to the tree in it - even though Section 9.18(e) makes "the maintenance and repair of street lawns or parkways" the abutting owner's responsibility and Section 9.20(a) makes it "the duty of the owner" to keep those trees trimmed.
Trees anywhere in a street, alley or parkway, for clearance. Section 9.20(a) puts the trimming duty on "the owner of any lot or parcel of land abutting upon any public street or alley upon which such trees are planted or maintained... as well as all trees planted or maintained on such lot or parcel of land." That last clause reaches your own yard trees, but it is a duty to trim for clearance, not a permit to remove.
Damage to a public tree, by anyone. Section 10.07(e): "No person shall break, deface, injure or destroy any tree or shrub in any street, park or public place."

Fees, penalties, and the ordinance

Fee: No fee is published for the Section 10.07(b) City Forester permit; the code sets none. Section 10.08 leaves any fee for a forestry certificate of approval to the City Forester or Examining Board: "The City Forester or Examining Board shall determine what fee, if any, shall be charged for the service."
Penalties: Not stated in the tree sections. Chapter 22 (Nuisances) Section 22.05 sets a general abatement duty and penalty but does not mention trees at all - a word-by-word read of Chapter 22 found no tree, dead-tree or diseased-tree nuisance category, which is unusual. The concrete consequence in the tree sections is cost recovery under Section 9.20(e): if an owner fails to trim, "the City Forester shall, after reasonable notice to the owner of said lot or parcel of land, cause the same to be done and the cost thereof to be assessed against said lot or parcel of land in the manner and method provided for special assessments."
Ordinance: Cedar Rapids Municipal Code Chapter 10 (Parks and Public Places), Sections 10.02, 10.07 and 10.08, and Chapter 9 (Streets, Alleys and Sidewalks), Sections 9.18 and 9.20. Sections 10.02 and 10.08 carry the notation (86-05). Sections 9.18 and 9.20 were both amended by Ordinance No. 062-25, the most recent tree-related amendment found. Code codified through Ordinance No. 066-25, passed December 16, 2025 (Supp. No. 24).

Worth knowing

Section 10.08 is the single most useful sentence in the Cedar Rapids code for anyone hiring a tree service, and it cuts against the usual Midwest pattern: "Applications for certificates of approval are voluntary, and no one is required to have such a certificate in order to do tree work in the city." The city may examine and certify tree workers through the City Forester or an Examining Board, but holding the certificate is optional. Vetting is entirely on you.
Cedar Rapids lost more than half its tree canopy to the derecho of August 10, 2020, with winds over 100 mph. The city's answer was ReLeaf Cedar Rapids, a replanting program, and crews are still pulling stumps out of the public right-of-way. We found no evidence that the derecho produced any amendment to the tree sections of the code: Sections 10.02, 10.07 and 10.08 still carry their pre-derecho notation, and the only recent amendment found, Ordinance No. 062-25, touched the parkway and street-tree clearance sections. This entry does not claim the derecho changed the ordinance.
You may trim a neighbor's branches back to the property line without trespassing, per the city's own guidance.
Planting in the parkway is regulated even though removal in your yard is not. Section 9.18(c) lets property owners plant and maintain trees on the parkway only "With the approval of the City Forester," and Section 9.20(c) adds that "All trees planted in the right-of-way shall be approved by a Right-of-Way Permit and selected from a City Forestry list of approved trees."
An underground sprinkler in the parkway needs an encroachment permit from the Development Services Department under Section 9.18(f), and the city bears no responsibility for it.
Chapter 41 (Licenses) sets up the machinery for city licenses generally but names no tree, arborist or forestry license among them.

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.

— Whether the Cedar Rapids Zoning Code imposes any tree preservation requirement. Chapter 32 was replaced wholesale by Ordinance No. 056-18, adopted December 18, 2018, effective January 1, 2019, and its text is deliberately NOT carried in Municode - the code entry says "Chapter 32 will not be searchable using the Municode search tool" and points to cityofcr.com/zoning. We did not read the current zoning code, so nothing here should be taken as saying zoning is silent.
— Whether Chapter 31 (Subdivisions), Chapter 32B (Floodplain Management) or Chapter 71 (Erosion and Sediment Control for Construction Sites) restricts tree or vegetation removal on a residential lot.
— Any fee for the Section 10.07(b) City Forester permit. The code sets none and no fee schedule was located.
— Whether the city has ever issued a Section 10.08 certificate of approval, or whether an Examining Board was ever created.
— Whether Cedar Rapids has any oak wilt seasonal pruning restriction. None appears in Chapters 9, 10 or 22, but Iowa DNR guidance discourages spring and summer oak pruning statewide and the zoning code was not read.
— Whether a certificate of appropriateness is needed for tree work in a local historic district under Chapter 18 (Historic Preservation). Chapter 18 was not read for this entry.

Sources

Who to contact in Cedar Rapids

Forestry Division, City of Cedar Rapids Parks and Recreation Department. The City Forester is a code office: Section 10.02(b) puts the Forester "in charge of the Forestry Department" with "general supervision and control" of "the planting, care and removal of all trees and shrubs growing in any street, park or public place of the city," and adds that the Forester "shall advise the owners and occupants of private property regarding the kind, culture, care, and disposal of any tree or shrub within the city limits" - advise, not permit.

319-286-5566, option 2 forestry@cedar-rapids.org Official page

City Services Center, 500 15th Avenue SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404. Administrative office Monday through Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; field operations 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

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Size threshold

What's protected in Cedar Rapids

Any tree or shrub in a street, park or public place. Section 10.07(b): "No person shall plant, move, spray, fertilize, brace, trim, cut, or otherwise disturb any tree or shrub in any street, park, or public place without first obtaining a written permit from the City Forester." Trimming is named, so pruning a parkway tree needs the permit too.

The PARKWAY, which is the word to learn in Cedar Rapids. Section 9.18(a): "A parkway is an area of public right-of-way between the curb or edge of the street and the sidewalk and/or right-of-way line." It is public right-of-way, so Section 10.07(b) applies to the tree in it - even though Section 9.18(e) makes "the maintenance and repair of street lawns or parkways" the abutting owner's responsibility and Section 9.20(a) makes it "the duty of the owner" to keep those trees trimmed.

Trees anywhere in a street, alley or parkway, for clearance. Section 9.20(a) puts the trimming duty on "the owner of any lot or parcel of land abutting upon any public street or alley upon which such trees are planted or maintained... as well as all trees planted or maintained on such lot or parcel of land." That last clause reaches your own yard trees, but it is a duty to trim for clearance, not a permit to remove.

Damage to a public tree, by anyone. Section 10.07(e): "No person shall break, deface, injure or destroy any tree or shrub in any street, park or public place."

Fees, penalties, and the ordinance

Fee

No fee is published for the Section 10.07(b) City Forester permit; the code sets none. Section 10.08 leaves any fee for a forestry certificate of approval to the City Forester or Examining Board: "The City Forester or Examining Board shall determine what fee, if any, shall be charged for the service."

Penalties

Not stated in the tree sections. Chapter 22 (Nuisances) Section 22.05 sets a general abatement duty and penalty but does not mention trees at all - a word-by-word read of Chapter 22 found no tree, dead-tree or diseased-tree nuisance category, which is unusual. The concrete consequence in the tree sections is cost recovery under Section 9.20(e): if an owner fails to trim, "the City Forester shall, after reasonable notice to the owner of said lot or parcel of land, cause the same to be done and the cost thereof to be assessed against said lot or parcel of land in the manner and method provided for special assessments."

Ordinance

Cedar Rapids Municipal Code Chapter 10 (Parks and Public Places), Sections 10.02, 10.07 and 10.08, and Chapter 9 (Streets, Alleys and Sidewalks), Sections 9.18 and 9.20. Sections 10.02 and 10.08 carry the notation (86-05). Sections 9.18 and 9.20 were both amended by Ordinance No. 062-25, the most recent tree-related amendment found. Code codified through Ordinance No. 066-25, passed December 16, 2025 (Supp. No. 24).

Worth knowing

Section 10.08 is the single most useful sentence in the Cedar Rapids code for anyone hiring a tree service, and it cuts against the usual Midwest pattern: "Applications for certificates of approval are voluntary, and no one is required to have such a certificate in order to do tree work in the city." The city may examine and certify tree workers through the City Forester or an Examining Board, but holding the certificate is optional. Vetting is entirely on you.
Cedar Rapids lost more than half its tree canopy to the derecho of August 10, 2020, with winds over 100 mph. The city's answer was ReLeaf Cedar Rapids, a replanting program, and crews are still pulling stumps out of the public right-of-way. We found no evidence that the derecho produced any amendment to the tree sections of the code: Sections 10.02, 10.07 and 10.08 still carry their pre-derecho notation, and the only recent amendment found, Ordinance No. 062-25, touched the parkway and street-tree clearance sections. This entry does not claim the derecho changed the ordinance.
You may trim a neighbor's branches back to the property line without trespassing, per the city's own guidance.
Planting in the parkway is regulated even though removal in your yard is not. Section 9.18(c) lets property owners plant and maintain trees on the parkway only "With the approval of the City Forester," and Section 9.20(c) adds that "All trees planted in the right-of-way shall be approved by a Right-of-Way Permit and selected from a City Forestry list of approved trees."
An underground sprinkler in the parkway needs an encroachment permit from the Development Services Department under Section 9.18(f), and the city bears no responsibility for it.
Chapter 41 (Licenses) sets up the machinery for city licenses generally but names no tree, arborist or forestry license among them.

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.

— Whether the Cedar Rapids Zoning Code imposes any tree preservation requirement. Chapter 32 was replaced wholesale by Ordinance No. 056-18, adopted December 18, 2018, effective January 1, 2019, and its text is deliberately NOT carried in Municode - the code entry says "Chapter 32 will not be searchable using the Municode search tool" and points to cityofcr.com/zoning. We did not read the current zoning code, so nothing here should be taken as saying zoning is silent.
— Whether Chapter 31 (Subdivisions), Chapter 32B (Floodplain Management) or Chapter 71 (Erosion and Sediment Control for Construction Sites) restricts tree or vegetation removal on a residential lot.
— Any fee for the Section 10.07(b) City Forester permit. The code sets none and no fee schedule was located.
— Whether the city has ever issued a Section 10.08 certificate of approval, or whether an Examining Board was ever created.
— Whether Cedar Rapids has any oak wilt seasonal pruning restriction. None appears in Chapters 9, 10 or 22, but Iowa DNR guidance discourages spring and summer oak pruning statewide and the zoning code was not read.
— Whether a certificate of appropriateness is needed for tree work in a local historic district under Chapter 18 (Historic Preservation). Chapter 18 was not read for this entry.