Do you need a permit?
No permit required for most private trees
If you own a single-family house on a platted lot in Centennial, the city's tree rules do not reach you. Centennial keeps its tree and landscaping law in Article 8 of the Land Development Code, and that article says in its own applicability clause that it governs new development and redevelopment "except existing single-family attached and single-family detached dwelling units on platted lots." There is no tree removal permit for homeowners. Your HOA or metro district is the body most likely to have something to say.
What's protected in Centennial
- Trees on land going through new development or redevelopment, where a landscape plan is required at site plan or building permit stage
- Trees preserved for landscaping credit on a development site, which must be protected during construction (LDC § 12-8-603)
- Trees in a Natural Resource Protection Area preserved under Article 7 of the Land Development Code
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Fee
- No fee. Centennial has no tree removal permit for a homeowner, so there is nothing to pay.
- Ordinance
- Centennial Municipal Code Chapter 12 (Land Development Code), Article 8 — Development Landscaping and Tree Protection, § 12-8-102 (Application of Article), amended by Ord. 2024-O-14 § 52 and Ord. 2025-O-12 §§ 8, 9. Code codified through Ordinance No. 2026-O-09, enacted May 19, 2026.
Worth knowing
- The exemption is written into the code, not inferred. LDC § 12-8-102(A)(1): "The landscaping requirements of this Article apply to all new development and redevelopment, except existing single-family attached and single-family detached dwelling units on platted lots."
- Landscape plans attach to development, not to houses. LDC § 12-8-701(B): landscape plans "shall be submitted for approval at the site plan stage, or if no site plan is required, at the building permit stage of the development approval process."
- Street trees are yours to look after. LDC § 12-8-604(A): street trees planted between the edge of pavement and private property lines "shall be cared for by ... the adjacent property owner" or by a property owners' association where membership is mandatory and its covenants unambiguously cover street trees or common elements.
- Centennial can order a tree DOWN, which is the opposite problem. Municipal Code § 7-2-90(b) makes it "a nuisance and unlawful for an owner to permit any tree(s) which is dead, broken, diseased or infested by insects so as to endanger the well-being of other trees, shrubs or vegetation or constitutes a potential threat or hazard to people or property." The same section adds that "Mere unsightliness or aesthetic concerns alone shall not constitute a nuisance."
- A "potential threat or hazard" is defined broadly in § 7-2-90(a) as a tree closer than its own height to any street, sidewalk, multi-use path, playground, or a building on adjacent property that it could damage if it fell, "regardless of whether such fall is imminent."
- Centennial's Tree Program is a planting and shade program, not a permit process.
- A right-of-way permit is required for construction in or occupation of city right-of-way. If the crew has to block the street or a city sidewalk, that is the permit to ask about.
- Many Centennial neighbourhoods sit under HOAs and metropolitan districts whose covenants control landscaping. The city does not enforce those.
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 Centennial licenses or registers tree service companies. We found no licensing chapter in the municipal code, but could not confirm the absence with a city statement.
- — Penalty amounts for a tree nuisance violation under § 7-2-90.
- — The phone above is the city's main line; we could not confirm a direct number for a forestry or arborist contact, and found no municipal forestry division.