Do you need a permit?
No permit required for most private trees
Cincinnati's tree permit is a Public Tree Work Permit, and the code defines "public tree" narrowly: "a tree located on a public street within the city of Cincinnati." A tree in your yard is not a public tree. Where the permit does bite, it bites hard — if a public tree comes down at your request, you pay the appraised value of the tree plus the removal and stump grinding before the permit is approved.
Size threshold
The code's definition of "tree" for this chapter: "(a) Any self-supporting woody plant which has a well-defined stem with a diameter of at least four inches at four and one-half feet from the ground; (b) Any dogwood, redbud or other conspicuously flowering woody plant as designated by the director which has a well-defined stem of at least two inches diameter at four and one-half feet from the ground; or (c) Any small seedling or sapling planted or protected specifically to become a large tree."
What's protected in Cincinnati
- Public trees — any tree located on a public street, where "street" means every public way from property line to property line, including parkways
- The urban forest, meaning trees on city-owned or city-controlled property
- Any tree within 15 feet of a public tree, for excavation, fill, soil compaction or construction purposes
How to apply in Cincinnati
- 1
Download the fillable Cincinnati Parks Public Tree Work Permit from the Urban Forestry page.
- 2
Submit it to your District Urban Forester — the city assigns one forester per district, and every Cincinnati Parks forester is an ISA Certified Arborist and Tree Risk Assessment Qualified.
- 3
The forester reviews the application and inspects the tree to determine the right course of action.
- 4
If the tree will be removed at your request, pay the appraised value of the tree plus the cost of removal and stump grinding before the permit is approved.
- 5
Every application must be approved or disapproved within 15 days of filing; if no action is taken in 15 days it is deemed approved once fees and compensatory payments are paid.
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Fee
- For work involving a public tree the fee is based on the estimated cost of the work: no fee where the estimated cost is $500 or less, then $1 for each $100 over $500 or fraction thereof. Starting work before the permit issues doubles the fee, or costs $10, whichever is greater.
- Penalties
- Cincinnati Municipal Code 743-99: anyone who violates the chapter or fails to comply with a lawful order of the director is guilty of a fourth-degree misdemeanor, on top of any compensatory payment under CMC 743-17 and any required permit fee.
- Ordinance
- Cincinnati Municipal Code Title VII, Chapter 743 — Urban Forestry (permit requirement at CMC 743-7)
Worth knowing
- No permit is needed to remove a tree or part of one that, because of fire, windstorm or other calamity, threatens public health or safety or obstructs a public way (CMC 743-15).
- CMC 743-25 puts an affirmative duty on you as a property owner abutting a street: prune your own trees so nothing obstructs the view of oncoming traffic, signs or signals, with minimum clearance of 8 feet over the sidewalk and 14 feet over the paved street.
- CMC 743-27 reaches private property for nuisance: a tree on private or public property that obstructs a street or sidewalk, or carries a communicable disease or insect infestation threatening public welfare or public trees, is a public nuisance. You get 14 days after notice to fix it, then the city does the work and bills you.
- Division of Natural Resources hours are Monday through Friday. After hours, for an emergency tree hazard, call Police Dispatch at 513-765-1212 and they reach the on-call Urban Forestry staffer. If electric lines are involved, call Police Dispatch and Duke Energy at 1-800-543-5599.
- Cincinnati bills an annual Urban Forestry Assessment to property owners. That is a street tree maintenance assessment, not a removal permit.
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 any private-property tree obligation arrives through the Cincinnati Zoning Code. The Hillside Overlay District (CMC Chapter 1433) does aim to prevent "destruction of mature trees and existing vegetation," but its review list at 1433-13 covers building, alteration, excavation and fill permits — not standalone tree removal — so we could not confirm it applies to simply cutting down a yard tree.
- — Whether Chapter 1423, Landscaping and Buffer Yards, requires tree retention on an established single-family lot.
- — The dollar value the director assigns to a public tree, and the compensatory payment formula in the urban forestry regulations.