Do you need a permit?
It depends on the tree
Columbia gates its tree rules on lot size, not trunk size, and the line is one acre. On an ordinary house lot under an acre the answer is no: the Land Preservation chapter says "A land disturbance permit shall not be required for sites less than one (1) acre or for individual lots in R-1 and R-2 zoned development," and the Unified Development Code adds that its tree standards "do not apply to the construction of a single-family detached, single-family attached, or two-family residential structure." Cross an acre and a real prohibition switches on: "The clearing or logging of existing trees four-inch DBH or greater by any means on tracts of land of one (1) acre or more shall be unlawful unless done in compliance with a land disturbance permit, logging permit, or tree preservation plan." Note the wording. On an acre-plus parcel that is a ban unless you have a permit, not a permit counter, and it applies even if you are not building anything. Call the City Arborist at 573-874-7474 before clearing on an acre or more.
Size threshold
Two thresholds, both acreage-gated. The clearing and logging trigger is "existing trees four-inch DBH or greater by any means on tracts of land of one (1) acre or more," where an existing tree is one where "Deciduous shade trees shall have a four-inch diameter, measured four and one-half (4 1/2) feet above the ground and ornamental and evergreen species shall be a minimum of six (6) feet in height." Separately, a significant tree is "a tree that is not diseased, dying, or of a noxious invasive species and that is at least twenty (20) inches diameter at breast height (DBH) for a deciduous tree that is located outside of the tree preservation and stream buffer or utility easement," and that only bites during development or redevelopment. For a single-family lot under one acre there is no threshold at all.
What's protected in Columbia
- Significant trees, 20 inches DBH or more, on development and redevelopment sites — "Twenty-five (25) percent of significant trees shall be preserved during development or redevelopment. All vacant and undeveloped land and all property to be redeveloped, including additions and alterations that require a land disturbance permit, shall abide by this section." Removing one costs three 2-inch deciduous replacements, or two 8-foot conifers for a significant conifer, or $750 per tree in lieu.
- Climax forest — "Any woodland community of over twenty thousand (20,000) square feet which is dominated by climax species including but not limited to oak, hickory, walnut, sugar maple or bottomland hardwoods such as river birch, basswood, sycamore and hornbeam." At least 25 percent of any climax forest on a tract of an acre or more must be preserved, and successive logging may never "remove greater than seventy-five (75) percent of the climax forest present upon the site before logging."
- Trees on city-owned or city-maintained property, including the grass strip between your property line and the curb, which the city treats as right-of-way requiring a permit for any work.
- Topping public trees is banned outright rather than permitted — "It shall be unlawful for any person to top any tree on public property. Topping is defined as the systematic cutting back of limbs from the tree's crown to such a degree as to remove the normal canopy and disfigure the tree."
- Expressly not protected: "Plants that create a public nuisance, as determined by the city arborist, are not protected by the provision of this section." Columbia has no heritage, landmark, champion or specimen tree program at all.
How to apply in Columbia
- 1
On a sub-acre R-1 or R-2 lot there is nothing to apply for.
- 2
On an acre or more, call the City Arborist at 573-874-7474 first to find out which of the three tracks applies to you.
- 3
For a land disturbance permit, apply to Community Development, Building and Site Development, 701 E. Broadway, or through the city CSS portal. Applications for an acre or more "shall be accompanied by a detailed site development plan which shall include, a tree preservation plan, a landscaping plan, a soil erosion control plan, and a stormwater management plan." The fee is $200.
- 4
For a logging permit, use the city Logging Permit Application, which is signed off by the City Arborist and requires a 17-item Tree Removal and Timber Harvesting Plan covering the consulting forester, felling contractor, legal description, proof of ownership, climax forest area, percentage of canopy to remain, felling methods, erosion control and a scaled map.
- 5
The logging application lists every tree by DBH and reason for removal, and notes "please contact the City Arborist for verification of DBH for multi-stemmed trees."
- 6
Logging work must be completed within 30 days.
- 7
Planting in the right-of-way is a separate application, the Right-of-Way Tree Planting Permit.
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Fee
- Nothing for a homeowner on a sub-acre R-1 or R-2 lot. A land disturbance permit costs $200: "An application for a land disturbance permit shall be accompanied by a non-refundable fee of two hundred dollars ($200.00). The requirement of this section shall not apply to plot plan applications for sites one (1) acre or less or for individual lots in R-1 and R-2 zoned developments." Removing a significant tree on a development site without replacing it costs "seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00) per tree ... paid to the City of Columbia right-of-way landscaping planting budget for planting of public street trees."
- Penalties
- The land preservation chapter carries the heaviest exposure in the state for a tree offense. Section 12A-11: "Violations of this chapter shall be punishable in the same manner as Class A misdemeanors under Chapter 16 of this Code. Every day any violation of this chapter shall continue shall constitute a separate offense. Every one thousand (1,000) square feet of climax forest removed, destroyed or damaged in violation of this chapter shall constitute a separate offense." A Class A misdemeanor in Columbia carries a fine up to $2,000 and confinement "a term not to exceed one year." Under the UDC, a first misdemeanor is "a fine of not less than ten dollars ($10.00) and not more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) for each and every day that such violation continues," rising to "not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) or more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) for each and every day" on a second offense, plus "a civil penalty of two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00)" for ignoring a removal order for ten days. Damaging a city tree costs "the cost of repair or replacement," valued under the International Society of Arboriculture guide.
- Ordinance
- Columbia Code of Ordinances Chapter 29, the Unified Development Code, Article 4, Section 29-4.4 (Landscaping, screening, and tree preservation). The UDC was adopted as Ordinance No. 23117 by the Council on March 20, 2017; Section 29-4.4 has been amended only twice since, by Ord. No. 24191 (March 16, 2020) and Ord. No. 24554 (March 1, 2021), with no 2022 through 2026 changes. Land disturbance and logging permits are in Chapter 12A (Land Preservation), Article II, Sections 12A-32 through 12A-36, last substantively amended by Ord. No. 21407 (September 4, 2012). City trees are at Chapter 24, Article VII, Ord. No. 15457 Section 1 (December 1, 1997). UDC penalties were rewritten by Ord. No. 25587 Section 4 (February 19, 2024), but that touched enforcement only, not the tree standards. Code current through Ordinance No. 26162, enacted November 17, 2025 (Supp. No. 138).
Worth knowing
- Columbia does not license tree services or arborists. Chapter 6 has no contractor licensing article, the city's Trade Licensing page limits certification to "Electricians, plumbers, gas fitters and mechanical craftsman," and the occupation license chapter contains no occurrence of tree, arborist or landscape. What applies is a general business license at 25 cents per $1,000 of gross receipts with a $75 minimum. No insurance or bond minimum for tree work appears anywhere in the code, and nothing makes it unlawful to hire an unlicensed tree service. The city's only consumer guidance is an advisory pamphlet pointing to the ISA.
- The city controls the grass strip between your property line and the curb, and says so in plain English: "A right of way permit is needed any time work is performed within the public right of way or easement. The right of way includes the grass area between the property line and the curb." Planting there requires a permit from the director of public works, and an existing right-of-way tree "shall be allowed to remain in place unless the director of public works determines that it presently does, or at maturity will, obstruct required sight distance, interfere with utilities or street lights, or otherwise endanger the health, safety and welfare." Maintenance falls on the abutting owner.
- You must keep limbs fourteen feet above the traveled way. Section 24-6: "It shall be unlawful for any person occupying, in charge or control of or owning any real estate in the city to permit the trees on such property to hang over the sidewalks, streets and alleys so that the lower limbs thereof shall be closer than fourteen (14) feet to the vehicular traveled portion of any street or alley."
- Dead and hazardous trees are nuisances you can be ordered to fix. The nuisance list covers "A tree or any tree limb that is dead and that is a hazard to life or property," sight-obstructing trees at intersections, trees interfering with passage on a public right-of-way, and "A tree that harbors insects or disease that constitutes a potential threat to other trees." Abatement costs go on a special tax bill that "from the date of its issuance shall be a lien on the property until paid" and bears eight percent interest. The city needs your consent or a municipal judge's warrant to enter, except for immediate threats.
- The agricultural exemption has a tree clawback: "Agricultural activities are exempted from the provisions of this chapter except that a land disturbance permit is required for the mechanized clearing or removal of trees on sites of one (1) acre or more."
- Annexing into Columbia brings the tree rules with it, retroactively. "Any land owner requesting annexation into the city shall abide by the tree preservation provisions of the City Code. Any land that did not follow the tree preservation provisions of the City Code shall wait five (5) years before they are able to obtain a permit for redevelopment or subdivision."
- Do not rely on the city PDF titled Standards and Guidelines for Landscaping and Tree Preservation. It is dated January 1, 2005, is signed by a former Public Works director, and its table of contents references code sections superseded by the 2017 UDC. The chapter it cites is now marked reserved.
- Missouri law punishes cutting a tree that is not yours. RSMo 537.340 awards treble damages for cutting down, injuring or destroying "any tree placed or growing for use, shade or ornament" on another person's land, and the claimant "need not prove negligence or intent."
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 removing one to three trees on a tract of an acre or more needs a permit. The prohibition covers "clearing or logging" of 4-inch DBH trees on acre-plus tracts, but "clearing" is never defined standalone (only "mechanized clearing" and "clear cutting" are), and "logging" requires more than three trees. One to three hand-felled trees arguably fall outside both. Reported rather than resolved. Call the City Arborist at 573-874-7474.
- — A live contradiction in the definition of logging, reported both ways. Chapter 12A says logging is "The removal of more than three (3) existing trees for commercial purposes on any tract of land larger than one (1) acre." The UDC says it is "The removal of more than three (3) qualifying existing trees, per acre, from a lot, tract, or building site larger than one acre." The UDC version drops the commercial-purpose limit and adds a per-acre rate, so a homeowner on two acres removing four trees per acre for personal reasons is logging under one definition and not under the other. Since the tree prohibition points to Chapter 12A "as applicable," the conflict is unresolved on the face of the code.
- — A second contradiction inside Section 29-4.4 itself. Subsection (b)(3) applies the tree standards to lots "more than ten thousand (10,000) square feet ... except single-family or two-family residential structures on platted lots less than one acre in size," while subsection (g)(1) applies them to lots "equal or greater than ten thousand (10,000) square feet" and says "These standards do not apply to the construction of a single-family detached, single-family attached, or two-family residential structure" with no acreage qualifier. On a sub-acre lot both exempt you, so the practical answer does not change, but a single-family lot over an acre lands differently under each. Reported both ways.
- — Whether a standalone logging permit carries a fee. The application form states none and no logging fee appears in either chapter; the $200 is scoped to land disturbance permit applications.
- — The size threshold for a significant conifer. The definition states 20 inches DBH only "for a deciduous tree," yet the replacement schedule separately prescribes replacement for "A significant coniferous tree," and the Article 1 definition omits the word deciduous entirely. Both versions exist in the code.
- — The name of the current City Arborist and any direct-dial number. No arborist contact record exists in the city contacts directory; the department routes through 573-874-7474.
- — Two drafting errors worth knowing when quoting the code: Section 29-4.4(i)(2) cross-references "section 24-4.4 (landscaping and screening)," but Chapter 24 has no Section 24-4.4, and Section 29-4.4(i)(5) references a Section 29-4.4(c)(1)(x) that does not exist.
- — Boone County rules for unincorporated addresses near Columbia. Outside the city limits none of the above applies.
- — Anything adopted after Ordinance No. 26162 (November 17, 2025) is not in the codified text that was read.
Sources
- Columbia UDC Sec. 29-4.4 — Landscaping, screening, and tree preservation (Municode)
- Columbia Code Ch. 12A, Art. II — Land Disturbance Permit Requirements (Municode)
- Columbia Code Ch. 24, Art. VII — Trees (Municode)
- Columbia Code Ch. 11, Art. VII — Nuisances, incl. hazard trees and liens (Municode)
- Columbia Code Ch. 13, Art. II — Occupation Licenses (Municode)
- City of Columbia — Building and Site Development, City Arborist and right-of-way permits
- City of Columbia — Logging Permit Application
- City of Columbia — Right-of-Way Tree Planting Permit Application
- RSMo 537.340 — Trespass on realty, treble damages