Do you need a permit?
No permit required for most private trees
No, not for a tree standing on your own property. Council Bluffs has a full tree chapter and it is unusually detailed, but Section 10.52.010 aims it squarely at public land: "No person, firm, corporation, association or other legal entity shall remove any tree in or upon any public right-of-way or any other public property within the city limits ... without first obtaining a permit." Your yard is neither. Two things still reach you, though, and both are duties rather than permits. You are responsible for the trees on the right-of-way strip abutting your lot as well as those in your yard, including trimming branches to eight feet over a sidewalk and twelve feet over a street. And if a tree anywhere on your property is infected with Dutch elm disease, oak wilt or another infectious tree disease, the city can order you to remove it at your own expense.
Size threshold
None for private property, because no permit applies there. The only diameter figure in the chapter is a minimum for what you may plant in the right-of-way, and note the measuring height, which is neither DBH nor ground level: Section 10.52.090 requires that "Any tree planted shall be one inch or more in diameter at one foot above the ground surface."
What's protected in Council Bluffs
- Any tree in or upon the public right-of-way or other public property. Removal needs a permit from the director of the parks, recreation and public property department (Section 10.52.010).
- Trees on private property infected with a communicable tree disease. Section 10.53.010 requires the owner "shall at his or her own expense, remove from such property any tree or dead wood, brush, wood, plant or other growth which has been determined to be infected with Dutch elm disease, Phloem necrosis, oak wilt, and/or any other infectious diseases of trees, after having been notified" by the director.
- Right-of-way trees for planting purposes - a long list of species is banned outright from the right-of-way under Section 10.52.060, including all elms except hybrids, all evergreens, all poplars, all willows, silver maple, black walnut, pin oak, mulberry, cottonwood and any standard fruiting tree.
How to apply in Council Bluffs
- 1
For a tree on your own property there is no application.
- 2
For a right-of-way or public tree, apply to the director of parks, recreation and public property on city forms at 712-890-5100. The application must give your name and address, the nature of the work, the name and address of whoever will do the work, the location, and the names and addresses of surrounding property owners.
- 3
Attach a signed indemnity agreement under which you agree to indemnify and defend the city against any claims arising from the work.
- 4
Post the cash bond or deposit and file a certificate of insurance with the city clerk before the permit issues.
- 5
Expect conditions on how the work is done: the stump must be removed and the hole filled and seeded, all limbs and debris cleared from the public way within 48 hours, the tree felled away from or parallel with the roadway where possible, and any damage to curbs or sidewalks repaired at your expense.
- 6
The director inspects afterwards and issues a certificate of completion, which releases you and entitles you to the return of the bond.
- 7
If the permit is denied you have ten days to appeal in writing to the city manager, who must hold a hearing within thirty days.
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Fee
- No fee for a tree on your own property, because no permit is required. For a right-of-way or public tree, Section 10.52.120 says only that "An application for a permit shall be accompanied by a fee as set forth in the prevailing schedule of fees as most recently adopted by the city council," so the amount must be confirmed with the department. A cash bond or deposit is also required before the permit issues, in an amount the director sets "based upon the estimated cost to restore the site to an acceptable condition," along with a certificate of insurance.
- Penalties
- Section 10.52.130: "Any person found guilty of a violation of any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction, be subject to the penalty provisions of CBMC 8.02.020. Each day that a violation is allowed to continue shall constitute a separate and distinct violation." The city attorney may instead pursue it as a municipal infraction under CBMC 1.95. Separately, Section 10.52.100 treats a private owner's failure to meet the chapter's duties as a nuisance that the city may abate after certified-mail notice, with the costs assessed against the property.
- Ordinance
- Council Bluffs Municipal Code ch. 10.52 - Trees, Shrubs and Hedges, adopted by Ord. 4535 Section 1 in 1983 and amended by Ord. 5548 Sections 1, 2 and 4 in 2001. The Dutch elm and infectious disease duty is ch. 10.53. Penalties run through CBMC 8.02.020, or as a municipal infraction under CBMC 1.95 at the city attorney's discretion.
Worth knowing
- The duty most likely to catch a Council Bluffs homeowner is Section 10.52.080, which makes you responsible for trees "growing in or upon such private property and growing in or upon the part of the public right-of-way abutting such private property." Specifically, branches over a sidewalk must be trimmed to at least eight feet, over a primary road extension to at least fifteen feet, and over any other street or alley to at least twelve feet. Shrubs and hedges in the right-of-way must be kept under thirty inches and three feet back from the pavement edge.
- If a tree root damages a public sidewalk, Section 10.52.080 puts the cost on you: the root "shall be cut and removed from the tree, and the sidewalk or other public improvement shall be repaired at the owner's expense."
- The prohibited-acts list in Section 10.52.090 applies to public trees and is worth reading before hiring anyone, because it bans several things careless crews do routinely - topping-style cuts that leave the tree unbalanced without cabling, cutting anywhere but at proper crotches, using climbing spurs, and using dull tools that leave rough or oversized wounds.
- Anything you plant in the right-of-way becomes city property. Section 10.52.090: "After any tree, shrub or hedge is planted, it shall be and remain the property of the city of Council Bluffs."
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.
- — The current right-of-way tree removal permit fee and the bond amount. The chapter delegates both - the fee to the prevailing city council fee schedule and the bond to the director's estimate - and neither was located as a published figure.
- — The street address of the Parks, Recreation and Public Property department. The city page gives the city and ZIP but the street line was not retrievable.
- — Whether Council Bluffs has any tree provision in its zoning or subdivision regulations beyond ch. 10.52 and 10.53. The full code was searched for tree references and none other was found, but the zoning chapters were not read in full.