Do you need a permit?
No permit required for most private trees
Dayton has no tree removal permit. The only tree chapter in the city's Code of Ordinances, Chapter 96, deals with nuisances, street planting and owner trimming duties, and it creates no permit of any kind. The city's zoning code mentions trees only as a landscaping and buffer-yard requirement for new development. What Dayton does put on you is a maintenance duty for any tree that overhangs the street.
What's protected in Dayton
- Street trees, in the sense that the city's Street Maintenance division and City Arborist plant and maintain them
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Penalties
- Dayton Code 96.99: a violation of any section of Chapter 96 for which no other penalty is provided is a minor misdemeanor. Failing to cut weeds or remove trash under 96.10 is a fourth-degree misdemeanor.
- Ordinance
- City of Dayton Code of Ordinances Title IX, Chapter 96 — Nuisances; Trees and Trash (owner duties at 96.02, prohibited street species at 96.03, penalty at 96.99)
Worth knowing
- Section 96.02 puts three duties on you if a tree on your lot overhangs a public thoroughfare, or if a tree stands in front of your lot: trim it so it does not block light from a street light, keep 13 feet of clearance between the lowest branches and the street, alley or sidewalk, and trim or remove every dead, decayed or broken tree or limb so it cannot fall into the street or sidewalk.
- Chapter 96 defines "trees" broadly for its own purposes — "trees, shrubs, bushes, and all other woody vegetation," excluding shrubs and bushes that do not grow taller than 15 feet.
- Section 96.03 bans a specific list of species from street planting: fruit trees, berry trees of any description, poplars, willows, birches, catalpas, box elder, silver maple, horse chestnut, tree of Heaven, European Mountain ash, Chinese elm and American elm.
- The Division of Street Maintenance runs the Parks and Forestry function, and the City Arborist works out of that division. Service requests go through 937-333-4800 or Dayton Delivers.
- Dayton launched an Urban Forest Master Plan in April 2026 that includes a review of existing tree policies and regulations, with plan development running through June 2027. The rules described here could change when that work lands.
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.
- — Any diameter threshold, protected species list or heritage tree designation on private property. Dayton publishes none.
- — Whether the city requires any approval to remove a street tree in the tree lawn. Chapter 96 does not create a street tree permit and the city does not publish one, but the tree lawn is public right-of-way, so call 937-333-4800 first rather than assuming.
- — The Dayton Zoning Code (amended August 6, 2025) defines a "major tree" as a living tree with a DBH of at least six inches, but every use of that term we found was a required planting in a buffer yard, not a preservation or removal rule.