Do you need a permit?
No permit required for most private trees
Enid has a chapter titled Trees and it contains no permit. Title 7, Chapter 7 gives the City authority over public trees, creates a Tree Board and a Community Forestry Plan, and puts two duties on private owners - keep your limbs pruned clear of sidewalks, streets and alleys, and remove dead or diseased trees when the City Code Office tells you to. Nothing in it requires you to ask before cutting a tree on your own land. Enid also disclaims the right-of-way tree in writing: Section 7-7A-1(B), "It is not the intent of this article for the City to assume responsibility for trees planted in the right-of-way by adjacent property owners."
Size threshold
None. Enid's tree chapter contains no diameter, DBH or caliper figure. The only tree measurements are clearance heights under Section 7-7-2(A)(1): "Property owners shall trim trees so as not to obstruct the passage of pedestrians on sidewalks (no limbs below eight feet), nor vehicles traveling on streets (no limbs below 14 feet) and alleys (no limbs below 12 feet)."
What's protected in Enid
- Public trees, defined by where the trunk is. Section 7-7-1: "PUBLIC TREES. All trees, shrubs, bushes and other woody vegetation for which any portion of the trunk is located on public property," and "PUBLIC PROPERTY. Any real property, including parks, streets or highways, that is owned by the City or held by it in trust for the benefit of the public." Section 7-7-3(A) reserves to the City "the right to plant, prune, maintain and remove trees, plants and shrubs within the lines of all streets, alleys, avenues, lanes, squares or public grounds."
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Penalties
- Section 7-7-2(C): "The violations of this section shall be punishable by a fine of up to $100 plus costs, unless the person charged has been previously convicted once under this section or any of the following sections of this code: 4-3-2, 4-4-2, 4-5-8, 4-6-8, 8-4-7 and 9-9-2 in the last five years, then a violation of this section shall be punishable by a fine of up to $500 plus costs."
- Ordinance
- Enid Code of Ordinances Title 7 (Public Ways and Property), Chapter 7 (Trees), Sections 7-7-1 through 7-7-5 and Article A, Sections 7-7A-1 through 7-7A-6. Sections 7-7-1, 7-7-3 and the whole of Article A come from Ord. 2003-24, passed December 16, 2003. Section 7-7-2 was replaced by Ord. 2018-25, passed September 6, 2018. Enid's code is published by American Legal Publishing and the version read here is "2026 S-4 (current)."
Worth knowing
- Who legally issues the notices: Section 7-7-2(B) provides that "The City Code Office will notify in writing the owners of trees specified in subsection (A) above." Article A of the chapter creates an Enid Tree Board responsible for a Community Forestry Plan and an Annual Work Plan covering "the planting, maintenance and removal of public trees and shrubs within the City."
- The City can order you to cut, and bill you if you do not. Section 7-7-2(A)(2): "The City shall have the right to cause the removal of any dead or diseased trees or the trimming of live trees on private property within the City, when such trees constitute a hazard to life and property, or harbor insects or disease which constitute a potential threat to other trees within the City." Section 7-7-2(B) gives you 30 days from service of notice, at your own expense, "In the event of failure of owners to comply with such provisions, the City shall have the authority to remove such trees and charge the cost of the work to said owners."
- Enid's definition of private property is unusual enough to flag. Section 7-7-1: "PRIVATE PROPERTY. Any property within the curb line of the streets as defined more specifically in 11 O.S. Section 36-106." The text of that state statute was not read for this entry, and this file reports Enid's definition as written rather than interpreting it.
- Enid defines an arborist but does not license one. Section 7-7-1: "ARBORIST. Any person who trims, prunes or cuts trees for hire or otherwise serves as a specialist in the care and maintenance of individual trees." No licensing, registration, bonding or insurance requirement attaches to that definition anywhere in Chapter 7.
- The Tree Board's remit is public trees. Section 7-7A-1(A) states the purpose as "creating a tree board and providing for the development of a community forestry plan to address the planting, maintenance and removal of public trees and shrubs within the City in order to promote, maintain and improve the urban forest resource of the City."
- Other sections of Chapter 7 cover planting rather than removal: Section 7-7-4 (planting, distance from curb and sidewalk), Section 7-7-5 (sight distance at intersections; obstructing hydrants) and Section 7-7A-5 (tree species).
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.
- — A direct phone number, email and street address for the Enid City Code Office or the Tree Board. enid.org is behind a Cloudflare challenge that blocked every automated fetch attempted for this entry, including through a text proxy.
- — The full text of Sections 7-7-4, 7-7-5, 7-7A-2, 7-7A-3, 7-7A-4, 7-7A-5 and 7-7A-6. Their titles were read from the chapter contents; only Sections 7-7-1, 7-7-2, 7-7-3 and 7-7A-1 were read in full.
- — Whether Title 11 (Zoning) or Title 12 (Land Development) impose tree preservation or landscaping requirements. Title 12's chapter list was read and contains no tree chapter, but the design standards chapter itself was not read, and Title 11 was not opened.
- — What Enid means by defining PRIVATE PROPERTY as "Any property within the curb line of the streets." The definition is quoted above verbatim and is not interpreted here.
- — Whether an ordinary private tree truly needs nothing. Chapter 7 grants the City power and imposes owner duties without ever creating a permit; that is the absence of a permit provision, not a written permission.
Sources
- Enid Code of Ordinances, Title 7 ch. 7 - Trees (American Legal Publishing)
- Enid Code Sec. 7-7-1 - Definitions (American Legal Publishing)
- Enid Code Sec. 7-7-2 - Removal of dead or diseased trees; trimming trees (American Legal Publishing)
- Enid Code Sec. 7-7-3 - Public tree care; city authority (American Legal Publishing)
- Enid Code Sec. 7-7A-1 - Purpose (Tree Board and Community Forestry Plan) (American Legal Publishing)