Do you need a permit?
No permit required for most private trees
Gary published a homeowner tree guide in November 2025 that walks you from fallen tree to hauled-away debris and never once mentions a permit. Its opening line assigns "tree removal and trimming on private property" to the property owner. Gary's new Unified Development Ordinance, adopted August 1, 2026, keeps its tree-preservation rules pointed at developers and exempts detached single-family homes outright. What Gary does regulate is the contractor: tree cutting is a licensed trade here.
What's protected in Gary
- Parkway and right-of-way trees — the strip between the sidewalk and the curb. The city removes these; "Residents should not attempt to remove large city trees themselves."
- Trees on an approved Landscape Plan or in a Tree Preservation Easement on a development site. No disturbance is allowed in their critical root zones, and replacement is required if a preserved tree dies within five years.
- Commercial solar energy system sites, where "Widespread tree removal is prohibited" and any healthy tree over 4 inches caliper that is removed must be replaced 1:1
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Ordinance
- Gary Municipal Code Sec. 44-51 — Duty to remove or trim (the only tree section in the published code); Sec. 36-13 defines "parkway." Gary Unified Development Ordinance adopted August 1, 2026 — Sec. 20 (Landscape, applicability at 20.B, preservation at 20.E), Sec. 11.F (solar), Sec. 13.I (airport height limits).
Worth knowing
- The city's guidance is direct: "The homeowner is generally responsible for removal. The City of Gary will not enter private property to cut down or remove fallen trees, with rare emergency exceptions."
- The regulatory hook in Gary is your contractor, not you. Gary licenses "Tree Cutting" as its own trade category, and the city tells residents to ask a contractor "Are you licensed and insured for work in the City of Gary?" Nine firms held that license as of the December 2025 list.
- The city states: "All contractors and subcontractors must be licensed with the City of Gary to do work in the city. Under certain conditions, homeowners may be permitted to perform work on their own property." Gary also accepts contractor licenses from outside municipalities by reciprocity.
- Sec. 44-51 runs outward, not inward. The Department of Public Parks can require an owner to remove or trim a dead, unsightly or dangerous tree, or one projecting over the street to ten feet or less, after ten days' written notice. It is a power to make you cut, never a permission you have to ask for.
- Debris is the real cost trap. "Logs & Stumps: The city does not pick up large logs, tree trunks, or stumps at the curb. You must haul these to the Gary General Services Department (900 Madison St) or pay your private contractor to haul them away." Brush is collected only if bundled under 4 feet long and 2 inches diameter, and yard waste season runs March 1 to December 15 and must not contain tree limbs.
- The UDO's landscape section states it "shall apply to Development in all Zoning Districts, except for detached Single-family Dwellings not located within a Major Subdivision."
- For a city tree, use Gary 311 — the portal at garyin.qscend.com/311/, the Gary 311 app, or (219) 881-1311. Choose Request for Service, then General Services, then Tree Down or Tree Trim.
- After 5 p.m. or on weekends, a tree fully blocking a road goes to Lake County Non-Emergency at (219) 660-0000. If power lines are involved, do not touch it — call NIPSCO at 1-800-464-7726.
- If a fallen private tree blocks your driveway or emergency access, the city may cut just enough to restore access. "Full removal of the remaining tree remains the resident's responsibility."
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.
- — Gary does not publish a complete municipal code anywhere. It is not on Municode, American Legal, General Code, eCode360 or Code Publishing, and the document the city labels "Municipal Codes of Gary" is a nine-page code-enforcement excerpt. So the honest statement is that no tree-removal permit appears in any primary source the city publishes — not that a city source says none is required. Call (219) 882-8445 if your job is large.
- — Whether the OpenGov permit portal lists a tree permit type. That catalog is a JavaScript application that would not render for automated reading.
- — Any permit fee schedule. The only published fee PDF is a 2021 scanned image with no extractable text, and it predates the 2026 UDO.
- — Penalties. No penalty provision attaches to tree removal; Sec. 44-51's only mechanism is ten days' notice before the city acts.
- — Floodplain lots are a genuine gray area. Gary has extensive floodplain along the Little Calumet and Grand Calumet, a Floodplain Development Permit is required for development "wholly within, partially within, or in contact with a special flood hazard area," and the UDO defines development to include land disturbance. Tree removal is not named in the floodplain section, so we are not claiming a permit applies — but if your work involves stump grinding or regrading on a floodplain lot, call first.
- — Whether Gary holds Tree City USA status or an Indiana DNR-recognised tree board.
Sources
- City of Gary — Tree Removal & Property Responsibility Guide
- City of Gary — Unified Development Ordinance, adopted 8-1-2026 (PDF)
- City of Gary — Municipal Code excerpt (PDF)
- City of Gary — Public Works / General Services
- City of Gary — Licensed Contractors list, rev. 12/2025 (PDF)
- City of Gary — 311 Constituent Services