Tree Removal Permits in Georgetown, KY

Verified against Georgetown city sources · last checked 2026-08-06

Do you need a permit?

No permit required for most private trees

Georgetown regulates public trees and nothing else. The permit clause at Section 42-32 reaches "any operation involving a public tree," and that permit is free. There is no diameter threshold anywhere in the city code, the Georgetown-Scott County Zoning Ordinance or the Subdivision Regulations - the words DBH, diameter at breast height, caliper and circumference do not appear in any of the three. Two narrow exceptions catch some properties: clearing trees in a C-1 Conservation District or a designated floodplain in anticipation of development needs Planning Commission approval, and grubbing stumps over 5,000 square feet triggers a 50 dollar Land Disturbance permit. The rule most likely to reach you runs the other way: Section 42-37 lets the city order you to remove a dead or diseased tree at your own expense within 30 days.

Size threshold

None, because no permit applies to a private tree. The only tree-diameter number in the entire code governs public trees: Section 42-35 defines topping as "the severe cutting back of limbs to stubs larger than three inches in diameter within the tree's crown to such a degree so as to remove the normal canopy and disfigure the tree." The zoning and subdivision term "Significant Trees" is defined with no number at all - Zoning Ordinance Section 2.1: "As used in these Regulations, significant trees include those trees of specific species, size, and habitat location that are distinctly characteristic to the Bluegrass Region." The ordinance never publishes the species or the size, so there is no threshold to state.

What's protected in Georgetown

Street trees. Section 42-19: "Street trees mean trees, shrubs, bushes and all other woody vegetation on land lying between property lines on either side of all streets, avenues or ways within the city."
Park trees. Section 42-19: "Park trees mean trees, shrubs, bushes and all other woody vegetation in public parks having individuals' names, and all areas owned by the city, or to which the public has free access as a park."
Trees within fifteen feet of a public tree, even when the work is on your own land. Section 42-31: "No person shall make any excavation, place any fill, compact the soil, or construct any building, structure, street, sidewalk, driveway, pavement, or public utility within 15 feet of any public tree without first obtaining a permit for such work from the city."
Trees in a Conservation District or designated floodplain, when the cutting precedes development. Zoning Ordinance Section 4.2(4)(a): "Pre-construction activity in anticipation of development, other than part of an agricultural use, including the filling or removal of earth, rock, trees or other material in conservation zones or designated flood plains, shall not be permitted without approval of the Planning Commission."
Fence rows and significant trees in development review, and only softly. Subdivision Regulations Article XII Section E: "Remaining fence rows, trees lining roads, major tree stands, and significant trees in the southern half of the County shall be preserved and incorporated in landscape plans for new development where feasible."

How to apply in Georgetown

1
For a tree entirely on your own private property there is no application. Nothing to file.
2
For a street or park tree, Section 42-33 requires a written application in the form prescribed by the city, made by the abutting property owner or the owner's agent, identifying "the nature of the work for which the application is sought."
3
If the work is a removal or a planting, file "plans and specifications showing the location, size, species, and conditions of all existing public trees within 15 feet of all work activities, the location, size, and species of any trees to be planted, and any existing or planned buildings, street lights, traffic signals or signs, pavement, sidewalk, curb cut, or public utilities."
4
The city approves or disapproves within 15 business days of filing, with written reasons if rejected. Section 42-34 adds a deemed approval: "If no action is taken on an application within 15 days, it shall be deemed to have been approved."
5
Appeals under Section 42-40 go to the city tree board within 14 days, then to city council within 14 days of that decision.
6
If grubbing stumps and roots will disturb 5,000 square feet or more, apply separately to Building Inspection at 125 W Clinton Street for a Land Disturbance permit using the Standard EPSC Plan form, 50 dollars.

Fees, penalties, and the ordinance

Fee: The public tree permit costs nothing. Section 42-32: "No person shall commence or proceed with any operation involving a public tree without first obtaining a permit from the city. The permit is free, but appropriate fines, penalties and compensatory payments will be levied if work is performed on public trees without an approved permit." The arborist license is 25 dollars: Section 42-39, "The license fee shall be $25.00 annually in advance." The Land Disturbance or grading permit is 50 dollars and demolition is 52 dollars on the Building Permit Fee Schedule effective July 1, 2025, which also prices starting work without a permit at double the permit fee.
Penalties: Section 42-41: "Any person violating any provision of this article shall be, upon conviction or a plea of guilty, subject to a fine not to exceed $500.00 in county district court." Section 42-42 adds a replacement obligation: "Any person removing a tree in violation of this article, shall replace that tree with a tree of equivalent value on public property in proximity to the removed tree. The city tree board shall consider the species, location, size, and condition of the tree and determine its value. If no suitable location exists in proximity to the removed tree or if the replacement tree is of lesser value, the person causing the tree's removal shall make restitution to the city of an amount equal to the difference in value between the tree removed and the replacement tree. Any public tree that is determined by the city to be damaged, but only to an extent that does not justify the tree's removal, shall be considered devalued. The person causing the damage shall pay the amount of devaluation to the city." Nuisance and erosion violations run through the civil citation schedule at Section 2-842 instead: nuisance is a Class 1 violation at 50 dollars initial plus 50 dollars per seven days to a 500 dollar cap; erosion and land disturbance is Class 2 at 100 dollars initial plus 100 dollars per seven days to a 1,000 dollar cap. Contested maximum 2,000 dollars, uncontested 1,000 dollars.
Ordinance: Code of Ordinances, City of Georgetown, Kentucky, Chapter 42 - Vegetation, Article II - Trees, Sections 42-19 through 42-42, adopted by Ordinance No. 02-018 on July 18, 2002 and codified from Code 1983 Sections 18.1-21 through 18.1-44. Every section in the article carries only that one citation, so the tree ordinance has not been amended in twenty-four years. The Municode edition is current through Ordinance No. 2023-23, enacted December 11, 2023 (Supplement No. 4), posted online April 25, 2024 - roughly two and a half years of ordinances are uncodified. The Georgetown-Scott County Zoning Ordinance, adopted by reference at Code Section 44-1 (Ord. No. 77-003, March 3, 1977), is far fresher: updated July 10, 2026. Its tree-clearing clause bears "Amendment dated 1/26/88." Land disturbance rules are Chapter 14 Article III, from Ord. No. 2010-014 (6-28-2010), amended by Ord. No. 16-009 (9-12-2016) and Ord. No. 18-006 (1-22-2018).

Worth knowing

The chapter never defines the phrase it depends on. Sections 42-30, 42-31, 42-32 and 42-33 all turn on "public tree," and Section 42-19 defines Park trees, Street trees and Remove but never Public tree. Read with Section 42-29, which gives the city authority over trees "within the lines of all streets, alleys, avenues, lanes, squares and public grounds," the tree in the strip between your sidewalk and the curb is a street tree and needs the free permit even though you mow around it.
The fifteen-foot rule catches private construction. Section 42-31 requires a permit for excavation, fill, soil compaction, or construction of a driveway, sidewalk or pavement within fifteen feet of a public tree - which routinely applies to front-yard work.
Topping is banned on public property only. Section 42-35 makes it unlawful "to top any street tree, park tree or other tree on public property." Topping your own back yard tree is not prohibited by ordinance.
The arborist license is narrower than it looks. Section 42-39 makes it unlawful to engage in the business of "pruning, treating or removing street or park trees" without a 25 dollar annual city license plus 300,000 dollars of liability insurance and proof of workers compensation. By its own terms it does not reach a company hired only for a private back yard tree, and nothing in the code makes it unlawful to hire an unlicensed tree service for a purely private tree.
Hazard trees are your legal duty and the clock is thirty days. Section 42-36 requires owners to "remove all dead, diseased or dangerous trees or broken or decayed limbs, which constitute a menace to the safety of the public," and Section 42-37 says removal after written notice "shall be done by said owners at their own expense within 30 days after the date of service of notice," failing which the city does it and can place the charge on your property tax notice.
Clearance heights come from two places and match: Section 42-36 requires eight feet above the sidewalk and fourteen feet above the street, and nuisance Section 26-2(9) repeats the same figures.
Check your zoning before clearing. The Conservation District and floodplain clause at Zoning Section 4.2(4)(a) is the one place tree removal itself needs approval, and the Planning Commission GIS viewer will tell you whether you are in one.
The subdivision regulations contain the clearest single-family carve-out in the stack: the erosion control plan requirement expressly exempts "Individual single-family residential lots" and "Grading, as a maintenance measure, or for landscaping purposes on existing developed lots or parcels."
The historic district does not cover trees. Zoning Section 4.7 requires a conditional use permit only for "buildings or stone fences of historic significance," and Code Section 2-734 limits the Architectural Review Board to construction, exterior renovation, signage, demolition and relocation of BUILDINGS in the historic district. Section 2-733 adds that "All recommendations made by this board... shall be advisory only."
The tree board may be dormant. Section 42-20 creates a city tree board of up to eleven members including a director of beautification, but the city website shows no Tree Board page and the live body appears to be the Georgetown Beautification Committee. Code Section 2-521(a) expressly contemplates this: "All boards and commissions provided in this Code may remain administratively inactive for periods of time due to a lack of necessity or lack of adequate appointments."
The online code is stale. It runs only through December 11, 2023 while the zoning ordinance is current to July 10, 2026. For anything time-sensitive, confirm with the city clerk.
Public Works gives away free leaf compost and untreated wood chips, which matters for disposal after a removal.

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.

— Which city desk actually issues the free Chapter 42 urban forestry permit. The ordinance says only "the city," and there is no tree permit page, form or fee-schedule line item on the city website. Public Works is the best-supported contact but is not named in the ordinance.
— Whether the "urban forestry regulations" referenced in Sections 42-31 and 42-33 were ever adopted and published. No such document was found on the city website.
— Whether the official street tree species list required by Section 42-25, or the official comprehensive tree plan required by Section 42-23(a), currently exists.
— The species and size that qualify a tree as a "Significant Tree" under the zoning and subdivision definitions. The ordinance never publishes the list, and no number is computed here.
— Whether Georgetown currently holds Tree City USA status. The Arbor Day Foundation directory pages attempted returned 404 or did not render.
— Whether Kentucky has any seasonal oak pruning prohibition or oak wilt restriction. The Kentucky Division of Forestry forest health page lists spotted lanternfly, emerald ash borer and hemlock woolly adelgid and does not mention oak wilt, and there is no seasonal pruning provision anywhere in the Georgetown code. No legal prohibition was found.
— Whether the Kentucky Forest Conservation Act (KRS Chapter 149) imposes any notification duty that could reach a large residential tree cutting job. The statutory text was not retrieved.
— The contents of the separate Landscape and Land Use Buffers Ordinance, referenced in the Zoning Ordinance as Sections 6.13 and 6.14. It is listed on the Planning Commission regulations page but the PDF link could not be extracted, so its applicability clause is unconfirmed. Its own cross-references describe it as governing required plantings and perimeter buffers for newly constructed or renovated structures, not removal of existing trees by homeowners.

Sources

Who to contact in Georgetown

City of Georgetown Public Works and Sanitation, for the free public tree permit and city tree matters. Director of Public Works: Robert Bruin. Land Disturbance and grading permits go to the Georgetown/Scott County Building Inspection Department. Conservation District and floodplain approvals go to the Georgetown-Scott County Planning Commission. Dead and diseased tree orders come from Georgetown-Scott County Code Enforcement.

502-863-9855 (Public Works). City Hall: 502-863-9800. Building Inspection: 502-863-9802. Planning Commission: 502-867-3701. Code Enforcement: 502-603-5844. Inspector@georgetownky.gov (Building Inspection) Official page

235 W Yusen Drive, Georgetown, KY 40324 (Public Works). City Hall: 100 N Court Street, Georgetown, KY 40324. Building Inspection and Code Enforcement: 125 W Clinton Street, Georgetown, KY 40324. Planning Commission: 230 E Main St, Georgetown, KY 40324, Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

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Size threshold

What's protected in Georgetown

Street trees. Section 42-19: "Street trees mean trees, shrubs, bushes and all other woody vegetation on land lying between property lines on either side of all streets, avenues or ways within the city."

Park trees. Section 42-19: "Park trees mean trees, shrubs, bushes and all other woody vegetation in public parks having individuals' names, and all areas owned by the city, or to which the public has free access as a park."

Trees within fifteen feet of a public tree, even when the work is on your own land. Section 42-31: "No person shall make any excavation, place any fill, compact the soil, or construct any building, structure, street, sidewalk, driveway, pavement, or public utility within 15 feet of any public tree without first obtaining a permit for such work from the city."

Trees in a Conservation District or designated floodplain, when the cutting precedes development. Zoning Ordinance Section 4.2(4)(a): "Pre-construction activity in anticipation of development, other than part of an agricultural use, including the filling or removal of earth, rock, trees or other material in conservation zones or designated flood plains, shall not be permitted without approval of the Planning Commission."

Fence rows and significant trees in development review, and only softly. Subdivision Regulations Article XII Section E: "Remaining fence rows, trees lining roads, major tree stands, and significant trees in the southern half of the County shall be preserved and incorporated in landscape plans for new development where feasible."

How to apply in Georgetown

1
For a tree entirely on your own private property there is no application. Nothing to file.
2
For a street or park tree, Section 42-33 requires a written application in the form prescribed by the city, made by the abutting property owner or the owner's agent, identifying "the nature of the work for which the application is sought."
3
If the work is a removal or a planting, file "plans and specifications showing the location, size, species, and conditions of all existing public trees within 15 feet of all work activities, the location, size, and species of any trees to be planted, and any existing or planned buildings, street lights, traffic signals or signs, pavement, sidewalk, curb cut, or public utilities."
4
The city approves or disapproves within 15 business days of filing, with written reasons if rejected. Section 42-34 adds a deemed approval: "If no action is taken on an application within 15 days, it shall be deemed to have been approved."
5
Appeals under Section 42-40 go to the city tree board within 14 days, then to city council within 14 days of that decision.
6
If grubbing stumps and roots will disturb 5,000 square feet or more, apply separately to Building Inspection at 125 W Clinton Street for a Land Disturbance permit using the Standard EPSC Plan form, 50 dollars.

Fees, penalties, and the ordinance

Fee

The public tree permit costs nothing. Section 42-32: "No person shall commence or proceed with any operation involving a public tree without first obtaining a permit from the city. The permit is free, but appropriate fines, penalties and compensatory payments will be levied if work is performed on public trees without an approved permit." The arborist license is 25 dollars: Section 42-39, "The license fee shall be $25.00 annually in advance." The Land Disturbance or grading permit is 50 dollars and demolition is 52 dollars on the Building Permit Fee Schedule effective July 1, 2025, which also prices starting work without a permit at double the permit fee.

Penalties

Section 42-41: "Any person violating any provision of this article shall be, upon conviction or a plea of guilty, subject to a fine not to exceed $500.00 in county district court." Section 42-42 adds a replacement obligation: "Any person removing a tree in violation of this article, shall replace that tree with a tree of equivalent value on public property in proximity to the removed tree. The city tree board shall consider the species, location, size, and condition of the tree and determine its value. If no suitable location exists in proximity to the removed tree or if the replacement tree is of lesser value, the person causing the tree's removal shall make restitution to the city of an amount equal to the difference in value between the tree removed and the replacement tree. Any public tree that is determined by the city to be damaged, but only to an extent that does not justify the tree's removal, shall be considered devalued. The person causing the damage shall pay the amount of devaluation to the city." Nuisance and erosion violations run through the civil citation schedule at Section 2-842 instead: nuisance is a Class 1 violation at 50 dollars initial plus 50 dollars per seven days to a 500 dollar cap; erosion and land disturbance is Class 2 at 100 dollars initial plus 100 dollars per seven days to a 1,000 dollar cap. Contested maximum 2,000 dollars, uncontested 1,000 dollars.

Ordinance

Code of Ordinances, City of Georgetown, Kentucky, Chapter 42 - Vegetation, Article II - Trees, Sections 42-19 through 42-42, adopted by Ordinance No. 02-018 on July 18, 2002 and codified from Code 1983 Sections 18.1-21 through 18.1-44. Every section in the article carries only that one citation, so the tree ordinance has not been amended in twenty-four years. The Municode edition is current through Ordinance No. 2023-23, enacted December 11, 2023 (Supplement No. 4), posted online April 25, 2024 - roughly two and a half years of ordinances are uncodified. The Georgetown-Scott County Zoning Ordinance, adopted by reference at Code Section 44-1 (Ord. No. 77-003, March 3, 1977), is far fresher: updated July 10, 2026. Its tree-clearing clause bears "Amendment dated 1/26/88." Land disturbance rules are Chapter 14 Article III, from Ord. No. 2010-014 (6-28-2010), amended by Ord. No. 16-009 (9-12-2016) and Ord. No. 18-006 (1-22-2018).

Worth knowing

The chapter never defines the phrase it depends on. Sections 42-30, 42-31, 42-32 and 42-33 all turn on "public tree," and Section 42-19 defines Park trees, Street trees and Remove but never Public tree. Read with Section 42-29, which gives the city authority over trees "within the lines of all streets, alleys, avenues, lanes, squares and public grounds," the tree in the strip between your sidewalk and the curb is a street tree and needs the free permit even though you mow around it.
The fifteen-foot rule catches private construction. Section 42-31 requires a permit for excavation, fill, soil compaction, or construction of a driveway, sidewalk or pavement within fifteen feet of a public tree - which routinely applies to front-yard work.
Topping is banned on public property only. Section 42-35 makes it unlawful "to top any street tree, park tree or other tree on public property." Topping your own back yard tree is not prohibited by ordinance.
The arborist license is narrower than it looks. Section 42-39 makes it unlawful to engage in the business of "pruning, treating or removing street or park trees" without a 25 dollar annual city license plus 300,000 dollars of liability insurance and proof of workers compensation. By its own terms it does not reach a company hired only for a private back yard tree, and nothing in the code makes it unlawful to hire an unlicensed tree service for a purely private tree.
Hazard trees are your legal duty and the clock is thirty days. Section 42-36 requires owners to "remove all dead, diseased or dangerous trees or broken or decayed limbs, which constitute a menace to the safety of the public," and Section 42-37 says removal after written notice "shall be done by said owners at their own expense within 30 days after the date of service of notice," failing which the city does it and can place the charge on your property tax notice.
Clearance heights come from two places and match: Section 42-36 requires eight feet above the sidewalk and fourteen feet above the street, and nuisance Section 26-2(9) repeats the same figures.
Check your zoning before clearing. The Conservation District and floodplain clause at Zoning Section 4.2(4)(a) is the one place tree removal itself needs approval, and the Planning Commission GIS viewer will tell you whether you are in one.
The subdivision regulations contain the clearest single-family carve-out in the stack: the erosion control plan requirement expressly exempts "Individual single-family residential lots" and "Grading, as a maintenance measure, or for landscaping purposes on existing developed lots or parcels."
The historic district does not cover trees. Zoning Section 4.7 requires a conditional use permit only for "buildings or stone fences of historic significance," and Code Section 2-734 limits the Architectural Review Board to construction, exterior renovation, signage, demolition and relocation of BUILDINGS in the historic district. Section 2-733 adds that "All recommendations made by this board... shall be advisory only."
The tree board may be dormant. Section 42-20 creates a city tree board of up to eleven members including a director of beautification, but the city website shows no Tree Board page and the live body appears to be the Georgetown Beautification Committee. Code Section 2-521(a) expressly contemplates this: "All boards and commissions provided in this Code may remain administratively inactive for periods of time due to a lack of necessity or lack of adequate appointments."
The online code is stale. It runs only through December 11, 2023 while the zoning ordinance is current to July 10, 2026. For anything time-sensitive, confirm with the city clerk.
Public Works gives away free leaf compost and untreated wood chips, which matters for disposal after a removal.

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.

— Which city desk actually issues the free Chapter 42 urban forestry permit. The ordinance says only "the city," and there is no tree permit page, form or fee-schedule line item on the city website. Public Works is the best-supported contact but is not named in the ordinance.
— Whether the "urban forestry regulations" referenced in Sections 42-31 and 42-33 were ever adopted and published. No such document was found on the city website.
— Whether the official street tree species list required by Section 42-25, or the official comprehensive tree plan required by Section 42-23(a), currently exists.
— The species and size that qualify a tree as a "Significant Tree" under the zoning and subdivision definitions. The ordinance never publishes the list, and no number is computed here.
— Whether Georgetown currently holds Tree City USA status. The Arbor Day Foundation directory pages attempted returned 404 or did not render.
— Whether Kentucky has any seasonal oak pruning prohibition or oak wilt restriction. The Kentucky Division of Forestry forest health page lists spotted lanternfly, emerald ash borer and hemlock woolly adelgid and does not mention oak wilt, and there is no seasonal pruning provision anywhere in the Georgetown code. No legal prohibition was found.
— Whether the Kentucky Forest Conservation Act (KRS Chapter 149) imposes any notification duty that could reach a large residential tree cutting job. The statutory text was not retrieved.
— The contents of the separate Landscape and Land Use Buffers Ordinance, referenced in the Zoning Ordinance as Sections 6.13 and 6.14. It is listed on the Planning Commission regulations page but the PDF link could not be extracted, so its applicability clause is unconfirmed. Its own cross-references describe it as governing required plantings and perimeter buffers for newly constructed or renovated structures, not removal of existing trees by homeowners.