Do you need a permit?
No permit required for most private trees
Hammond's tree care permit covers public trees and the tree lawn, not your yard. Section 105.15 requires it before anyone may plant, remove, excavate near or cut "any public tree or disturb or plant any shrubbery within any tree lawn, park, or other public place," and the permit is free. The rule that does reach a private yard is aimed at your contractor: under Section 105.17 anyone doing tree work for hire in Hammond must register with the Park Department and pay a permit fee, private trees included.
Size threshold
No threshold for private removal. The only size trigger in the chapter is the pruning exemption: "No permit shall be required for the trimming of any branches with a diameter of 3 inches or less." DBH is defined as the trunk diameter measured 4.5 feet above ground level.
What's protected in Hammond
- Public trees, and any shrubbery in a tree lawn, park or other public place
- Street trees — "trees lying on the real estate owned or controlled by the city," excluding Park Department real estate except for a 15-foot strip from the pavement edge on either side of paved through streets in a park
- Boundary trees, where the stem straddles the line between city property and yours. The code calls a boundary tree "the common property of both landowners," and Section 105.18(A) requires a permit before one is removed from the public tree lawn.
- Specimen trees or stands — "any tree, or grouping of trees, that has been determined by the Park Department to be of high value because of its species, size, age, form, historical significance or professional criteria"
- Park trees, on city-owned park areas
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Fee
- Free. Section 105.16(D): "There shall be no charge for the tree care permit issuance." The contractor registration under Section 105.17 does carry a fee, which the code does not quantify.
- Penalties
- Section 105.99: "Violations of this chapter shall subject the offender to a fine not to exceed $500 per violation and that every day any violation of this chapter shall continue, shall constitute a separate offense." The city may also enter the property under IC 36-1-6-2 to bring it into compliance, "including but not limited to replanting of trees damaged or improperly removed by the offender," after giving interested parties a reasonable chance to comply first, and may lien the property for the expense.
- Ordinance
- Hammond Code of Ordinances Chapter 105 — Municipal Street Tree Regulations (Ord. 8031, passed December 3, 1997). Definitions at 105.01, Park Department supervision at 105.03, permit required at 105.15, issuance at 105.16, contractor permit at 105.17, pruning and removals at 105.18, injury to trees at 105.21, tree lawn alteration at 105.42, penalty at 105.99. The Arboricultural Specifications Manual is incorporated by reference.
Worth knowing
- The contractor rule is the one that catches people. Section 105.17: "It shall be unlawful for any person to work for hire performing tree care activities in the City of Hammond for private or municipal street trees without first registering with the Park Department for a contractor permit and paying the appropriate permit fee." Ask your tree service whether they are registered with the Hammond Park Department before you sign.
- No permit is needed in an emergency: "No permit shall be necessary for tree removal or trimming in emergency situations."
- Removing a tree from the public tree lawn is on your dime even with a permit. Section 105.18(A) puts the cost of complete removal on the person or property owner, including chipping all limbs and taking out the stump.
- Topping a street tree is unlawful as a normal practice — defined as cutting limbs back to stubs larger than 3 inches in diameter within the crown. Storm-damaged trees and trees under utility wires can be exempted by written determination of the Board of Park Commissioners.
- You may not pave over or otherwise convert an existing grassed tree lawn without the Board of Park Commissioners' advice and City Council consent.
- Dead trees on your own land are a duty, not a choice. Section 94.090(B) makes it unlawful for homeowners "to allow dead or dying trees, tree limbs, branches, stumps or parts of trees to remain on any improved or unimproved real property within the city if those trees, by virtue of their proximity to a public road, sidewalk, or dwelling or structure of another landowner, would cause damage or injury." Such trees are declared a nuisance.
- Section 160.03(B) requires bushes, trees and shrubs to be cut so they do not grow into or obstruct any public way, and Section 150.128(B) bars trees or shrubs that block traffic vision on a corner lot.
- The city's own 2026 Urban Forestry Management Plan summarises the chapter the same way: "A tree care permit is required for planting, removal, excavation near, or disturbance of public trees and tree lawns, with limited exemptions for minor pruning and emergencies."
- Hammond qualified as a Tree City USA for 15 years beginning in 1997, then let it lapse, and is working to re-establish it. There is no tree board — authority sits with the Board of Park Commissioners, and creating a tree board is the first short-term action in the 2026 plan.
- Your contractor has to haul their own mess. The Street Department states that "All trees cut down by contractors are responsible for removal of branches and debris," and city crews do not pick up large tree stumps. Streets is 219-853-6433.
- That plan also proposes adding private-property protections Hammond does not currently have, suggesting policies "adapted in Hammond to focus specifically on development scenarios, reducing the regulatory burden on homeowners while preserving mature canopy during redevelopment." It is a proposal, not current law — but it signals the rules here could change.
- Report a non-emergency tree issue through Hammond 311. City Hall is (219) 853-6300.
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 dollar amount of the contractor permit fee under Section 105.17. The code says only "the appropriate permit fee" and no schedule is published on gohammond.com.
- — The tree care permit application form or portal. Section 105.16 says the Park Department issues them but the city publishes no downloadable form or online submission path.
- — Processing time for a tree care permit.
- — The text of the Arboricultural Specifications Manual, which the chapter incorporates by reference and which carries the Accepted Street Tree List and the arboricultural standards permit holders must meet. It is not published on gohammond.com.
- — Whether a specimen tree designation has ever been applied to a tree on private property. The definition turns on a Park Department determination and the code does not say whether the designation can reach private land.
- — Whether Hammond has adopted any of the private-property tree protections its 2026 plan recommends. As of this check the code contains none.
- — One loose end that matters if your job is land clearing rather than one tree. Section 150.045 is titled Site Preparation Fees and opens: "Any person required to obtain a site preparation permit for the purposes of tree removal, grading, fill or other site preparation activities shall be required to apply, obtain, and pay for a building permit pursuant to Section 150.025," with fees from $50 for a project valued up to $1,000. It is a fee provision that assumes a permit exists without ever saying who needs one or at what threshold, and the phrase "site preparation permit" appears exactly once in the whole code. For a single yard tree nothing states a permit is required. For clearing tied to construction, call the Building Division at 219-853-6317 first.
- — Hammond's zoning code is adopted by reference at Chapter 158 and American Legal publishes none of its text. If a private-property tree rule exists anywhere in Hammond, that is the only place left it could be.
Sources
- Hammond Code of Ordinances Section 105.15 — Permit required
- Hammond Code of Ordinances Section 105.17 — Contractor permit required
- Hammond Code of Ordinances Chapter 105 — Municipal Street Tree Regulations
- City of Hammond — Parks and Recreation
- Hammond Code of Ordinances Section 94.090 — Unmaintained trees declared a nuisance
- Hammond Code of Ordinances Section 150.045 — Site preparation fees
- City of Hammond — Urban Forestry Management Plan 2026 (PDF)