Do you need a permit?
No permit required for most private trees
Huntsville does not require a permit to remove a tree on your own private land, and it says so directly rather than leaving it to inference. Section 27-52(a) opens with "Trees located on private land are the property and responsibility of the owner of such land," and the powers the tree commission holds over those trees are limited to giving you information, cooperating on Arbor Week and running community planting projects. The offense section is drawn to match: every prohibition in Section 27-34 applies only "In relation to any tree or shrub located on public or easement-laden land." The permit that does exist covers trees six inches or more coming out of public land, it is free, and you get it by telephone. What can still reach you is the hazard rule - if a tree on your lot next to public land threatens safety and you do not deal with it, the city can and will bill you.
Size threshold
None on private land. On public land the trigger is six inches d.b.h.: Section 27-51(d)(1) provides that "Any person or agency, private or public, needing to remove a tree six inches or more in d.b.h. from public land shall first obtain by telephone a removal permit from the city forester." Huntsville measures that by circumference, not by a caliper across the trunk. Section 27-33: "d.b.h. means diameter breast height. For a single trunk tree, the d.b.h. is derived by measuring the trunk circumference of a tree at a point that is 4 1/2 feet above ground on the uphill side of the tree and then dividing the circumference by 3.14. For a multi-stemmed tree, the d.b.h. is derived by obtaining the sum of the separate circumferences measured at a point 4 1/2 feet above ground, then dividing the sum of the circumferences by 3.14." Note also the uphill side instruction, which matters on Huntsville's slopes. Caliper is measured differently again and on a moving point: "Caliper means tree trunk diameter, measured six inches above ground for trees with up to a four-inch caliper, and 12 inches above ground for larger trees."
What's protected in Huntsville
- Trees and shrubs on public land. Section 27-34: "In relation to any tree or shrub located on public or easement-laden land, it shall be unlawful for any person not authorized to do so: (1) To break, injure, mutilate, burn, kill, remove, or destroy any tree or shrub without authority to do so as set forth in this article." That opening phrase is the whole scope of the offense section.
- Trees on easement-laden land, which is privately owned ground you may not think of as regulated. Section 27-33 defines it as "privately owned land on which an easement has been granted to the city or another entity to allow for public services such as utility distribution, water distribution and drainage, access to maintain the public services, etc." Section 27-52(b) then confirms such trees "are the property and responsibility of the owner of the land on which the easement lies," but the Section 27-34 offenses still apply to them and "All removal or maintenance work involving such trees shall be conducted in accordance with the tree care standards adopted herein."
- Trees planted by the city in the right-of-way for ornamentation. Section 27-32: "No tree planted by the city for ornamentation or public safety purposes within said rights-of-way shall be removed or intentionally damaged, injured, or destroyed, except by a duly authorized person, company, organization, or agent of the city who has first secured a permit from the city forester."
- Trees on private land that threaten public safety - protected in the sense that the city will act on them at your expense. Section 27-51(b) covers "any tree maintained on a parcel of property which adjoins any public land or easement-laden land which is, or is likely to become, a threat to the public safety."
How to apply in Huntsville
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For a tree on your own private land, there is no application. Nothing to file, no fee, no threshold.
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For a tree six inches or more d.b.h. on public land, Section 27-51(d)(1) is unusual in specifying the channel: you "shall first obtain by telephone a removal permit from the city forester." Call 256-564-8030 or the arborist directly at 256-427-7499.
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Expect a replacement condition. Section 27-51(d)(2): "Any person or agency removing trees, by permit, which are six inches or more in d.b.h. shall provide for the planting of new trees in approximately equal numbers and in appropriate locations mutually agreed upon by the city forester and the person obtaining the permit." The same subsection adds that "Failure to obtain a permit when one would be required for removal of a tree shall not relieve responsibility for its replacement."
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If the city has flagged a tree on your property, Section 27-35 gives you a clock: the city forester "will refer the matter to the property owner for redress, at his or her expense, within 14 calendar days. If the owner has not corrected the problem within that time, the city forester will refer all information to the appropriate enforcement authority."
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To appeal, Section 27-36(b) routes you first to the city council: "Appeals of arbitration, decisions or other actions by the tree commission may be made first to the city council and further to the proper court of law."
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Fee
- The public land removal permit is free. Section 27-51(d)(1): such permits "may be granted for one tree or for groups of trees, and shall be issued at no cost under guidelines established by the tree commission." No fee exists for private tree removal because no permit exists.
- Penalties
- Section 27-36(a): "Any person violating or failing to comply with any of the provisions of this article shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined a sum sufficient to restore any damage resulting from the violation not to exceed $500.00 per tree or shrub damaged, and may be required to make such restitution in goods and/or labor as may be determined by the proper court of law, or may be sentenced to any combination of these penalties." Note that the cap is per tree, so a multi-tree violation multiplies.
- Ordinance
- Huntsville Code of Ordinances, Chapter 27 (Vegetation), Article II - Trees, Sections 27-31 through 27-53. The editor's note records that "Ord. No. 04-45, Sections 1-14, adopted Feb. 12, 2004, amended art. II of this chapter in its entirety to read as herein set out. Prior to amendment, art. II, Sections 27-31, 27-51-27-54, pertained to similar subject matter and derived unamended from the original Code." Every section in the article carries the same derivation, Ord. No. 04-45, 2-12-2004, so the article has not been substantively amended since. The tree commission itself sits at Section 2-1451 et seq., and the greenspace planting agreement is authorized under Section 2-1455. Code current through Ordinance No. 26-196, adopted March 12, 2026 (Supp. No. 30, Update 2).
Worth knowing
- The clean statement of the rule, worth quoting to anyone who tells you otherwise: Section 27-52(a), "Trees located on private land are the property and responsibility of the owner of such land." What follows in that subsection is a list of encouragements - the commission may "Provide information and technical referral service to landowners," cooperate on "Arbor Week observance, plant digs, community tree-planting," and participate in community projects. There is no permit, no threshold and no penalty in it.
- The hazard rule is where a Huntsville homeowner actually gets a bill, and it has an unusually precise cost-splitting formula. Section 27-51(b)(1)c: if the tree "is deemed to be wholly located on private property, and the owner of the private property has failed to abate the hazardous condition, the cost of the city's abating the hazard shall be assessed against the property owner." Section 27-51(b)(2) handles the straddling tree: where it is partly on each, "the cost of abating the hazard shall be assessed and prorated based on the proportion of the stump diameter of the tree located on private and public property."
- The duty runs to you before the city acts. Section 27-51(b) closes: "When it comes to the attention of any owner of a parcel of land which adjoins any public land or easement-laden land that any tree maintained by him is, or is likely to become, a threat to the public safety, it is the duty of said owner to abate said hazard by appropriate action in accordance with the adopted standards."
- The right-of-way tree in front of your house may be one you are already allowed to keep. Section 27-32: "Any tree presently located within such a right-of-way which is maintained by the owner of the adjacent property for ornamentation, shade, screening, or other purposes, may continue to be so maintained so long as that portion of the right-of-way is not improved for travel or utility purposes." The city also may not remove it "without notice of the adjoining owner," except where notice would impede protection of traffic, the street, utilities or drainage.
- Huntsville adopted the industry standards by name, which is what a contractor should be working to. Section 27-33 defines adopted tree care standards as ANSI A300 (2001) Part 1, Standard Pruning Practices, and ANSI Z133.1 (2000), Arboricultural Operations safety requirements, each "as may be amended."
- Chapter 27 does not license tree services. No arborist, tree service or tree contractor license appears in Article II, and the article imposes its duties on "any person" rather than on a licensed trade. Where there is no license, the vetting is yours.
- If you are planting rather than removing, the separation distances are specified. Section 27-53(a)(3) requires 20 feet of lateral separation from overhead electrical conductors for large trees and 15 feet for medium; Section 27-53(a)(4) requires 5 feet from sewer lines for most trees but 10 feet for "Hackberry, pines, and all hedgerows."
- The city will plant a tree in your yard and prune it once. The Greenspace Planting Agreement at Section 27-53(b) has the Forestry Division provide the tree and "provide initial horticultural pruning approximately one year after planting," while you agree to plant it and water it. The agreement "is a personal agreement between the parties and does not run with the land" and lasts 10 years or until you sell.
- Parking lot and vehicular use area landscaping is elsewhere. Section 27-53(a)(5) sends it to "appendix A, zoning, of this Code," specifically Appendix A, Chapter VII, Article 71. That is a development requirement, not a homeowner one.
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.
- — Whether the zoning ordinance (Appendix A) or the subdivision regulations (Appendix B) impose any tree preservation duty that could reach an existing single-family lot. Chapter 27 cross-references both for landscaping of parking and vehicular use areas, and those provisions are plainly development-side, but neither appendix was read in full here. If you are building rather than just removing, ask before you clear.
- — What the tree commission's published guidelines for public-land removal permits actually say. Section 27-51(d)(1) makes permits issue "under guidelines established by the tree commission," and the guidelines were not located online.
- — The list of tree species the city forester and tree commission classify as unacceptable for planting on city property. Section 27-51(c) says "A copy of the acceptable and unacceptable species of trees for planting shall be provided upon request by the city forester," so it is available by asking rather than published.
- — Whether Huntsville historic districts add tree or landscape review. Chapter 10 covers cultural facilities and historical preservation and was not examined; in Mobile and Montgomery the historic district is exactly where private tree rules appear.
- — Whether the city forester role is formally held by the arborist named above. The code refers throughout to a "city forester" and the city's page names Marc Byers as arborist for Urban Forestry and Horticulture; the titles were not confirmed to be the same position.
- — Whether costs assessed under Section 27-51(b) become a lien or special assessment against the parcel. The article says only that the cost "shall be assessed against the property owner" without stating a collection mechanism.