Do you need a permit?
No permit required for most private trees
Johnson City's tree ordinance is scoped to public trees by its own terms: no permit is needed to cut a tree in your own yard, at any size. What needs a permit is work on "any public tree on any street or on city-owned or city-controlled property" — and that includes the treelawn, the strip of right-of-way between your property line and the pavement. The ordinance actually runs the other way on private land: it requires owners to "remove all dead, diseased or dangerous trees, or broken or decayed limbs on their property, which constitute a menace to the safety of the public."
Size threshold
None applies to a private removal. The zoning code does define "development" to include "the removal of healthy trees over six inches dbh," and defines a "Specimen tree" as "any healthy tree with a diameter of 18 inches dbh or greater" — but both sit inside rules that exempt houses. Site plan approval "with the exception of single-family and two-family dwellings" governs all development, and the landscape regulations apply to "All new development, excluding active agricultural use and the individual development of one single-family or two-family detached dwelling unit."
What's protected in Johnson City
- Public trees — "all shade and ornamental trees now or hereafter growing on any street, right of way, highway, park, or any other property owned or controlled by the city, including the term 'street trees.'"
- Street trees — "Trees, shrubs, bushes, and all other woody vegetation on land lying within the right of way on either side of any streets, avenues, highways, or ways within the city."
- The treelawn — "That part of a street or highway right of way not covered by sidewalk or other paving, lying between the adjacent property line and that portion of the street or highway usually used for vehicular traffic." Section 13-610(4)(b) is explicit: "No person or property owner shall remove a tree from the treelawn for any reason without first filing an application and procuring a permit from the city forester."
- Required landscape plantings on commercial and multifamily sites, where "A property owner shall notify and receive approval from the City Forester or designee before any healthy tree or shrub is removed."
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Penalties
- Section 13-615: "Any person found to have violated any provision of this ordinance, or any person found to have failed or refused to comply with any notice to abate or other notice issued by the city forester within the time allowed by such notice... shall be upon conviction in municipal court guilty of violating this ordinance; each day of such violation or failure or refusal to comply shall be deemed a separate offense and punishable accordingly. In addition to other remedies for violations of this ordinance, each violation of this ordinance shall be punishable by a fine of fifty dollars ($50.00)." Section 13-614 lets the city abate a nuisance itself and take "a lien on the property upon which such nuisance is located to secure the amount expended."
- Ordinance
- Johnson City Municipal Code Title 13, Chapter 6 — the Tree Ordinance, Sections 13-601 through 13-616, enacted by Ordinance #3790 in December 2000. Every section carries that single citation; the chapter has not been amended since. The codification you can read is current, though: the MTAS-published Johnson City Municipal Code is Change 16, June 5, 2025. Zoning is a separate product, Ordinance #1925 and amendments, codified through Ordinance No. 4845-23, adopted November 2, 2023.
Worth knowing
- The most useful local detail is about your brush pile. The city collects "tree trimmings, shrubbery (with no roots), limbs, etc., generated by routine maintenance of a property by the homeowner" — but not a contractor's debris: "Anyone hired to trim or remove trees, shrubs, etc., is required to remove the resulting brush from the property. Failure to do so may result in a court citation."
- The city can order a private tree removed. Section 13-612(1): "The city shall have the right to order or cause the removal of any trees on private property that are of such hazard to life or property as to constitute a public nuisance or harbor insects or disease that constitute a potential threat to other trees within the city. The city forester shall determine in his or her sole discretion, which tree or trees are to be removed." You get thirty days, at your expense.
- Planting near power lines is restricted on private land, but removing is not. Section 13-609(4) bars planting a tree "closer than twenty (20) feet in a radius to any overhead electrical, telephone, or other utility wires that are within the public right-of-way."
- Driveway and trench work near a public tree needs its own permit: "No person shall excavate any ditches, tunnels, trenches, or lay any drive within a radius of ten (10) feet from any public tree without first obtaining a written permit."
- Clearance duties on street-adjacent trees: eight feet over sidewalks, twelve feet over streets, fourteen feet over truck thoroughfares. Where an electrical hazard is involved the owner must contact the Johnson City Power Board rather than prune.
- Ordinary yard work does not trip the stormwater rules. The stormwater ordinance exempts "Minor land disturbing activities such as home gardens and individual home landscaping, repairs or maintenance work."
- There is no hillside or steep-slope tree permit in Johnson City. The word "hillside" does not appear in the zoning code, and steep slope appears only inside the lot-area-averaging definition.
- The Tree and Appearance Board is advisory. It studies the urban forestry program and recommends legislation; it does not issue permits. Appeals from a forester decision go to the City Manager within ten business days.
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 City Forester's name, direct phone and email. The position is created by ordinance but does not appear anywhere in the city's online staff directory. Start with Planning at 423-434-6073.
- — The public-tree permit fee. Section 13-610(1)(b) says only that "A permit fee is authorized and shall be set by resolution of the governing body of the city," and that resolution is not in the code or on the city site.
- — Whether any tree permit application form exists in published form. None was found on johnsoncitytn.org.
- — Whether the zoning code changed after November 2, 2023. Johnson City's Municode zoning product is roughly two and a half years behind, while the general code (Change 16, June 2025) is current. The tree ordinance itself is in the current general code.
- — Washington County rules. Johnson City spans Washington, Carter and Sullivan counties, and property outside the city limits is not covered by any of the above.
Sources
- Johnson City Municipal Code (MTAS, University of Tennessee) — Title 13, Chapter 6 Tree Ordinance (PDF)
- MTAS — Municipal Code of Johnson City
- City of Johnson City — Code and Charter
- City of Johnson City — Planning Division
- City of Johnson City — Brush, Leaf and Grass Collection
- Johnson City Zoning Code (Municode)