Tree Removal Permits in Kenosha, WI

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

Do you need a permit?

It depends on the tree

Kenosha is the one city in Wisconsin where the answer turns on the size of your lot rather than where the tree stands. On a parcel under 20,000 square feet with no conditional use permit and no subdivider's agreement, no permit is needed to remove a tree from your own yard. At 20,000 square feet or more - about 0.459 acre - the Tree Protection article kicks in, and you need a Tree Protection Permit to remove any "protected tree," which Kenosha defines as three inches in diameter measured 54 inches from grade. Three inches is a sapling. The tree in the lawn park out front is separate again: pruning limbs of an inch and a half or less is free, anything larger needs a free Forestry Permit, and removing a lawn park tree over six inches requires proof of a quarter-million dollars of liability insurance.

Size threshold

Section 34.02: "Protected Trees shall mean a tree which has a diameter, measured at fifty-four (54) inches from grade, of three (3) inches or greater." The lot-size trigger is Section 34.10.A, which applies the article to lots and parcels that are "1. Twenty thousand (20,000) square feet or greater; or 2. Subject to a Conditional Use Permit; or 3. Subject to a Subdivider's Agreement; or 4. Zoned B-2 or IP; and which contain a protected tree." The same subsection carves out ordinary home projects: "This Chapter shall not apply to the construction of garages and additions to dwellings located on residential lots improved with a dwelling." On the public side, Section 34.04.A sets the pruning threshold at limbs "greater than one and one-half (1-1/2) inches in diameter," and Section 34.05.F sets the insurance trigger at a lawn park tree "having a diameter in excess of six (6) inches measured fifty-four (54) inches from grade."

What's protected in Kenosha

Protected trees on any regulated parcel - three inches diameter at 54 inches from grade. Section 34.10.B.1: "Any person, party, firm or corporation to whom this Section applies, except as herein provided, shall not remove a protected tree, build or construct any building or structure upon a lot or parcel containing a protected tree, or otherwise disturb the land upon a lot or parcel containing a protected tree without first obtaining a permit hereunder."
Trees in lawn parks and public rights-of-way. Section 34.04.A: "No person shall plant, replace, prune, alter, do surgery on a tree, on any limbs greater than one and one-half (1-1/2) inches in diameter, or disturb the land within the dripline of any tree on lawn parks and public rights-of-way, or cause such work to be done by others, without first obtaining a written permit for such work from the City Forester."
Lawn Park, defined by Section 5.051 as "the area between the public sidewalk and the curbline of the street. Where there is no sidewalk, Lawn Park shall mean the area between the property line and the curbline of the street." Section 34.02 defines Public Rights-of-Way as "that part of every street between the lot line and the curb, pavement or street line and shall include sidewalks and lawn parks."
Public nuisance trees on private property. Section 34.02: "Public Nuisance shall mean any tree or part thereof which by reason of its condition interferes with the use of any public area; or which is infected with a plant disease; or which is infested with injurious insects or pests which threaten public or private property, or which endangers the public health, safety and welfare."
Oaks and elms during a permit term. Section 34.10.B.6.h: "Oaks and elms shall not be pruned from May through the end of August during the Permit term." Note that this attaches to permitted work, not to the city at large.

How to apply in Kenosha

1
First work out which permit you need. Lawn park or right-of-way tree: form PK008, the Forestry Permit, free. Tree on a regulated private parcel: form PK011, the Tree Protection Permit.
2
Section 34.04.C: apply in writing on City forms. There is no online tree request channel in Kenosha - the city's Report an Issue portal offers only Pothole and Overhead Street Lighting - so file by mail, in person at 625 52nd Street Room 108, by phone at 262-653-4080, or by email to parks@kenosha.org.
3
For a Tree Protection Permit, Section 34.10.B.2 requires a tree location survey at a scale of fifty to one or larger showing the lot dimensions, existing and proposed buildings and utilities, "Location of all existing trees, which are subject to this Chapter, identifying the tree diameter measured at fifty-four (54) inches from grade," which trees stay, move or go, how the survivors will be protected, all setbacks and easements, proposed grade changes and their effect, and the location of trees to be planted.
4
If your regulated parcel has no protected tree on it, you still have to say so on the record. Section 34.10.B.1: the owner claiming that exemption "shall, as a condition of exemption, file an executed statement to this effect with the permitting authority," and Section 34.10.B.2 calls it a "No Tree Verification."
5
Timing is fixed by Section 34.10.B.3: where the work needs a City-approved landscape plan, the permit issues after plan approval; where it needs an Erosion Control Permit, after that permit issues; where it needs a Building Permit, before the Building Permit issues.
6
If you are the abutting owner removing a lawn park tree over six inches in diameter, Section 34.05.F conditions the permit "upon proof of liability insurance covering death and personal injury and property loss or damage in the amount of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000.00)."
7
Forestry Permits expire nine months after issuance under Section 34.04.E.

Fees, penalties, and the ordinance

Fee: Two different permits, two different answers. The lawn park Forestry Permit is free - Section 34.04.D says the City Forester may issue it "with conditions or limitations, without a fee therefore." The Tree Protection Permit on a regulated parcel is currently published at 100 dollars; Section 34.10.B.4 sets it indirectly: "The Permit fee shall be as determined by the Commission from time to time and maintained by the Department of Public Works in its schedule of fees and charges. The fee shall increase five hundred (500) percent in the event any work requiring a Permit is commenced prior to obtaining a Permit, without effect on penalties arising out of a prosecution for a violation of this Chapter." Separately, Section 34.135 adds "a seventy-five dollar ($75.00) administrative fee" to any abatement the city performs.
Penalties: Section 34.14: "Any person who by himself/herself or by his/her agent or employee, shall violate any of the provisions of this Chapter, shall, upon conviction, pay a forfeiture of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) and not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), and in default of payment thereof, be imprisoned in the County Jail for a period not to exceed ninety (90) days. A separate offense shall be deemed to have been committed on every day on which a violation occurs or continues." Section 34.12 adds a practical sanction that bites harder than the fine: "Until the provisions of this Chapter, including the conditions on any Permits issued thereunder, have been fully met, the City shall withhold issuance of any Land Use Permit, Building Permit, Certificate of Occupancy or inspection required under the current City Building Code or issue stop orders for any land development involving tree removal."
Ordinance: City of Kenosha Code of General Ordinances, Chapter XXXIV - Forestry, Sections 34.01 through 34.14. Municode prints no history note on any section of the chapter and the Code Comparative Table carries no entry touching it, so there appears to have been no codified amendment in recent years, but the original adopting ordinance number is not published online. Lawn park duties are at Section 5.051 (Lawn Park Areas) in Chapter V, Public Works and Services; the Christmas tree seller license is Section 13.10. Code current through Ordinance No. 22-26, adopted June 15, 2026 (Supp. No. 11, Update 1).

Worth knowing

The lot-size trigger catches more houses than it sounds like. Twenty thousand square feet is 0.459 acre, and Kenosha's RR-1 district carries a 40,000 square foot minimum lot size - so every conforming RR-1 lot is over the line before you even measure.
The replacement obligation on a regulated parcel is heavy and it is inch-for-inch. Section 34.10.B.7: "Replacement shall be diameter inch for diameter inch removed, i.e., eighteen-inch diameter equals six (6) trees at three (3) inches diameter," plus "A minimum of one (1) replacement tree shall be required for each two thousand (2,000) square feet of lot or parcel of land not improved by a building or structure for which a Tree Permit has been issued." Replacements must be at least eight feet tall and two inches in diameter, planted before a Certificate of Occupancy issues, and Section 34.10.B.9 makes the owner replace any that die within two years.
You may prune small limbs on your lawn park tree without asking. Section 34.04.B: "No person shall be required to obtain a permit to prune limbs of one and one-half (1-1/2) inches or less in diameter on trees in a lawn park or public right-of-way abutting their property," and watering and fertilizing are likewise exempt.
The duty to cut runs on two different clocks in two different chapters. Chapter XXXIV Section 34.06.A gives an owner not less than 30 days to abate a nuisance tree on private property, with a shorter window if the Forester finds immediate action necessary. Section 5.07, in the public works chapter, uses a 20-day clock for terrace tree removal. Both are current.
Unpaid abatement lands on your tax bill. Section 34.06.F: the Forester bills the owner and, "If such bill is not paid within thirty (30) days, said bill shall be processed as a special assessment against said property." Section 34.135 lets the city specially charge for compliance work generally and tacks on the 75 dollar administrative fee.
Kenosha has been a Tree City USA community for 44 consecutive years, with a Growth Award in five of them - a figure the city and the Arbor Day Foundation state identically.
If the city took a parkway tree out in front of your house, you may be able to get a replacement cheaply. The Reforestation Program covers residents "who have had a tree removed from a parkway within the past five years," costs 50 to 150 dollars per tree including planting and tax, plants in October and November, and runs first come first served. Ask to be added to the Reforestation Program List at 262-653-4080.
Stumps are your problem twice over. Form PK008 obliges the owner to remove stumps within 60 days, and the city compost site will not take them - "Unacceptable items are: tree stumps, bush roots." Section 34.05.F sets the standard: the stump ground out to at least nine inches below grade, surface roots to five inches, all debris off the street by the end of each work day.
Kenosha does not license tree services. The City Clerk-Treasurer's full license list carries exactly one tree entry: "Christmas Tree - (type 127) | Expires 1/3 | $50.00 - Required to sell Christmas trees - Section 13.10."
Curbside brush collection runs May through November by scheduled pickup for material "less than 6 inches in diameter," bundled in three-foot lengths with string or twine, 40 pounds per bundle, with roots, stumps and dirt removed. Call Public Works at 262-653-4050 at least one business day before your garbage day. Contractor dumping is not accepted.
Appeals go to the Board of Park Commissioners, which is also the body that sets the permit fee. You have 15 days under Section 34.13 to appeal an interpretation, 10 days under Section 34.05.N to appeal a planting or removal order, and 10 days under Section 34.07 to appeal a permit revocation.
The city's Approved Parkway Tree List is explicitly open-ended: "This is not a definitive list of approved trees. As new species appear on the market, new cultivars displace older ones. Contact the Parks Department if you want a tree not on this list."

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 consequence of starting work before you have a permit. Section 34.10.B.4 says only that "The fee shall increase five hundred (500) percent," which reads either as five times the fee or as the fee plus five times the fee, and the city publishes no figure. The ordinance language is quoted above rather than computed. Ask Parks at 262-653-4080.
— The adopting ordinance number and date for Chapter XXXIV. Municode prints no history note on any 34.xx section and the Code Comparative Table has no entry touching the chapter, so no codified amendment appears in the recent record, but the original ordinance is not published online.
— Whether a separate Section 5.04 right-of-way permit is required for stump grinding in the lawn park, on top of the Forestry Permit.
— The contents of the city's Tree Pruning Guidelines PDF. It is a scanned document with no text layer and is not characterized here.
— Business-office hours, which the city publishes two ways for the same 262-653-4080 line: the Parks index says 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and the Forestry page and Director card both say 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. A tree caller dials the Forestry number, so use 7 to 3 and expect the other.
— Whether Kenosha has any emerald ash borer program at all. A full-text sweep of the city's sitemap and its complete news archive returned zero hits for "emerald," "ash borer" or "EAB," and the same sweep of all 26 code chapters and 18 zoning sections returned zero. Kenosha publishes nothing on EAB, and no causal claim is made either way.
— Which room number is correct for Public Works. Its department page says Room 305; the waste and appliance page says Room 108, which is the Parks business office.

Sources

Who to contact in Kenosha

Department of Parks, City of Kenosha. City Forester: Dirk Nelson; Parks Director: Katie Elder. Note the mismatch before you file: Section 34.10.B.2 says applications go to "the City Forester in the Department of Public Works," but the forester is a Parks employee and both permit forms return to Parks. File with Parks.

262-653-4080 (Parks). Public Works, for brush collection scheduling: 262-653-4050. parks@kenosha.org Official page

625 52nd Street, Room 108, Kenosha, WI 53140. The Parks Director also keeps a field office at 3617 65th Street.

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Size threshold

What's protected in Kenosha

Protected trees on any regulated parcel - three inches diameter at 54 inches from grade. Section 34.10.B.1: "Any person, party, firm or corporation to whom this Section applies, except as herein provided, shall not remove a protected tree, build or construct any building or structure upon a lot or parcel containing a protected tree, or otherwise disturb the land upon a lot or parcel containing a protected tree without first obtaining a permit hereunder."

Trees in lawn parks and public rights-of-way. Section 34.04.A: "No person shall plant, replace, prune, alter, do surgery on a tree, on any limbs greater than one and one-half (1-1/2) inches in diameter, or disturb the land within the dripline of any tree on lawn parks and public rights-of-way, or cause such work to be done by others, without first obtaining a written permit for such work from the City Forester."

Lawn Park, defined by Section 5.051 as "the area between the public sidewalk and the curbline of the street. Where there is no sidewalk, Lawn Park shall mean the area between the property line and the curbline of the street." Section 34.02 defines Public Rights-of-Way as "that part of every street between the lot line and the curb, pavement or street line and shall include sidewalks and lawn parks."

Public nuisance trees on private property. Section 34.02: "Public Nuisance shall mean any tree or part thereof which by reason of its condition interferes with the use of any public area; or which is infected with a plant disease; or which is infested with injurious insects or pests which threaten public or private property, or which endangers the public health, safety and welfare."

Oaks and elms during a permit term. Section 34.10.B.6.h: "Oaks and elms shall not be pruned from May through the end of August during the Permit term." Note that this attaches to permitted work, not to the city at large.

How to apply in Kenosha

1
First work out which permit you need. Lawn park or right-of-way tree: form PK008, the Forestry Permit, free. Tree on a regulated private parcel: form PK011, the Tree Protection Permit.
2
Section 34.04.C: apply in writing on City forms. There is no online tree request channel in Kenosha - the city's Report an Issue portal offers only Pothole and Overhead Street Lighting - so file by mail, in person at 625 52nd Street Room 108, by phone at 262-653-4080, or by email to parks@kenosha.org.
3
For a Tree Protection Permit, Section 34.10.B.2 requires a tree location survey at a scale of fifty to one or larger showing the lot dimensions, existing and proposed buildings and utilities, "Location of all existing trees, which are subject to this Chapter, identifying the tree diameter measured at fifty-four (54) inches from grade," which trees stay, move or go, how the survivors will be protected, all setbacks and easements, proposed grade changes and their effect, and the location of trees to be planted.
4
If your regulated parcel has no protected tree on it, you still have to say so on the record. Section 34.10.B.1: the owner claiming that exemption "shall, as a condition of exemption, file an executed statement to this effect with the permitting authority," and Section 34.10.B.2 calls it a "No Tree Verification."
5
Timing is fixed by Section 34.10.B.3: where the work needs a City-approved landscape plan, the permit issues after plan approval; where it needs an Erosion Control Permit, after that permit issues; where it needs a Building Permit, before the Building Permit issues.
6
If you are the abutting owner removing a lawn park tree over six inches in diameter, Section 34.05.F conditions the permit "upon proof of liability insurance covering death and personal injury and property loss or damage in the amount of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000.00)."
7
Forestry Permits expire nine months after issuance under Section 34.04.E.

Fees, penalties, and the ordinance

Fee

Two different permits, two different answers. The lawn park Forestry Permit is free - Section 34.04.D says the City Forester may issue it "with conditions or limitations, without a fee therefore." The Tree Protection Permit on a regulated parcel is currently published at 100 dollars; Section 34.10.B.4 sets it indirectly: "The Permit fee shall be as determined by the Commission from time to time and maintained by the Department of Public Works in its schedule of fees and charges. The fee shall increase five hundred (500) percent in the event any work requiring a Permit is commenced prior to obtaining a Permit, without effect on penalties arising out of a prosecution for a violation of this Chapter." Separately, Section 34.135 adds "a seventy-five dollar ($75.00) administrative fee" to any abatement the city performs.

Penalties

Section 34.14: "Any person who by himself/herself or by his/her agent or employee, shall violate any of the provisions of this Chapter, shall, upon conviction, pay a forfeiture of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) and not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), and in default of payment thereof, be imprisoned in the County Jail for a period not to exceed ninety (90) days. A separate offense shall be deemed to have been committed on every day on which a violation occurs or continues." Section 34.12 adds a practical sanction that bites harder than the fine: "Until the provisions of this Chapter, including the conditions on any Permits issued thereunder, have been fully met, the City shall withhold issuance of any Land Use Permit, Building Permit, Certificate of Occupancy or inspection required under the current City Building Code or issue stop orders for any land development involving tree removal."

Ordinance

City of Kenosha Code of General Ordinances, Chapter XXXIV - Forestry, Sections 34.01 through 34.14. Municode prints no history note on any section of the chapter and the Code Comparative Table carries no entry touching it, so there appears to have been no codified amendment in recent years, but the original adopting ordinance number is not published online. Lawn park duties are at Section 5.051 (Lawn Park Areas) in Chapter V, Public Works and Services; the Christmas tree seller license is Section 13.10. Code current through Ordinance No. 22-26, adopted June 15, 2026 (Supp. No. 11, Update 1).

Worth knowing

The lot-size trigger catches more houses than it sounds like. Twenty thousand square feet is 0.459 acre, and Kenosha's RR-1 district carries a 40,000 square foot minimum lot size - so every conforming RR-1 lot is over the line before you even measure.
The replacement obligation on a regulated parcel is heavy and it is inch-for-inch. Section 34.10.B.7: "Replacement shall be diameter inch for diameter inch removed, i.e., eighteen-inch diameter equals six (6) trees at three (3) inches diameter," plus "A minimum of one (1) replacement tree shall be required for each two thousand (2,000) square feet of lot or parcel of land not improved by a building or structure for which a Tree Permit has been issued." Replacements must be at least eight feet tall and two inches in diameter, planted before a Certificate of Occupancy issues, and Section 34.10.B.9 makes the owner replace any that die within two years.
You may prune small limbs on your lawn park tree without asking. Section 34.04.B: "No person shall be required to obtain a permit to prune limbs of one and one-half (1-1/2) inches or less in diameter on trees in a lawn park or public right-of-way abutting their property," and watering and fertilizing are likewise exempt.
The duty to cut runs on two different clocks in two different chapters. Chapter XXXIV Section 34.06.A gives an owner not less than 30 days to abate a nuisance tree on private property, with a shorter window if the Forester finds immediate action necessary. Section 5.07, in the public works chapter, uses a 20-day clock for terrace tree removal. Both are current.
Unpaid abatement lands on your tax bill. Section 34.06.F: the Forester bills the owner and, "If such bill is not paid within thirty (30) days, said bill shall be processed as a special assessment against said property." Section 34.135 lets the city specially charge for compliance work generally and tacks on the 75 dollar administrative fee.
Kenosha has been a Tree City USA community for 44 consecutive years, with a Growth Award in five of them - a figure the city and the Arbor Day Foundation state identically.
If the city took a parkway tree out in front of your house, you may be able to get a replacement cheaply. The Reforestation Program covers residents "who have had a tree removed from a parkway within the past five years," costs 50 to 150 dollars per tree including planting and tax, plants in October and November, and runs first come first served. Ask to be added to the Reforestation Program List at 262-653-4080.
Stumps are your problem twice over. Form PK008 obliges the owner to remove stumps within 60 days, and the city compost site will not take them - "Unacceptable items are: tree stumps, bush roots." Section 34.05.F sets the standard: the stump ground out to at least nine inches below grade, surface roots to five inches, all debris off the street by the end of each work day.
Kenosha does not license tree services. The City Clerk-Treasurer's full license list carries exactly one tree entry: "Christmas Tree - (type 127) | Expires 1/3 | $50.00 - Required to sell Christmas trees - Section 13.10."
Curbside brush collection runs May through November by scheduled pickup for material "less than 6 inches in diameter," bundled in three-foot lengths with string or twine, 40 pounds per bundle, with roots, stumps and dirt removed. Call Public Works at 262-653-4050 at least one business day before your garbage day. Contractor dumping is not accepted.
Appeals go to the Board of Park Commissioners, which is also the body that sets the permit fee. You have 15 days under Section 34.13 to appeal an interpretation, 10 days under Section 34.05.N to appeal a planting or removal order, and 10 days under Section 34.07 to appeal a permit revocation.
The city's Approved Parkway Tree List is explicitly open-ended: "This is not a definitive list of approved trees. As new species appear on the market, new cultivars displace older ones. Contact the Parks Department if you want a tree not on this list."

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 consequence of starting work before you have a permit. Section 34.10.B.4 says only that "The fee shall increase five hundred (500) percent," which reads either as five times the fee or as the fee plus five times the fee, and the city publishes no figure. The ordinance language is quoted above rather than computed. Ask Parks at 262-653-4080.
— The adopting ordinance number and date for Chapter XXXIV. Municode prints no history note on any 34.xx section and the Code Comparative Table has no entry touching the chapter, so no codified amendment appears in the recent record, but the original ordinance is not published online.
— Whether a separate Section 5.04 right-of-way permit is required for stump grinding in the lawn park, on top of the Forestry Permit.
— The contents of the city's Tree Pruning Guidelines PDF. It is a scanned document with no text layer and is not characterized here.
— Business-office hours, which the city publishes two ways for the same 262-653-4080 line: the Parks index says 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and the Forestry page and Director card both say 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. A tree caller dials the Forestry number, so use 7 to 3 and expect the other.
— Whether Kenosha has any emerald ash borer program at all. A full-text sweep of the city's sitemap and its complete news archive returned zero hits for "emerald," "ash borer" or "EAB," and the same sweep of all 26 code chapters and 18 zoning sections returned zero. Kenosha publishes nothing on EAB, and no causal claim is made either way.
— Which room number is correct for Public Works. Its department page says Room 305; the waste and appliance page says Room 108, which is the Parks business office.