Tree Removal Permits in Las Vegas, NV

Verified against Las Vegas city sources · last checked 2026-08-07

Do you need a permit?

No permit required for most private trees

Las Vegas has no tree removal permit for a tree on your own private property, and no diameter threshold anywhere in the code. The tree ordinance, LVMC Chapter 13.48, is written entirely to public land and says so: every operative sentence in it reaches trees on "any parkway or street" or "any of the avenues, streets or public grounds, including parks and parkways of the City." If your tree is behind your own lot line, that chapter does not touch it.

Size threshold

None for private trees. The only diameter figures in the code serve other purposes. LVMC 13.48.040 sets a minimum for what you may PLANT in a parkway: "No such tree shall be planted measuring less than two inches in diameter of trunk one foot above ground." Note the unusual measurement convention there - one foot above ground, not the usual 4.5 feet. The Unified Development Code uses a different convention for new landscaping: "Caliper. The diameter of a tree trunk measured four and one-half feet above the ground."

What's protected in Las Vegas

Trees in the street, parkway, park or any public ground. LVMC 13.48.090: "No person shall remove, destroy, cut, deface, trim, or in any way injure or interfere with any tree or shrub on any of the avenues, streets or public grounds, including parks and parkways of the City, without a permit from the Superintendent of Parks." Trimming is named alongside removal, so you may not prune the parkway tree in front of your house either.
Existing trees inside the Las Vegas Medical District, which is a Form-Based Code area and not ordinary residential zoning. LVMC 19.09.040.L.2.a: "Existing trees, shrubs, and landscaped buffers that were installed or present before the adoption of the LVMC 19.09 (Form-Based Code) ... shall be properly maintained, preserved, and replaced in case of death." Subsection c: "The Planning Director may grant the removal of existing trees, shrubs, and landscaped buffers in virtue of health, safety, and welfare concerns and may require an equivalent amount of similar sized trees, shrubs, and landscape buffer area to be installed." Subsection d adds that "A Variance is not available to permit a deviation from the provisions of this Section."

Fees, penalties, and the ordinance

Fee: No fee is set anywhere for the LVMC 13.48 parkway tree permit. The only money figure in the chapter is a construction deposit at LVMC 13.48.060 for building movers: "the applicant shall deposit at least ten dollars per tree and as much more as the Superintendent may deem necessary." The planting permit at LVMC 13.48.020 is free by its own terms: "no charge shall be made for same."
Penalties: Not stated in Chapter 13.48. The chapter creates prohibitions but sets no fine, no forfeiture and no per-day penalty of its own, and no cross-reference to a general penalty appears within it.
Ordinance: Las Vegas Municipal Code Chapter 13.48 (Trees and Shrubs), Title 13 (Streets, Sidewalks and Public Places). Every section in the chapter still carries the same derivation: Ord. 415, 1950, codified from prior code sections 9-10-1 through 9-10-9, with a note that prior history is Ord. 25. Zoning is published separately: Ord. No. 6135, adopted March 16, 2011, repealed the old Title 19 chapters 19.00-19.20, and the replacement Title 19 Unified Development Code is published by the City outside the Municode codification, at online.encodeplus.com. Municipal code current through Ordinance No. 6937, passed January 21, 2026 (Supp. No. 61).

Worth knowing

The tree between your sidewalk and the curb is the trap. Las Vegas calls that strip the parkway, LVMC 13.48.090 reaches it, and pruning is prohibited in the same sentence as removal.
Planting in the parkway also needs a permit, and it is free. LVMC 13.48.010: "No person shall hereafter plant any tree within the limits of any parkway or street of the City without having first obtained a permit from the Superintendent of Parks." LVMC 13.48.030 bars a permit "where the clear space between the curb and sidewalk is less than three feet."
You may not pave over a parkway tree. LVMC 13.48.120: "A space of not less than fifty square feet must be left open for each tree."
The Unified Development Code regulates PLANTING on private lots, not removal. It sets how many trees a new development must install and at what size - "Twenty-four inch box trees shall be a minimum of 8 feet in height, 6 feet in spread and 2 inch trunk caliper measured at 4 1/2 feet above the soil line" - but a section-by-section read found no private-property tree removal permit, no protected-tree list and no mitigation requirement outside the Medical District.
The Hillside Development Overlay (LVMC 19.10.140) sounds like it should protect vegetation and does not, in the way homeowners expect. It "shall apply to development with natural slopes of fifteen percent or more" and asks that development "Protect and conserve significant natural and visual resources, including major boulder outcrops, major ridges and peaks, prime wildlife habitat, and unique vegetation specimens." Those are design criteria for a development application, not a removal permit for an existing house.
Las Vegas does not license tree services. A chapter-by-chapter read of LVMC Title 6 (Business Taxes, Licenses and Regulations) found no arborist, tree service, tree trimmer or tree topper license - unlike neighboring North Las Vegas, which does have one. Any Las Vegas tree company needs a general city business license only. Vetting the crew is entirely on you.
If you live in a master-planned community such as Summerlin, the binding rule is almost certainly not the City. Southern Nevada residential development is dominated by associations whose CC&Rs govern landscape changes, and an association can require architectural-committee approval to remove a tree the City would let you take out the same afternoon. Check your CC&Rs before you book the crew.

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 application form, turnaround time and fee, if any, for the LVMC 13.48.090 permit to remove or trim a parkway tree. The City publishes no page, form or process for it.
— Which department actually answers to the name "Superintendent of Parks" in 2026, and its direct phone number. The City publishes no forestry or urban-forestry contact.
— The penalty for removing a parkway tree without a permit. Chapter 13.48 sets none and names no general penalty section.
— Whether LVMC Chapter 9.04 (Nuisances) can be used against a dead or hazardous tree on private property. The chapter was reviewed at section-list level only, and its definition section was not read in full.
— Whether Southern Nevada Water Authority or Las Vegas Valley Water District turf-conversion rules, or Nevada Assembly Bill 356 (2021) on nonfunctional turf, impose any obligation when a tree is removed or replaced. The UDC adopts the Water District definitions of functional and nonfunctional TURF verbatim, and neither definition mentions trees, but the water agencies own rules were not examined directly.
— Rules for unincorporated Clark County. Large areas that people call "Las Vegas" - including the Strip, Paradise, Spring Valley, Enterprise and Winchester - are not in the City of Las Vegas at all and are governed by the Clark County code, which was not examined here.

Sources

Who to contact in Las Vegas

City of Las Vegas Parks and Recreation. Be aware that LVMC Chapter 13.48 still names the permit issuer the "Superintendent of Parks," a title the City no longer uses on any public-facing page; the chapter has not been substantively rewritten since Ordinance 415 in 1950. For a question about whether a tree is in the right-of-way, the Department of Public Works is the better first call.

Las Vegas City Hall main switchboard, which routes all department calls: (702) 229-6011. TTY 7-1-1. The City does not publish a separate forestry line, a tree hotline or a 311 code. Official page

Las Vegas City Hall, 495 S. Main St., Las Vegas, NV 89101

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Size threshold

What's protected in Las Vegas

Trees in the street, parkway, park or any public ground. LVMC 13.48.090: "No person shall remove, destroy, cut, deface, trim, or in any way injure or interfere with any tree or shrub on any of the avenues, streets or public grounds, including parks and parkways of the City, without a permit from the Superintendent of Parks." Trimming is named alongside removal, so you may not prune the parkway tree in front of your house either.

Existing trees inside the Las Vegas Medical District, which is a Form-Based Code area and not ordinary residential zoning. LVMC 19.09.040.L.2.a: "Existing trees, shrubs, and landscaped buffers that were installed or present before the adoption of the LVMC 19.09 (Form-Based Code) ... shall be properly maintained, preserved, and replaced in case of death." Subsection c: "The Planning Director may grant the removal of existing trees, shrubs, and landscaped buffers in virtue of health, safety, and welfare concerns and may require an equivalent amount of similar sized trees, shrubs, and landscape buffer area to be installed." Subsection d adds that "A Variance is not available to permit a deviation from the provisions of this Section."

Fees, penalties, and the ordinance

Fee

No fee is set anywhere for the LVMC 13.48 parkway tree permit. The only money figure in the chapter is a construction deposit at LVMC 13.48.060 for building movers: "the applicant shall deposit at least ten dollars per tree and as much more as the Superintendent may deem necessary." The planting permit at LVMC 13.48.020 is free by its own terms: "no charge shall be made for same."

Penalties

Not stated in Chapter 13.48. The chapter creates prohibitions but sets no fine, no forfeiture and no per-day penalty of its own, and no cross-reference to a general penalty appears within it.

Ordinance

Las Vegas Municipal Code Chapter 13.48 (Trees and Shrubs), Title 13 (Streets, Sidewalks and Public Places). Every section in the chapter still carries the same derivation: Ord. 415, 1950, codified from prior code sections 9-10-1 through 9-10-9, with a note that prior history is Ord. 25. Zoning is published separately: Ord. No. 6135, adopted March 16, 2011, repealed the old Title 19 chapters 19.00-19.20, and the replacement Title 19 Unified Development Code is published by the City outside the Municode codification, at online.encodeplus.com. Municipal code current through Ordinance No. 6937, passed January 21, 2026 (Supp. No. 61).

Worth knowing

The tree between your sidewalk and the curb is the trap. Las Vegas calls that strip the parkway, LVMC 13.48.090 reaches it, and pruning is prohibited in the same sentence as removal.
Planting in the parkway also needs a permit, and it is free. LVMC 13.48.010: "No person shall hereafter plant any tree within the limits of any parkway or street of the City without having first obtained a permit from the Superintendent of Parks." LVMC 13.48.030 bars a permit "where the clear space between the curb and sidewalk is less than three feet."
You may not pave over a parkway tree. LVMC 13.48.120: "A space of not less than fifty square feet must be left open for each tree."
The Unified Development Code regulates PLANTING on private lots, not removal. It sets how many trees a new development must install and at what size - "Twenty-four inch box trees shall be a minimum of 8 feet in height, 6 feet in spread and 2 inch trunk caliper measured at 4 1/2 feet above the soil line" - but a section-by-section read found no private-property tree removal permit, no protected-tree list and no mitigation requirement outside the Medical District.
The Hillside Development Overlay (LVMC 19.10.140) sounds like it should protect vegetation and does not, in the way homeowners expect. It "shall apply to development with natural slopes of fifteen percent or more" and asks that development "Protect and conserve significant natural and visual resources, including major boulder outcrops, major ridges and peaks, prime wildlife habitat, and unique vegetation specimens." Those are design criteria for a development application, not a removal permit for an existing house.
Las Vegas does not license tree services. A chapter-by-chapter read of LVMC Title 6 (Business Taxes, Licenses and Regulations) found no arborist, tree service, tree trimmer or tree topper license - unlike neighboring North Las Vegas, which does have one. Any Las Vegas tree company needs a general city business license only. Vetting the crew is entirely on you.
If you live in a master-planned community such as Summerlin, the binding rule is almost certainly not the City. Southern Nevada residential development is dominated by associations whose CC&Rs govern landscape changes, and an association can require architectural-committee approval to remove a tree the City would let you take out the same afternoon. Check your CC&Rs before you book the crew.

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 application form, turnaround time and fee, if any, for the LVMC 13.48.090 permit to remove or trim a parkway tree. The City publishes no page, form or process for it.
— Which department actually answers to the name "Superintendent of Parks" in 2026, and its direct phone number. The City publishes no forestry or urban-forestry contact.
— The penalty for removing a parkway tree without a permit. Chapter 13.48 sets none and names no general penalty section.
— Whether LVMC Chapter 9.04 (Nuisances) can be used against a dead or hazardous tree on private property. The chapter was reviewed at section-list level only, and its definition section was not read in full.
— Whether Southern Nevada Water Authority or Las Vegas Valley Water District turf-conversion rules, or Nevada Assembly Bill 356 (2021) on nonfunctional turf, impose any obligation when a tree is removed or replaced. The UDC adopts the Water District definitions of functional and nonfunctional TURF verbatim, and neither definition mentions trees, but the water agencies own rules were not examined directly.
— Rules for unincorporated Clark County. Large areas that people call "Las Vegas" - including the Strip, Paradise, Spring Valley, Enterprise and Winchester - are not in the City of Las Vegas at all and are governed by the Clark County code, which was not examined here.