Tree Removal Permits in Louisville, KY

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

Do you need a permit?

It depends on the tree

For a tree on your own lot in Louisville - any size, any species - Metro Government does not require a permit. Chapter 102, the tree ordinance, regulates PUBLIC trees, meaning trees whose base sits wholly or in part on Metro land or in a Metro right-of-way, and the city says so plainly: "We only inspect trees in the public right of way of Metro maintained roads and alleys." The trap is the strip between your sidewalk and the curb, which is usually not yours - the city warns that "If there is no sidewalk, the public right of way can extend into your lawn." That permit is free but mandatory, and it comes with a replacement condition. Four things do reach private trees: non-residential and multi-family development sites under LDC 10.1.8, recorded Tree Canopy Credit and Woodland Preserved Areas, the 25-foot stream buffer in the Floodplain Ordinance, and possibly a front-yard tree in a historic district. And the rule most likely to find you runs the other way: the Division can order you to remove a nuisance tree at your own expense and lien the property if you do not pay.

Size threshold

No diameter threshold triggers a permit for a private tree. Diameter figures in the code do other work. LMCO 102.01: "DBH (DIAMETER AT BREAST HEIGHT). The main stem of a tree trunk measured in inches at a height of four and one-half feet above the natural grade of the ground at its base. Whenever a branch, limb, defect or abnormal swelling of the trunk occurs at this height, the DBH shall be measured at the nearest point below four and one-half feet at which a normal diameter occurs. If a tree splits into multiple trunks below four and one-half feet, then the trunk is measured at its most narrow point beneath the split. In determining the DBH for purposes of calculating the value of a tree which has been illegally cut or removed, DBH shall be the top diameter of the stump less than four and one-half feet above the ground." That last sentence matters: for fines, Louisville measures the STUMP, not breast height. The same section sets the critical root zone at "a radius of one foot per one inch of trunk DBH," and illustrates it: "in the instance of a 20-inch DBH tree, the tree's critical root zone would consist of a 20-foot radius projecting in all directions from the tree." Note that the Land Development Code uses a different convention with two heights: "Caliper - The diameter of a tree trunk, measured 6 inches above the ground for newly installed trees and at 4 feet-6 inches above the ground (breast height) for existing trees."

What's protected in Louisville

Public trees. LMCO 102.01: "PUBLIC TREE. A tree with a base wholly or in part situated on Louisville Metro Government owned or controlled land or in public rights-of-way controlled by Louisville Metro, excluding parks and parkways that are under the jurisdiction of Louisville Metro Parks." Note the two halves of that definition - "wholly or in part" pulls in trees straddling your property line, and the parks carve-out means Metro Parks land is governed separately, not that it is unregulated.
Trees inside a 25-foot stream buffer, which is the least-known private-property tree rule in Louisville. Floodplain Ordinance, LMCO Chapter 157: "A natural vegetation buffer strip shall be preserved at least 25 feet on each side of the stream bank from the top of the bank. In areas not already disturbed by urban, suburban, or agricultural land uses prior to the effective date of this chapter, existing natural vegetation over story and under story trees shall be preserved and shrubs and ground covers shall be maintained along the stream bank sufficient to naturally maintain the integrity of the channel." LDC 4.8.6(A) adds that "All Buffer Areas shall remain in a vegetated, natural state and shall not be modified in any manner except as expressly allowed in this section."
Trees inside a recorded Tree Canopy Credit Area or Woodland Preserved Area. LDC 10.1.6(B)(3): "No clearing, grading, construction or other land disturbing activity shall take place within the TCCA/WPA beyond pruning to improve the general health of the tree or to remove dead or declining trees that may pose a public health and safety threat. As trees are lost through natural causes, new trees shall be planted in order to maintain minimum tree canopy as specified in this part. Underbrush and invasives are permitted to be removed in the TCCA." These are recorded on plats and in subdivision deeds of restriction, so check your plat.
Trees on non-residential and multi-family development sites carrying a landscape or canopy obligation. LDC 10.1.8: "A tree removal permit is required for the removal of existing trees on non-residential and multi-family development sites where landscaping and tree canopy were/are required. (see Appendix 10E)"
Trees that have become a public nuisance on private land. LMCO 102.10(A): "The Division shall have the authority to require tree removal or remedial action for any tree or portion of a tree located on private property within Metro Louisville when the tree presents a public nuisance, as that term is defined in subsection (7) under the definition of Public Nuisance in section 156.005. Tree removal or remedial action shall be the responsibility of the property owner and shall be conducted at the property owner's expense." That cross-referenced definition is short and broad. LMCO 156.005, PUBLIC NUISANCE, item (7): "Any tree which is in danger of collapse or which poses a danger of contamination because of disease, decay, injury, infestation, or damage."

How to apply in Louisville

1
First settle whose tree it is. If the base sits wholly or partly on Metro-owned or Metro-controlled land or in a Metro right-of-way, it is a public tree. The city warns that "If there is no sidewalk, the public right of way can extend into your lawn" and points residents to LOJIC to check the line.
2
For a public tree, file through Metro311. The city's own steps: navigate to the Metro311 Request Portal; search for "Tree Concerns"; choose "Other tree concern or request for evaluation"; under the Tree Issue dropdown choose Planting Permit, Pruning/Treatment Permit, or Removal Permit; fill out the rest.
3
Then wait. The city states "You will be contacted by an ISA-certified arborist from Louisville Urban Forestry within 2 weeks regarding the status of your permit."
4
Know the grounds before you ask. LMCO 102.06(D)(1) lists threat to public safety, threat to the health of other trees in the community, a tree planted after the ordinance took effect in violation of Division standards, and a species on the current Permitted and Prohibited Tree Species Listing.
5
Expect to indemnify Metro. LMCO 102.06(B) requires the applicant to "indemnify and hold harmless Louisville Metro Government, its officers and employees, from any loss, liability or damage, including expenses and costs, for bodily or personal injury, and for property damage sustained by any person as a result of the work to be done pursuant to the permit."
6
Expect a replacement condition and two deadlines. LMCO 102.06(D)(2): "Unless waived by the Division the tree removal permit will be conditioned upon the replacement of the public tree in accordance with the standards of the Division at a location approved by the Division, which may be in a different location than the removed tree." Section 102.05(B) requires the stump ground within three months and 102.05(C) the tree replaced within one year, each unless waived in writing.
7
Bulk plantings of more than five trees led by an organization other than Urban Forestry go through a separate Bulk Planting Permit, submitted at least 30 days ahead.
8
For a non-residential or multi-family development site, the LDC 10.1.8 tree removal permit is handled through the Office of Planning using Appendix 10E, not through Urban Forestry.
9
For an ordinary tree inside a single-family lot line, there is nothing to apply for under Chapter 102 or LDC Chapter 10.
10
If a stream runs through the property, MSD asks two threshold questions first: whether the work is in the local regulatory floodplain, and whether you are working in a perennial or intermittent stream or within 25 feet from the top of bank. Check on LOJIC.

Fees, penalties, and the ordinance

Fee: The public tree permit is free. LMCO 102.06(C): "Permits under this chapter, other than public utility permits under section 102.08, shall be issued by the Division without charge." Utilities are the exception - section 102.08 lets the Division charge a public utility a permit fee "provided that such fee shall not exceed $2,400 per year." A Tree Assistance Fund, codified as the Community Forestry Escrow Fund at section 102.11, helps income-qualifying residents with right-of-way tree costs; the city says "you must obtain a permit via Metro311. On the permit request, mention the Tree Assistance Fund in the description or on the call," and states plainly that "private property trees do not qualify for assistance." No fee is published for the LDC 10.1.8 development-site tree removal permit.
Penalties: Chapter 102 fines are scaled to trunk size and, unusually, measured at the stump. LMCO 102.12(D)(1): "Any violation of Chapter 102 involving the removal of a live public tree shall constitute an offense and be subject to a fine as calculated below. For the purposes of calculating fines, DBH (Diameter at Breast Height) shall be the top diameter of the stump less than four and one-half feet above the ground." The table runs 250 dollars per tree at 24 inches or less, 500 dollars over 24 up to and including 36 inches, 750 dollars over 36 up to and including 48 inches, and 1,000 dollars over 48 inches. Any other Chapter 102 violation is 250 dollars. Subsection (D)(3) caps things: "The total amount of fines imposed with respect to any single offense or multiple related offenses may not exceed $10,000." On top of the fine, (D)(4) makes the violator bear "the cost of repair or replacement, and/or the appraised dollar value of such trees." Subsection (E) gives Metro a lien "superior to and have priority over all other subsequent liens on the property except state, county, School Board and Louisville Metro Government taxes."
Ordinance: Louisville Metro Code of Ordinances Chapter 102 (Trees), sections 102.01 through 102.12, created in full by Louisville Metro Ordinance No. 221-2017. The bill was Legistar file O-428-16, introduced December 1, 2016 by Council Members Bill Hollander (D-9) and Cheri Bryant-Hamilton (D-5), passed by the Metro Council November 30, 2017 and approved by the Mayor December 14, 2017 - both dates are correct and the codified text carries the approval date. Section 102.12 was later amended by Louisville Metro Amending Resolution No. 165-2018, approved November 16, 2018, and section 102.03 by Amending Ordinance No. 30-2024, approved March 11, 2024. There is no 2015 Louisville tree ordinance: the 2015 item was the Louisville Urban Tree Canopy Assessment, a study, and the city's own press release says adoption of an ordinance "was the very first of 41 recommendations" in it. Private-property development rules sit in the Louisville-Jefferson County Land Development Code, Chapter 10 Part 1 (Tree Canopy), sections 10.1.1 through 10.1.9, whose enabling authority is KRS Chapter 100; American Legal lists Part 1 as last updated June 2020, with Appendix 10A updated October 2025 and Appendix 10B dating to October 2009. Metro Council also passed Ordinance 050-2020 (April 23, 2020) and Ordinance 099-2021 (July 29, 2021), both amending the LDC on trees and tree canopy. Code version 2026 S-47; the publisher states "Local legislation current through Ordinances passed by the Council and approved by the Mayor as of May 20, 2026."

Worth knowing

Single-family construction is handled by design standards, not by the canopy Part. LDC 10.1.2(A): "The requirements of this Part shall apply to all new residential subdivisions creating more than five (5) buildable lots and to all new multi-family and nonresidential development. New single-family residential construction shall provide tree(s) in accordance with the residential design standards found within chapter 5."
Six things you may do to a public tree without a permit, from LMCO 102.07: work covered by a final-approved development or landscape plan; work by or for a Metro agency; emergency utility repairs under a 102.08 agreement; "Routine pruning of less than 10% of the canopy, including removal of tree suckers, but not including topping or other pruning which damages the health of the tree"; pruning limbs under four inches diameter below seven feet where they block pedestrians, corner sight lines, traffic devices or touch a structure; and "Any routine tree watering and mulching."
Topping a public tree is flatly prohibited, permit or no permit. LMCO 102.09(A)(3) bars "Topping, severely pruning or otherwise disfiguring any public tree," and 102.01 defines topping to include "heading," "tipping," "hat racking," or "rounding over."
Chapter 102 also prohibits things that are not cutting at all. Section 102.09(A) reaches "Changing the natural surface grade within the drip line of a tree," "Excessive paving or installing of an impervious surface over a substantial portion of the drip line of a tree," and "Substantially changing natural drainage patterns in a manner which would reasonably be expected to kill a tree." Grading and paving near a street tree can be a tree offense in Louisville.
Louisville can enter your land to look at your tree. LMCO 102.12(A) gives the Division and any Code Enforcement Officer "the right of entry onto all lands within Louisville Metro at reasonable times for purposes of determining whether a tree presents a public nuisance... subject to constitutional restrictions on unreasonable searches and seizures."
A private-tree nuisance order runs through Code Enforcement, not Forestry. LMCO 102.10(B) routes citations, notices and appeals to the Code Enforcement Board under sections 32.275 et seq., and if you do not comply the Division may enter, do the work, and bill you; unpaid after 45 days, the cost becomes a lien.
Metro Parks trees are outside Chapter 102. The definition of public tree expressly excludes "parks and parkways that are under the jurisdiction of Louisville Metro Parks," so the Olmsted parkway trees that give Louisville much of its canopy are governed by Parks rules, not by the tree ordinance.
There is a Louisville Metro Tree Advisory Committee (LMCO 102.03) and a Community Forestry Escrow Fund (LMCO 102.11) into which Chapter 102 penalty money is paid. The committee meets at Lyndon City Hall, 515 Wood Rd, every six weeks, 3:30 to 5:00 p.m.
Twelve municipalities inside Jefferson County keep their own Land Development Codes and the Metro LDC does not govern them: Anchorage, Douglass Hills, Graymoor-Devondale, Hurstbourne, Indian Hills, Jeffersontown, Lyndon, Middletown, Prospect, Shively, St. Matthews and St. Regis Park. A useful independent signal: MSD's drainage service area covers all of Jefferson County except Shively, Jeffersontown, St. Matthews and Anchorage.
You pay to maintain the street tree but Metro decides whether it comes down. LMCO 102.04: "Tree maintenance of public trees shall be the responsibility of the abutting property owner." That split accounts for most Louisville confusion.
Louisville does not license tree services, and hiring an unlicensed one is not an offense. The Metro "Get a License" page lists every contractor license the city issues - Electrical, Fire Detection, Fire Suppression, General Building, HVAC, Manufactured Fireplace, Master Wrecker, Mechanical Refrigeration, Moving, Plumbing, Rangehood, Sign and Wrecking - and there is no arborist or tree service among them. The Revenue Commission states that "For an individual or business entity to start a new business there is no local business license required"; the only obligation is an Occupational License Tax account. What is penalized is unpermitted work on a PUBLIC tree, and liability runs to whoever does it.
The city's hiring advice is advisory only: "Please get estimates from at least 3 different companies and ensure that they are state licensed, bonded, and insured. We recommended getting an ISA Certified Arborist to perform the tree work." Treat "state licensed" as loose wording - no Kentucky state license specific to tree services or arborists was located.
Cutting your neighbor's tree is where the real money is, and it is state law, not city law. KRS 364.130(1): any person, "regardless of state of mind or whether the person believes to be authorized or not," who cuts timber on another's land without legal right "shall pay to the rightful owner of the timber three (3) times the stumpage value of the timber and shall pay to the rightful owner of the property three (3) times the cost of any damages to the property as well as any legal costs." Subsection (4) is the fence-row escape: a residential or farmland owner who "unintentionally" cuts an adjoining owner's timber "as the result of a good-faith mistake in the location of an unmarked boundary line" owes only reasonable value, actual damages and legal costs.
Cutting your own trees yourself is exempt from Kentucky's Master Logger requirement. KRS 149.342(1) requires a Master Logger on site for timber harvesting, but KRS 149.330(8) excludes "The cutting of trees by an individual, nonindustrial landowner on his own property, if the cutting is performed by the individual, nonindustrial landowner," and also excludes firewood cutting. Hiring a commercial crew for an actual timber harvest is different.
MSD does not permit tree removal, and it is worth saying so plainly because people assume otherwise. LMCO Chapter 157 triggers on DEVELOPMENT, defined as "Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including, but not limited to, buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavating, drilling operations, or permanent storage of materials or equipment." Tree removal and vegetation clearing are not in that list, and the chapter expressly exempts "Customary and incidental routine grounds maintenance, landscaping, and home gardening." The real MSD constraint is the 25-foot stream buffer.
Report unpermitted work on a public tree to Metro311 at 311 or 502-574-5000. The city asks for it.
The LDC expressly allows you to remove surplus canopy on a regulated site. LDC 10.1.4(C): "removal of existing tree canopy that covers a greater percentage of the site than stipulated in the minimum standards set forth above is permissible unless restricted by an approved development or subdivision plan or by other applicable provisions of this Land Development Code."
Invasives get no protection and earn credit. LDC 10.1.4(G): "All known invasives are not protected and will not be considered toward meeting the tree canopy requirements. However, tree canopy credit will be received... for the removal of the invasive if it is replaced by a 1 3/4" caliper Type A or Type B tree."
Temporary Tree Protection Areas really are temporary - the LDC states that clearing, grading and removal of trees in TTPAs is allowed at the time of individual building or home construction. Woodland Preserved Areas are not, and subdivision deeds of restriction are used to inform future owners of the clearing restrictions. New-subdivision buyers should read the plat.
Sight triangles are a separate offense. LMCO 97.051 makes it unlawful within the described area "to install, set out, maintain, or allow the installation, setting out, or maintenance of any sign, hedge, shrubbery, tree, natural growth, or other obstruction of any kind which obstructs cross-visibility at a level between 24 inches and 72 inches above the level of the center of the adjacent intersection."
There is no landmark, heritage, champion or specimen tree designation in Louisville. Chapter 102 was searched for all five words and returned nothing. Kentucky's Champion Tree Program, run by the Division of Forestry since 1968, is a recognition list and confers no protection and no permit requirement. Beware the December 2016 press release describing the PROPOSED bill, which said property owners "could voluntarily protect historic and specimen trees on private property" - that provision is not in the enacted Chapter 102.
The city hosts its own copy of Chapter 102 as a PDF, which is useful when American Legal is unreachable.

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 an ordinary healthy tree inside a single-family lot line truly needs nothing. Chapter 102 reaches public trees and nuisance trees only, and LDC 10.1.8 reaches non-residential and multi-family development sites only. That is silence as to the ordinary homeowner, and silence is what is being reported here, not permission.
— The contents of LDC Appendix 10E, the form or procedure the tree removal permit section points to.
— Any fee for the LDC 10.1.8 development-site tree removal permit. Chapter 102 permits are free by statute; the LDC permit has no published fee.
— The administrative fee schedule referenced by LMCO 102.09(B), which the ordinance says "shall be approved by Metro Council, posted in the office of the Division, and published on the Division's website."
— Whether a front-yard tree on private property in a historic district needs a Certificate of Appropriateness. This one deserves care. LMCO 32.256(A)(5) exempts "Landscaping, tree planting, tree trimming or pruning" from a COA, but Landscaping is a defined term, and LMCO 32.251 defines it to include "ground-level patios and fountains in a rear yard, and tree removal in a rear yard." Read literally, the exemption covers rear-yard removal and not front-yard removal. No Louisville page says that in those words, and the Urban Forestry FAQ answers only the right-of-way question: "I live in a historic or preservation district, do I need a special permit to remove, plant, or prune a tree in the public right of way? No, only a permit is required from Urban Forestry." Note also that "designated cultural or natural landscapes" are carved out of the Landscaping definition entirely. Call the Historic Landmarks and Preservation Districts Commission before cutting a front-yard tree in a district.
— Whether Ordinance 099-2021 amended LDC Chapter 10 Part 1, whose version stamp still reads "Updated June 2020," or a different Part. Both facts are on the record and they do not reconcile.
— Two dangling cross-references in the LDC. Section 10.1.8 cites "(see Appendix 10E)" and section 10.1.6(A) cites "(Appendix 10D)." The complete Chapter 10 table of contents contains only Appendix 10A and Appendix 10B. Appendix 10B, revised October 22, 2009, is evidently what section 10.1.6 means - its own figure is still labeled "Figure 10D.1," confirming an uncleaned renumbering.
— A direct phone number, street address or email for Louisville Metro Planning and Design Services, the office that would issue the LDC 10.1.8 permit. Also no direct contact for Historic Landmarks Commission staff.
— Whether Kentucky issues any state license specifically for tree services or arborists, despite the city FAQ telling homeowners to ensure a company is "state licensed."
— Whether any Kentucky or Louisville rule restricts pruning oaks seasonally for oak wilt. All twelve sections of Chapter 102 and all nine sections of LDC Chapter 10 Part 1 were searched for "oak wilt," "seasonal," "April," "October" and "growing season" and returned nothing. Two Kentucky sources also disagree about whether oak wilt is even present: the Kentucky Division of Forestry Disease Threats page lists it among Kentucky diseases, on an undated page, while University of Kentucky publication PPFS-OR-W-30 of July 2021 states that oak wilt "is not an issue in KY as of this printing." Neither imposes any restriction, so the disagreement does not change the answer.
— Whether MSD staff in practice treat large-scale clearing as "development" despite its absence from the Chapter 157 definition, and current MSD floodplain permit fees and turnaround.

Sources

Who to contact in Louisville

Louisville Metro Division of Urban Forestry - and note where it sits: it is a branch of Louisville Parks and Recreation, not Public Works and not Planning. Permits are described as the job of Kate Karl, Forestry Manager, Street Forestry. The ordinance still calls the office the "Division of Community Forestry" and its head the "Community Forester" at LMCO 102.01 and 102.02; every current city page says Urban Forestry. Same body, code never conformed to the rename. Development-site permits under LDC 10.1.8 go to the Office of Planning instead.

(502) 574-7275. Metro311, which is where permit requests are actually filed: 311, or (502) 574-5000. Louisville MSD, for floodplain and stream buffer questions: (502) 540-6000, or (502) 540-6022 for the reforestation program. Official page

9300 Whipps Mill Road, Louisville, KY 40242. Hours 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Urban Forestry publishes no email address at all - the only written channel is its Wufoo contact form.

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Size threshold

What's protected in Louisville

Public trees. LMCO 102.01: "PUBLIC TREE. A tree with a base wholly or in part situated on Louisville Metro Government owned or controlled land or in public rights-of-way controlled by Louisville Metro, excluding parks and parkways that are under the jurisdiction of Louisville Metro Parks." Note the two halves of that definition - "wholly or in part" pulls in trees straddling your property line, and the parks carve-out means Metro Parks land is governed separately, not that it is unregulated.

Trees inside a 25-foot stream buffer, which is the least-known private-property tree rule in Louisville. Floodplain Ordinance, LMCO Chapter 157: "A natural vegetation buffer strip shall be preserved at least 25 feet on each side of the stream bank from the top of the bank. In areas not already disturbed by urban, suburban, or agricultural land uses prior to the effective date of this chapter, existing natural vegetation over story and under story trees shall be preserved and shrubs and ground covers shall be maintained along the stream bank sufficient to naturally maintain the integrity of the channel." LDC 4.8.6(A) adds that "All Buffer Areas shall remain in a vegetated, natural state and shall not be modified in any manner except as expressly allowed in this section."

Trees inside a recorded Tree Canopy Credit Area or Woodland Preserved Area. LDC 10.1.6(B)(3): "No clearing, grading, construction or other land disturbing activity shall take place within the TCCA/WPA beyond pruning to improve the general health of the tree or to remove dead or declining trees that may pose a public health and safety threat. As trees are lost through natural causes, new trees shall be planted in order to maintain minimum tree canopy as specified in this part. Underbrush and invasives are permitted to be removed in the TCCA." These are recorded on plats and in subdivision deeds of restriction, so check your plat.

Trees on non-residential and multi-family development sites carrying a landscape or canopy obligation. LDC 10.1.8: "A tree removal permit is required for the removal of existing trees on non-residential and multi-family development sites where landscaping and tree canopy were/are required. (see Appendix 10E)"

Trees that have become a public nuisance on private land. LMCO 102.10(A): "The Division shall have the authority to require tree removal or remedial action for any tree or portion of a tree located on private property within Metro Louisville when the tree presents a public nuisance, as that term is defined in subsection (7) under the definition of Public Nuisance in section 156.005. Tree removal or remedial action shall be the responsibility of the property owner and shall be conducted at the property owner's expense." That cross-referenced definition is short and broad. LMCO 156.005, PUBLIC NUISANCE, item (7): "Any tree which is in danger of collapse or which poses a danger of contamination because of disease, decay, injury, infestation, or damage."

How to apply in Louisville

1
First settle whose tree it is. If the base sits wholly or partly on Metro-owned or Metro-controlled land or in a Metro right-of-way, it is a public tree. The city warns that "If there is no sidewalk, the public right of way can extend into your lawn" and points residents to LOJIC to check the line.
2
For a public tree, file through Metro311. The city's own steps: navigate to the Metro311 Request Portal; search for "Tree Concerns"; choose "Other tree concern or request for evaluation"; under the Tree Issue dropdown choose Planting Permit, Pruning/Treatment Permit, or Removal Permit; fill out the rest.
3
Then wait. The city states "You will be contacted by an ISA-certified arborist from Louisville Urban Forestry within 2 weeks regarding the status of your permit."
4
Know the grounds before you ask. LMCO 102.06(D)(1) lists threat to public safety, threat to the health of other trees in the community, a tree planted after the ordinance took effect in violation of Division standards, and a species on the current Permitted and Prohibited Tree Species Listing.
5
Expect to indemnify Metro. LMCO 102.06(B) requires the applicant to "indemnify and hold harmless Louisville Metro Government, its officers and employees, from any loss, liability or damage, including expenses and costs, for bodily or personal injury, and for property damage sustained by any person as a result of the work to be done pursuant to the permit."
6
Expect a replacement condition and two deadlines. LMCO 102.06(D)(2): "Unless waived by the Division the tree removal permit will be conditioned upon the replacement of the public tree in accordance with the standards of the Division at a location approved by the Division, which may be in a different location than the removed tree." Section 102.05(B) requires the stump ground within three months and 102.05(C) the tree replaced within one year, each unless waived in writing.
7
Bulk plantings of more than five trees led by an organization other than Urban Forestry go through a separate Bulk Planting Permit, submitted at least 30 days ahead.
8
For a non-residential or multi-family development site, the LDC 10.1.8 tree removal permit is handled through the Office of Planning using Appendix 10E, not through Urban Forestry.
9
For an ordinary tree inside a single-family lot line, there is nothing to apply for under Chapter 102 or LDC Chapter 10.
10
If a stream runs through the property, MSD asks two threshold questions first: whether the work is in the local regulatory floodplain, and whether you are working in a perennial or intermittent stream or within 25 feet from the top of bank. Check on LOJIC.

Fees, penalties, and the ordinance

Fee

The public tree permit is free. LMCO 102.06(C): "Permits under this chapter, other than public utility permits under section 102.08, shall be issued by the Division without charge." Utilities are the exception - section 102.08 lets the Division charge a public utility a permit fee "provided that such fee shall not exceed $2,400 per year." A Tree Assistance Fund, codified as the Community Forestry Escrow Fund at section 102.11, helps income-qualifying residents with right-of-way tree costs; the city says "you must obtain a permit via Metro311. On the permit request, mention the Tree Assistance Fund in the description or on the call," and states plainly that "private property trees do not qualify for assistance." No fee is published for the LDC 10.1.8 development-site tree removal permit.

Penalties

Chapter 102 fines are scaled to trunk size and, unusually, measured at the stump. LMCO 102.12(D)(1): "Any violation of Chapter 102 involving the removal of a live public tree shall constitute an offense and be subject to a fine as calculated below. For the purposes of calculating fines, DBH (Diameter at Breast Height) shall be the top diameter of the stump less than four and one-half feet above the ground." The table runs 250 dollars per tree at 24 inches or less, 500 dollars over 24 up to and including 36 inches, 750 dollars over 36 up to and including 48 inches, and 1,000 dollars over 48 inches. Any other Chapter 102 violation is 250 dollars. Subsection (D)(3) caps things: "The total amount of fines imposed with respect to any single offense or multiple related offenses may not exceed $10,000." On top of the fine, (D)(4) makes the violator bear "the cost of repair or replacement, and/or the appraised dollar value of such trees." Subsection (E) gives Metro a lien "superior to and have priority over all other subsequent liens on the property except state, county, School Board and Louisville Metro Government taxes."

Ordinance

Louisville Metro Code of Ordinances Chapter 102 (Trees), sections 102.01 through 102.12, created in full by Louisville Metro Ordinance No. 221-2017. The bill was Legistar file O-428-16, introduced December 1, 2016 by Council Members Bill Hollander (D-9) and Cheri Bryant-Hamilton (D-5), passed by the Metro Council November 30, 2017 and approved by the Mayor December 14, 2017 - both dates are correct and the codified text carries the approval date. Section 102.12 was later amended by Louisville Metro Amending Resolution No. 165-2018, approved November 16, 2018, and section 102.03 by Amending Ordinance No. 30-2024, approved March 11, 2024. There is no 2015 Louisville tree ordinance: the 2015 item was the Louisville Urban Tree Canopy Assessment, a study, and the city's own press release says adoption of an ordinance "was the very first of 41 recommendations" in it. Private-property development rules sit in the Louisville-Jefferson County Land Development Code, Chapter 10 Part 1 (Tree Canopy), sections 10.1.1 through 10.1.9, whose enabling authority is KRS Chapter 100; American Legal lists Part 1 as last updated June 2020, with Appendix 10A updated October 2025 and Appendix 10B dating to October 2009. Metro Council also passed Ordinance 050-2020 (April 23, 2020) and Ordinance 099-2021 (July 29, 2021), both amending the LDC on trees and tree canopy. Code version 2026 S-47; the publisher states "Local legislation current through Ordinances passed by the Council and approved by the Mayor as of May 20, 2026."

Worth knowing

Single-family construction is handled by design standards, not by the canopy Part. LDC 10.1.2(A): "The requirements of this Part shall apply to all new residential subdivisions creating more than five (5) buildable lots and to all new multi-family and nonresidential development. New single-family residential construction shall provide tree(s) in accordance with the residential design standards found within chapter 5."
Six things you may do to a public tree without a permit, from LMCO 102.07: work covered by a final-approved development or landscape plan; work by or for a Metro agency; emergency utility repairs under a 102.08 agreement; "Routine pruning of less than 10% of the canopy, including removal of tree suckers, but not including topping or other pruning which damages the health of the tree"; pruning limbs under four inches diameter below seven feet where they block pedestrians, corner sight lines, traffic devices or touch a structure; and "Any routine tree watering and mulching."
Topping a public tree is flatly prohibited, permit or no permit. LMCO 102.09(A)(3) bars "Topping, severely pruning or otherwise disfiguring any public tree," and 102.01 defines topping to include "heading," "tipping," "hat racking," or "rounding over."
Chapter 102 also prohibits things that are not cutting at all. Section 102.09(A) reaches "Changing the natural surface grade within the drip line of a tree," "Excessive paving or installing of an impervious surface over a substantial portion of the drip line of a tree," and "Substantially changing natural drainage patterns in a manner which would reasonably be expected to kill a tree." Grading and paving near a street tree can be a tree offense in Louisville.
Louisville can enter your land to look at your tree. LMCO 102.12(A) gives the Division and any Code Enforcement Officer "the right of entry onto all lands within Louisville Metro at reasonable times for purposes of determining whether a tree presents a public nuisance... subject to constitutional restrictions on unreasonable searches and seizures."
A private-tree nuisance order runs through Code Enforcement, not Forestry. LMCO 102.10(B) routes citations, notices and appeals to the Code Enforcement Board under sections 32.275 et seq., and if you do not comply the Division may enter, do the work, and bill you; unpaid after 45 days, the cost becomes a lien.
Metro Parks trees are outside Chapter 102. The definition of public tree expressly excludes "parks and parkways that are under the jurisdiction of Louisville Metro Parks," so the Olmsted parkway trees that give Louisville much of its canopy are governed by Parks rules, not by the tree ordinance.
There is a Louisville Metro Tree Advisory Committee (LMCO 102.03) and a Community Forestry Escrow Fund (LMCO 102.11) into which Chapter 102 penalty money is paid. The committee meets at Lyndon City Hall, 515 Wood Rd, every six weeks, 3:30 to 5:00 p.m.
Twelve municipalities inside Jefferson County keep their own Land Development Codes and the Metro LDC does not govern them: Anchorage, Douglass Hills, Graymoor-Devondale, Hurstbourne, Indian Hills, Jeffersontown, Lyndon, Middletown, Prospect, Shively, St. Matthews and St. Regis Park. A useful independent signal: MSD's drainage service area covers all of Jefferson County except Shively, Jeffersontown, St. Matthews and Anchorage.
You pay to maintain the street tree but Metro decides whether it comes down. LMCO 102.04: "Tree maintenance of public trees shall be the responsibility of the abutting property owner." That split accounts for most Louisville confusion.
Louisville does not license tree services, and hiring an unlicensed one is not an offense. The Metro "Get a License" page lists every contractor license the city issues - Electrical, Fire Detection, Fire Suppression, General Building, HVAC, Manufactured Fireplace, Master Wrecker, Mechanical Refrigeration, Moving, Plumbing, Rangehood, Sign and Wrecking - and there is no arborist or tree service among them. The Revenue Commission states that "For an individual or business entity to start a new business there is no local business license required"; the only obligation is an Occupational License Tax account. What is penalized is unpermitted work on a PUBLIC tree, and liability runs to whoever does it.
The city's hiring advice is advisory only: "Please get estimates from at least 3 different companies and ensure that they are state licensed, bonded, and insured. We recommended getting an ISA Certified Arborist to perform the tree work." Treat "state licensed" as loose wording - no Kentucky state license specific to tree services or arborists was located.
Cutting your neighbor's tree is where the real money is, and it is state law, not city law. KRS 364.130(1): any person, "regardless of state of mind or whether the person believes to be authorized or not," who cuts timber on another's land without legal right "shall pay to the rightful owner of the timber three (3) times the stumpage value of the timber and shall pay to the rightful owner of the property three (3) times the cost of any damages to the property as well as any legal costs." Subsection (4) is the fence-row escape: a residential or farmland owner who "unintentionally" cuts an adjoining owner's timber "as the result of a good-faith mistake in the location of an unmarked boundary line" owes only reasonable value, actual damages and legal costs.
Cutting your own trees yourself is exempt from Kentucky's Master Logger requirement. KRS 149.342(1) requires a Master Logger on site for timber harvesting, but KRS 149.330(8) excludes "The cutting of trees by an individual, nonindustrial landowner on his own property, if the cutting is performed by the individual, nonindustrial landowner," and also excludes firewood cutting. Hiring a commercial crew for an actual timber harvest is different.
MSD does not permit tree removal, and it is worth saying so plainly because people assume otherwise. LMCO Chapter 157 triggers on DEVELOPMENT, defined as "Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including, but not limited to, buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavating, drilling operations, or permanent storage of materials or equipment." Tree removal and vegetation clearing are not in that list, and the chapter expressly exempts "Customary and incidental routine grounds maintenance, landscaping, and home gardening." The real MSD constraint is the 25-foot stream buffer.
Report unpermitted work on a public tree to Metro311 at 311 or 502-574-5000. The city asks for it.
The LDC expressly allows you to remove surplus canopy on a regulated site. LDC 10.1.4(C): "removal of existing tree canopy that covers a greater percentage of the site than stipulated in the minimum standards set forth above is permissible unless restricted by an approved development or subdivision plan or by other applicable provisions of this Land Development Code."
Invasives get no protection and earn credit. LDC 10.1.4(G): "All known invasives are not protected and will not be considered toward meeting the tree canopy requirements. However, tree canopy credit will be received... for the removal of the invasive if it is replaced by a 1 3/4" caliper Type A or Type B tree."
Temporary Tree Protection Areas really are temporary - the LDC states that clearing, grading and removal of trees in TTPAs is allowed at the time of individual building or home construction. Woodland Preserved Areas are not, and subdivision deeds of restriction are used to inform future owners of the clearing restrictions. New-subdivision buyers should read the plat.
Sight triangles are a separate offense. LMCO 97.051 makes it unlawful within the described area "to install, set out, maintain, or allow the installation, setting out, or maintenance of any sign, hedge, shrubbery, tree, natural growth, or other obstruction of any kind which obstructs cross-visibility at a level between 24 inches and 72 inches above the level of the center of the adjacent intersection."
There is no landmark, heritage, champion or specimen tree designation in Louisville. Chapter 102 was searched for all five words and returned nothing. Kentucky's Champion Tree Program, run by the Division of Forestry since 1968, is a recognition list and confers no protection and no permit requirement. Beware the December 2016 press release describing the PROPOSED bill, which said property owners "could voluntarily protect historic and specimen trees on private property" - that provision is not in the enacted Chapter 102.
The city hosts its own copy of Chapter 102 as a PDF, which is useful when American Legal is unreachable.

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 an ordinary healthy tree inside a single-family lot line truly needs nothing. Chapter 102 reaches public trees and nuisance trees only, and LDC 10.1.8 reaches non-residential and multi-family development sites only. That is silence as to the ordinary homeowner, and silence is what is being reported here, not permission.
— The contents of LDC Appendix 10E, the form or procedure the tree removal permit section points to.
— Any fee for the LDC 10.1.8 development-site tree removal permit. Chapter 102 permits are free by statute; the LDC permit has no published fee.
— The administrative fee schedule referenced by LMCO 102.09(B), which the ordinance says "shall be approved by Metro Council, posted in the office of the Division, and published on the Division's website."
— Whether a front-yard tree on private property in a historic district needs a Certificate of Appropriateness. This one deserves care. LMCO 32.256(A)(5) exempts "Landscaping, tree planting, tree trimming or pruning" from a COA, but Landscaping is a defined term, and LMCO 32.251 defines it to include "ground-level patios and fountains in a rear yard, and tree removal in a rear yard." Read literally, the exemption covers rear-yard removal and not front-yard removal. No Louisville page says that in those words, and the Urban Forestry FAQ answers only the right-of-way question: "I live in a historic or preservation district, do I need a special permit to remove, plant, or prune a tree in the public right of way? No, only a permit is required from Urban Forestry." Note also that "designated cultural or natural landscapes" are carved out of the Landscaping definition entirely. Call the Historic Landmarks and Preservation Districts Commission before cutting a front-yard tree in a district.
— Whether Ordinance 099-2021 amended LDC Chapter 10 Part 1, whose version stamp still reads "Updated June 2020," or a different Part. Both facts are on the record and they do not reconcile.
— Two dangling cross-references in the LDC. Section 10.1.8 cites "(see Appendix 10E)" and section 10.1.6(A) cites "(Appendix 10D)." The complete Chapter 10 table of contents contains only Appendix 10A and Appendix 10B. Appendix 10B, revised October 22, 2009, is evidently what section 10.1.6 means - its own figure is still labeled "Figure 10D.1," confirming an uncleaned renumbering.
— A direct phone number, street address or email for Louisville Metro Planning and Design Services, the office that would issue the LDC 10.1.8 permit. Also no direct contact for Historic Landmarks Commission staff.
— Whether Kentucky issues any state license specifically for tree services or arborists, despite the city FAQ telling homeowners to ensure a company is "state licensed."
— Whether any Kentucky or Louisville rule restricts pruning oaks seasonally for oak wilt. All twelve sections of Chapter 102 and all nine sections of LDC Chapter 10 Part 1 were searched for "oak wilt," "seasonal," "April," "October" and "growing season" and returned nothing. Two Kentucky sources also disagree about whether oak wilt is even present: the Kentucky Division of Forestry Disease Threats page lists it among Kentucky diseases, on an undated page, while University of Kentucky publication PPFS-OR-W-30 of July 2021 states that oak wilt "is not an issue in KY as of this printing." Neither imposes any restriction, so the disagreement does not change the answer.
— Whether MSD staff in practice treat large-scale clearing as "development" despite its absence from the Chapter 157 definition, and current MSD floodplain permit fees and turnaround.