Do you need a permit?
It depends on the tree
Mobile is the one Alabama city with real private-property tree law, and its own chapter contradicts itself about who it covers. Section 65-1(b) exempts single-family and two-family lots with an existing house from the whole chapter, so long as the lot is not in a historic district. But Section 65-6(a) says in plain terms that anyone wanting to trim, remove or relocate a heritage live oak on R-1 or R-2 property outside a historic district must get a permit from the urban forester. A heritage live oak is any live oak 18 inches DBH or larger, which in Mobile is a common yard tree. Both sentences were adopted the same day in the same ordinance. If you have a live oak of that size, do not assume the exemption protects you - call the urban forester first. Inside a local historic district the answer is simpler and stricter: heritage trees start at 8 inches DBH and removal needs a permit.
Size threshold
Eighteen inches DBH for a heritage live oak, and 18 inches for the other heritage species, dropping to 8 inches inside a historic district. Section 65-2: "Heritage live oak tree: A live oak tree which is at least eighteen (18) inches DBH." And "Heritage tree, existing: Any of the following list of trees which is at least eighteen (18) inches DBH: hickory (Carya spp.); longleaf pine (Pinus palustris); magnolia (Magnolia spp.); oak (Quercus spp.), excluding water oak (Quercus nigra); river birch (Betula nigra); sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua); sycamore (Platanus occidentalis); and yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera). In historic districts, heritage trees include the species previously noted, but have a minimum size of at least eight (8) inches DBH." Section 65-6(a)(8) repeats it: "In historic districts, heritage trees have a minimum size of at least eight (8) inches DBH." DBH is defined at Section 65-2 as "The measurement of the width of the trunk of the tree at four and one-half (4 1/2) feet above the existing grade. For multi-trunk trees the DBH shall be the sum of the diameter of the trunks." Water oak is expressly excluded from the protected oak list.
What's protected in Mobile
- Heritage live oaks on ordinary single-family and two-family lots, per Section 65-6(a): "Any person wishing to trim, remove or relocate a heritage live oak tree on property zoned R-1, single-family residential, or R-2, two-family residential that is not located within a historic district shall be required to obtain a tree permit from the urban forester." This is the clause that conflicts with the Section 65-1(b) exemption. Note that it covers TRIMMING as well as removal.
- Heritage trees of any of the nine listed species in a historic district, at 8 inches DBH and up. Section 65-6(a)(8)a: "No heritage tree can be removed, nor can land be cleared or grubbed, in any local historic district except under a permit issued by the urban forester."
- Heritage trees on any property not zoned R-1 or R-2. Section 65-6(a), second sentence: "Any person wishing to trim, remove or relocate a heritage tree in a historic district or on any property lying in a zoning classification other than R-1, single-family residential, or R-2, two-family residential, shall be required to obtain a tree permit from the urban forester."
- Public trees, defined at Section 65-2 as "A tree located on any property owned by the city." Section 65-7(a): "No tree shall be removed, cut, trimmed or damaged from any public right-of-way except as provided by the Mobile Tree Act, in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Mobile Tree Commission."
- The critical root zone of any public or heritage tree. Section 65-10(a)(4) prohibits damaging "roots within the critical root zone (CRZ) through non-selective root pruning as opposed to selective root pruning as described in ANSI A300 (part 8) best management practices, including roots damaged during curb cuts, sidewalk and driveway installation and repair." Section 65-2 puts the CRZ at "six (6) to eighteen (18) times the trunk diameter (DBH) depending on species tolerance to root loss, tree age and health."
How to apply in Mobile
- 1
First settle which side of the Section 65-1(b) / Section 65-6(a) conflict you are on. If your lot is R-1 or R-2 with a house on it, outside a historic district, and your tree is a live oak of 18 inches DBH or more, the two provisions disagree. Call Build Mobile at 251-208-5895 or email tree.commission@cityofmobile.org and get the city's position in writing before cutting.
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Measure properly. DBH is at four and one-half feet above existing grade, and on a multi-trunk tree you add the trunk diameters together, which pushes many multi-stemmed trees over the threshold.
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Apply to the urban forester. Section 65-6(a)(1) requires a landscape plan identifying trees to be removed only for sites NOT zoned R-1 or R-2, so a homeowner generally does not need one; Section 65-6(a)(2) adds that "Tree trimming applications do not require a landscape plan unless otherwise deemed required by the urban forester."
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Pay 75 dollars per tree, capped at 225 dollars for a one- or two-family site.
- 5
Expect a field check, and know the clock runs in your favor. Section 65-6(a)(4): "Failure to deny the application, as provided herein, within fourteen (14) working days after the date of receipt of the application shall entitle the applicant to automatic issuance of the permit as requested in the application." Section 65-6(a)(6) repeats the same automatic-issuance rule under the denial heading.
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Know the grounds. Section 65-6(a)(5) lets the forester issue a permit if the tree is where an approved structure or improvement will go; "For one- and two-family properties only, the tree is located where a swimming pool or detached carport or garage will be located"; the tree is "a moderate to high level risk per ANSI A300 (Part 9) tree risk assessment"; or the tree causes a violation of federal, state or local law.
- 7
In a historic district the grounds are narrower. Section 65-6(a)(8)a allows removal only where the tree is a moderate to high risk under ANSI A300 Part 9, or is "Certified by the architectural review board to be removed for the purpose of renovating an historic structure or enhancement of the aesthetic quality of the property," or the owner shows "by way of an ISA certified arborist evaluation, clear and convincing evidence" of "extreme and extraordinary hardship."
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Plan for relocation or replacement. Section 65-6(a)(8)b: "In all cases where removal is permitted, the said tree shall be relocated if deemed feasible by the urban forester and the cost of relocation does not exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00). Otherwise said tree shall be replaced in coordination with and approval by the urban forester."
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Permits run six months under Section 65-6(a)(7), extendable once by up to six more, "but in no case will a permit be valid for more than twelve (12) months."
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To appeal a grant or denial, Section 65-6(b) gives you 15 days from the decision to file a written notice with both the urban forester and the city clerk, specifying the grounds. The appeal goes to the city council.
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Fee
- Section 65-6(a)(3): "Upon paying an administrative application fee of seventy-five dollars ($75.00) per tree with a maximum charge of two hundred twenty-five dollars ($225.00) for one- and two-family sites and six hundred seventy-five dollars ($675.00) for all other sites, to cover the costs of researching and processing the application, the application and plan shall be stamped with the date and time and forwarded to the city's Urban Forester for review and approval." So a homeowner caps out at 225 dollars however many trees are involved. The same subsection earmarks all proceeds "for the use of the city's urban forester for the administration of this chapter."
- Penalties
- Section 65-11(b): "Any person found guilty of violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall be punished as prescribed in chapter 1, article II, division 2, Mobile City Code, with a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00) per violation, plus court costs and restitution as may be ordered by the court, and/or by imprisonment for a period not exceeding three (3) months, and/or by community service for a period not exceeding three (3) months, or by a combination of any of the foregoing, all at the discretion of the judge." The restitution is the part that can dwarf the fine: "It is recommended that any such restitution be based on the most current version of the American Society of Consulting Arborists (ASCA) Tree and Plant Appraisal Process, should sufficient evidence of such process be presented." A mature live oak appraises high.
- Ordinance
- Mobile City Code, Chapter 65 - Tree Protection and Management, Sections 65-1 through 65-11, adopted by Ordinance No. 65-018-2021 on March 16, 2021. The editor's note records the unusual two-week history: "Ord. No. 65-018-2021, adopted March 16, 2021, has been treated as repealing and replacing ch. 65, Sections 65-1 and 65-2. Former ch. 65 pertained to similar subject matter, and derived from Ord. No. 65-017-2021, Section 1, adopted March 2, 2021." Every section of the current chapter carries the 3-16-21 derivation. The underlying enabling authority is the Mobile Tree Act, defined at Section 65-2 as "the local law enacted by the Alabama State Legislature (Act 929 of the 1961 Regular Session of the Alabama Legislature (Acts 1961, p. 1487), as amended) for the purpose of protecting the trees on both public and private property within the city" - note that the enabling act on its face reaches private property, which is why Mobile can regulate here at all in a weak-home-rule state. Code current through Ordinance No. 36-017-2026, adopted March 1, 2026 (Supp. No. 67).
Worth knowing
- The contradiction is the most important fact on this page, so here are both sentences side by side. Section 65-1(b): "The requirements of this chapter shall apply to all land located within the corporate limits of the city, except single-family and two-family lots with an existing habitable structure, which are not located in an historic district subject to the rules and regulations of the architectural review board. Single-family and two-family lots which are located within a locally designated historic district are subject to the requirements of this chapter." Section 65-6(a): "Any person wishing to trim, remove or relocate a heritage live oak tree on property zoned R-1, single-family residential, or R-2, two-family residential that is not located within a historic district shall be required to obtain a tree permit from the urban forester." This file does not resolve which controls.
- Note that the exemption in Section 65-1(b) turns on there being "an existing habitable structure." A vacant R-1 lot with no house on it is not exempt on the face of that sentence, so clearing a wooded lot before you build is a different question from taking a tree out of an established yard.
- The permit covers trimming, not just removal. Section 65-6(a) names "trim, remove or relocate" together, and Section 65-10(a)(1) separately prohibits anyone from "Damage, cut, carve, transplant, mutilate, abuse, poison or remove any public tree or heritage tree."
- Storms are carved out, which matters on the Gulf Coast. Section 65-10(c): "No action in removing or trimming trees due to lightning, hurricanes, or other natural disasters shall be considered tree abuse." Section 65-10(b) likewise exempts utility line clearing done to ISA, National Arborist Association and National Electrical Safety Code standards.
- Whoever you hire needs a city business license for tree work. Section 65-9(c): "It shall be unlawful for any person, individual, corporation, institution, or agent of such, to engage principally in the business or occupation of trimming, pruning, fertilizing, or removing trees within the corporate limits of the city, without first applying for and procuring the appropriate business license from the city. All arborists must abide by all relevant state laws and requirements."
- The permit has to be posted where the neighbors can see it. Section 65-9(b)(2) requires it displayed "continuously while trees are being trimmed, removed, or replaced, or work is being done as authorized on the permit, and for ten (10) days thereafter," and Section 65-9(b)(4) makes working without it displayed a violation in itself.
- Applying for a permit consents to inspection. Section 65-9(b)(5): "As a condition for the issuance of the permit, the applicant shall agree in writing to entry onto his premises by representatives of the city and all law enforcement officers to inspect at any time the permit and all work being done pursuant to the permit, and such entry shall be lawful."
- Work in the right-of-way or a city park has a much heavier bar than work in your yard. Section 65-9(d)(3) requires a performance bond of at least 10,000 dollars, a certificate of insurance naming the city as additional insured with 60 days notice of cancellation, a written indemnity acceptable to the city legal department, and proof that "an ISA (International Society of Arboriculture) certified arborist will be responsible for the work."
- Curb cuts near a protected tree need a conversation first. Section 65-10(e): "No curb cuts which involve public trees or heritage trees shall be allowed without prior coordination with the urban forester."
- A public tree that is not in the right-of-way comes out only by council resolution. Section 65-7(b) requires a notice of intent filed with the tree commission "at least two (2) weeks prior to obtaining a resolution of authority from the city council," unless the urban forester authorizes the removal.
- Grubbing has a definitional ceiling that keeps it away from real trees. Section 65-2: "Grubbing: The effective removal of understory vegetation such as, but not limited to, palmetto from the site. As herein defined, no tree greater than three (3) inches DBH will be removed."
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.
- — How the city actually reconciles Section 65-1(b) with Section 65-6(a). This is the central open question for a Mobile homeowner and it cannot be answered from the code text, because both provisions are current, both were adopted by the same ordinance on March 16, 2021, and neither contains a "notwithstanding" clause pointing to the other. Ask the urban forester in writing.
- — The urban forester's name and direct phone line. Section 65-3 requires the position to exist and to be ISA certified, but no city page naming the current holder or giving a direct number was located; the Build Mobile main line and the tree commission email are given above instead.
- — The boundaries of Mobile's local historic districts. This determines both whether the chapter applies to you at all and whether your heritage tree threshold is 8 inches or 18 inches. Section 65-2 defines a historic district as one "designated by the city council" but the code does not map them.
- — The tree permit application form itself. Section 65-6 describes the contents and the fee but no downloadable form was located on cityofmobile.gov or buildmobile.org.
- — Whether the Mobile Tree Commission has published rules and regulations of its own. Section 65-7(a) makes right-of-way work subject to "the rules and regulations of the Mobile Tree Commission," which implies a separate document that was not found.
- — The current text of the Mobile Tree Act itself. It is cited as Act 929 of the 1961 Regular Session (Acts 1961, p. 1487) "as amended," and the amendments were not traced. Since this is the enabling authority for regulating private trees at all, its current scope matters.
- — Whether Chapter 64, the Unified Development Code, imposes additional tree or landscape duties that could reach a residential lot. It was not read here.
- — Whether a dead or obviously hazardous heritage tree needs a permit before emergency removal. Section 65-6(a)(5)c contemplates a risk assessment as a ground for issuing a permit rather than as an exemption from needing one, and Section 65-10(c) exempts storm response from being "tree abuse" without clearly exempting it from the permit requirement.