Do you need a permit?
It depends on the tree
For an ordinary tree in an ordinary Montgomery yard, outside a historic district, you need no permit - the ordinance reaches "any city tree or private tree required by city ordinance," and a tree you simply happen to have is neither. Two things change that answer. If your property is in a designated historic district, you may not remove any tree larger than 12 inches measured at ground level without prior approval of the architectural review board. And whoever you hire needs their own permit: it is unlawful to prune, cut or remove any tree in Montgomery for hire or for profit without a permit from the urban forester, which costs 5 dollars per job. So the homeowner is usually free and the tree service usually is not.
Size threshold
None for an ordinary private tree. In a historic district the threshold is 12 inches at ground level - Section 12-165(a)(2) makes it unlawful to damage or remove "any tree larger than 12 inches at ground level in designated historic districts without prior approval of the architectural review board in accordance with Ordinance No. 28-2004." Read that measuring point carefully: it is at ground level, not at breast height, even though the same ordinance separately defines "DBH shall mean diameter at breast height, measured four and one-half feet above ground level." Because a trunk flares at the base, 12 inches at ground level is a smaller tree than 12 inches DBH. Section 12-163 also defines caliper on a sliding measuring point: "the tree trunk diameter, measured six inches above ground for trees with up to a four inch caliper, and 12 inches above ground for larger trees."
What's protected in Montgomery
- City trees and private trees that a city ordinance required to be there. Section 12-165(a)(1): it is unlawful to "Break, injure, mutilate, burn, kill, remove, destroy, cut, top, girdle, or otherwise damage (including the root system) any city tree or private tree required by city ordinance, without first obtaining a permit from the city's urban forester." Section 12-163 defines "Private tree required by city ordinance" as "a tree which is planted in accordance with or required by any landscape, zoning, subdivision or other ordinance passed by the city council" - so a tree you planted to satisfy a landscape plan is regulated, and a tree that was already in the yard is not.
- Any tree over 12 inches at ground level in a designated historic district. Section 12-165(a)(2), applied through Ordinance No. 28-2004, sends this to the architectural review board rather than the urban forester.
- City trees, defined at Section 12-163 as "any tree located on city property or right-of-way or planted by the city on private property pursuant to and for the duration of an agreement between the city and private property owner." That last clause matters: a tree the city planted in your yard under a greenspace planting agreement is a city tree for the life of the agreement.
- The root protection zone of a city tree, which extends well onto private ground. Section 12-163 defines it as "an area 18 to 24 inches deep and a distance from the trunk of a tree equal to one-half its height or its drip line, whichever is greater." Section 12-165(a)(5) and (a)(6) expressly do not apply to the portion of a city tree encroaching onto private property beyond the right-of-way.
How to apply in Montgomery
- 1
If your tree is an ordinary private tree outside a historic district, there is nothing to apply for. Skip to the last step.
- 2
If you are unsure whether the tree is yours or the city's, Section 12-165(b) invites you to ask: "Citizens may request tree maintenance or removal of a tree, by contacting the urban forester where it is unclear whether that tree lies upon city property or private property. Upon receipt of a request, the tree or trees shall be inspected and evaluated and an appropriate plan of action shall be implemented."
- 3
If the property is in a designated historic district and the tree is larger than 12 inches at ground level, seek prior approval from the architectural review board under Ordinance No. 28-2004 before any work begins.
- 4
For work on a city tree or on a private tree required by ordinance, Section 12-165(e)(1)a requires the permit from the urban forester "before the activities commence," and Section 12-165(e)(1)b provides that "Tree removal permits shall require suitable tree replacement or mitigation."
- 5
Whoever does the work for money needs their own permit. Section 12-165(e)(2)b lists what the company must supply: "Name and address of business owner; location of job site; property owner of job site; and scope of work." Permits are valid 90 days under Section 12-165(e)(2)c, extendable if unusual conditions make a job run long.
- 6
Before you hire, ask the company to show you its city tree work permit. Doing the work without one is the company's violation, but it is your address on the job.
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Fee
- The commercial tree work permit is the one most homeowners end up paying for indirectly. Section 12-165(e)(2)b: "Permitting cost is $5.00 per job." Mitigation, where it applies, is far larger: Section 12-165(f)(3) provides that "Mitigation fees shall be calculated at a rate of $62.50 for each DBH inch removed," and Section 12-165(f)(1) sets replacement "at a rate of one-half inch caliper replacement for each one inch DBH removed," with a minimum acceptable caliper of two inches.
- Penalties
- Section 12-166: "Any person found to be in violation of this article shall be subject to a fine of no more than $500.00 and may be imprisoned or sentenced to hard labor for the city for a period not exceeding six months, or by both fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the court trying the case." Section 12-167 separately authorizes the urban forester to issue a written stop work order for an ongoing violation and lets the city attorney seek injunctive relief, with the city entitled to "a reasonable attorney's fee and costs" if successful.
- Ordinance
- Montgomery Code of Ordinances, Chapter 12 (Environment), Article IV - Planting, Maintenance, and Removal of Public Trees, Sections 12-161 through 12-169, enacted by Ordinance No. 81-2007, Sections 1 through 8 and 10, adopted December 18, 2007. The code editor notes that Ord. No. 81-2007 "did not specify manner of inclusion; hence, inclusion as article IV, Sections 12-161-12-169 is at the discretion of the editor." Historic district tree review runs through Ordinance No. 28-2004, and Section 12-165(g)(1) also references Ordinance No. 63-2005. Code current through Ordinance No. 4-2026, enacted March 5, 2026 (Supp. No. 27).
Worth knowing
- The single most useful sentence in the article for a homeowner is Section 12-165(b): "The city shall not remove, cut, prune, or otherwise maintain trees growing on private property, except as specifically set out herein." Montgomery is telling you the tree in your yard is your problem, and also that the city will not come do it for you.
- The contractor permit requirement is broader than the homeowner one, and that asymmetry is the point. Section 12-165(a)(9) makes it unlawful to "Perform the pruning, cutting, or removal of any tree within the city for hire or for profit without a permit issued by the urban forester." There is no size threshold, no public-tree limitation and no private-property carve-out in that clause. It has applied since January 2, 2008 under Section 12-165(e)(2)a.
- The city will only take down its own tree for cause. Section 12-165(b) lists the conditions: the tree is hazardous, meaning "obviously dead" or with "a condition which makes failure imminent" whose failure would damage the public, public property or a utility; it is a sight distance problem "and no other cost effective alternative exists"; it "is recognized by the state forestry commission as an exotic/invasive species"; or the urban forester finds it adverse to public health, safety or welfare.
- Topping is defined and disfavored. Section 12-163: "Topping means any pruning practice that results in more than one-third of the foliage and limbs being removed. This includes pruning that leads to the disfigurement of the normal shape of the tree."
- The city can plant a tree in your yard by agreement, and doing so converts it into a city tree. Section 12-165(d) authorizes the urban forester "to contract with property owners within the city to plant mutually acceptable species of trees at mutually acceptable locations on the private property, which adjoins public property or public rights-of-way, and to provide maintenance on the said tree for a period of up to one year."
- Mitigation money is ring-fenced. Section 12-165(f)(2) requires the tree bank fund to be held in an interest-bearing account "carried forward each year so that no part of the fund shall be deposited into the city general fund," spendable by the urban forester only on tree planting and maintenance.
- Appeals do not go to the council. Section 12-169: "Any person aggrieved by an adverse decision made pursuant to this article may appeal to the Circuit Court of Montgomery County, Alabama as provided in the Alabama Administrative Procedure Act."
- Utility line clearance is carved out. Section 12-168 preserves utilities' eminent domain and franchise rights, and the carve-out extends to "work done by the utility's employees, agents and contractors doing work for the utility."
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.
- — A direct phone number, email and street address for the Montgomery urban forester. The ordinance names the office repeatedly but no city page publishing its contact details was reached; montgomeryal.gov returned an access denied response to automated requests during this research. The 311 route is given above because it is the one channel that could be confirmed as the city's general service line.
- — Which areas are designated historic districts, and the boundaries. This is the fact that decides whether the 12-inch rule applies to you, and it is not reproduced in the tree article. Ask the Planning Department or the architectural review board.
- — The text of Ordinance No. 28-2004 and Ordinance No. 63-2005. Both are cited as operative by Chapter 12, Article IV, but neither is reproduced in the code and neither was located in full.
- — Whether the architectural review board charges a fee for tree removal review in a historic district, and how long the review takes. The tree article sets no fee for it.
- — Whether the 5 dollar commercial permit is still administered at that price. The figure is codified and the code is current through March 5, 2026, but no separate current fee schedule was located to confirm it has not been superseded.
- — How a homeowner verifies whether a particular tree in their yard is a "private tree required by city ordinance." That turns on whether the tree was planted to satisfy a landscape, zoning or subdivision requirement, which may only be discoverable from the original plan approval for the subdivision.
- — Whether Montgomery separately licenses arborists or tree services beyond the per-job permit. Chapter 16, Licenses and Taxation, was not examined.