Do you need a permit?
No permit required for most private trees
Nicholasville is the clearest "no" in the state, because its ordinance says yes out loud. Zoning Ordinance Section 891.7 is titled TREE REMOVAL and it is permissive rather than restrictive: "Any owner of property upon which street trees are present may remove said trees so long as the following requirements are met," followed by five cleanup and safety conditions and no application, no review and no city approval. There is a genuine quirk here worth knowing - PLANTING a tree in the public right-of-way requires a permit under Section 891.2, while REMOVING one does not. Two real prohibitions exist and neither touches an ordinary yard tree: cutting trees in city parks is unlawful, and topping a right-of-way tree is unlawful. The one place paperwork can attach is the stump: cutting at or above ground level is expressly exempt from the grading permit, but grinding or pulling the stump is not covered by that exemption.
Size threshold
None. No provision of the Nicholasville Code or Zoning Ordinance conditions tree removal on trunk size, height, canopy or species. Note that the words DBH and diameter at breast height, and the four-and-a-half-foot convention, appear nowhere in either document. Where Nicholasville does measure trees it uses other conventions. Caliper at six inches above ground, for planting in R-1F and R-1T districts: "Trees shall have a minimum of ten (10') feet overall height or a minimum caliper (trunk diameter measured six (6") inches above ground) of at least one and three quarter (1 3/4") inches immediately after planting." Caliper with no height stated, for parking-lot landscaping credit at Section 1402.16. Mature height classes at Section 891.1: large is over fifty feet, medium is twenty-six to fifty feet, small is under twenty-six feet. And limb diameter within the crown, for the topping definition: "stubs larger than three (3") inches in diameter within the tree's crown."
What's protected in Nicholasville
- City park trees, banned outright. Code Section 19-61: "Removal of trees or vegetation prohibited; exception. It shall be unlawful to cut or remove any trees, flowers or vegetation from within the boundaries of the parks, except when required for reasons of public safety or maintenance, and then only by parks department personnel, or agents/contractors of the parks department and utility companies."
- Right-of-way trees, against topping. Zoning Section 891.3: "It shall be unlawful as a normal practice for any person to top any tree within the public right-of-way. Topping is defined as the severe cutting back of limbs to stubs larger than three (3") inches in diameter within the tree's crown to such a degree so as to remove the normal canopy and disfigure the tree. Trees severely damaged by storms or other causes, or trees under utility wires or other obstructions where other pruning practices are impractical are hereby exempted from this section."
- Required street trees in R-1F and R-1T districts, which must be planted, maintained and replaced. The zoning ordinance makes the lot owner responsible for one year from planting and for "the continued proper maintenance of all street trees" thereafter, bars topping them, and provides that "Violation of these installation and maintenance provisions shall be grounds for the Planning Commission to refuse a building occupancy permit, require replacement of trees or institute legal proceedings."
- There is no protected tree category in Nicholasville - no heritage tree, landmark tree, specimen tree, or protected species list. The undesirable species list at Section 891.5 is a PLANTING restriction for rights-of-way, not a removal restriction.
How to apply in Nicholasville
- 1
There is no application, because there is no permit. What follows are the steps the city's own published instructions actually impose.
- 2
Confirm the tree is on your property and is not a required street tree in an R-1F or R-1T subdivision. If unsure, call Planning and Zoning at 859.885.9385 or check the Official Zoning Map.
- 3
If it is a street tree, no permit is needed either - but Section 891.7 requires that the entire tree including the stump is removed, the hole is refilled to ground level with soil, the area is re-seeded or planted appropriately, no damage is done to City or third-party property, and the whole removal can be done without danger or inconvenience to the public.
- 4
If you will grind or pull the stump, check whether you fall inside a Section 1640.2 exception. If you do not, get a Grading Permit from the Planning Commission first: complete the Application for Grading Permit, attach two copies of an erosion control plan per Article 16 Section 1660.1, and pay 50 dollars per lot for a single or two-family dwelling.
- 5
If you intend to burn the debris, get a free open-burning permit from the Nicholasville Fire Department at 859.554.5100 BEFORE igniting, and burn only on a Class 1 or Class 2 fire day as designated by the Kentucky Division of Forestry.
- 6
Otherwise dispose of the wood at the City Brush Pile, 2296 Shun Pike - free, proof of residency and valid ID required, material eight inches in diameter or less and un-bagged - or set limbs at the curb bundled per Code Section 18-2(e).
- 7
Restore the site: refill any hole to ground level and re-seed or replant.
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Fee
- There is no tree removal fee. The adopted Building Permit and Planning and Zoning Fee Schedule (Ordinance 171-2024, updated December 4, 2024) contains no tree, arborist, landscaping or vegetation line item of any kind. The only fee that can become relevant is the grading permit, quoted verbatim: "Grading Permit - Single and Two Family Dwellings $50.00 per lot; Commercial, Industrial, Multi-Family $100.00 per lot; Inspection Recheck $50.00." The same schedule prices unpermitted work as "Construction without Permit - 3 x the applicable building permit fee." Open burning permits are free: "There shall be no charge for such permit."
- Penalties
- Zoning Ordinance Section 360: "Violation of the provisions of this ordinance or failure to comply with any of its requirements (including violations of conditions and safeguards established in connection with grants of variances or conditional uses) shall constitute a civil offense and shall be subject to the enforcement procedures set forth in Chapter 11 of Code of Ordinances, The City of Nicholasville. Any person who so violates this ordinance or fails to comply with any of its requirements except as provided in Section 361 herein below shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not less than $10.00 but no more than $500.00 for each conviction. Each day of violation shall constitute a separate offense." Section 361 raises the floor to 100 dollars for lots sold or transferred in violation, and adds that "The owner or tenant of any building, structure, premises, or part thereof, and any architect, builder, contractor, agent or other person who commits, participates in, assists in, or maintains such violation may each be found guilty of a separate offense." Section 891.7 puts the liability on you personally: "It shall specifically be the responsibility of the land owner to insure that the foregoing are complied with. Any violation or damages resulting from improper tree removal shall be prosecuted directly against the land owner."
- Ordinance
- The controlling instrument is the Zoning Ordinance for the City of Nicholasville, Kentucky, Section 891 STREET TREES, subsection 891.7 TREE REMOVAL. The Zoning Ordinance was adopted in June 1980; the cover of the version the city publishes states "Amended thru December 2024" and the file itself is titled "ZONING ORDINANCE MANUAL - Rev 08-29-25." Article 14 (Landscape and Land Use Buffers) was adopted March 26, 2018 by Ordinance 1011-2018; Article 16 (grading and erosion) was adopted August 17, 2006 and amended January 22, 2018 by Ordinance 1001-2018; the R-1F and R-1T landscaping provisions come from Ordinance 272-1998, adopted September 17, 1998. The Zoning Ordinance is NOT part of the online Code - Code Section 25-1 adopts it by reference under KRS 100.201 and 100.207 and notes that it "may be reviewed without charge at the Nicholasville Planning Commission Staff Office." The park tree ban at Code Section 19-61 comes from Ordinance 103-2023, February 27, 2023. Code edition 2025 S-25: "Local legislation current through Ord. No. 175-2024, dated 1-13-25 | State legislation current through 2024 Acts."
Worth knowing
- Section 891.7 is short enough to read in full, and it is the entire law on cutting down a tree in Nicholasville: "Any owner of property upon which street trees are present may remove said trees so long as the following requirements are met: 1) That the entire tree including the stump is removed. 2) That the hole be refilled to ground level with soil, so as to prevent the creation of a hole. 3) That the area be re-seeded or planted in other appropriate manner. 4) That no damage is done to any property belonging to the City of Nicholasville or other third party. 5) That the entire removal may be done without danger or inconvenience to the public."
- Planting is regulated more tightly than removal, which is backwards from almost every other city. Section 891.2: "Any person may plant a tree within the public right-of-way immediately adjacent to his property upon obtaining a permit from the Administrative Officer." Conditions include species screening, spacing of 45 feet for large trees, 35 for medium and 25 for small, setbacks of two and a half, two and one and a half feet from the curb, 20 feet from intersections, 10 feet from hydrants or utility poles, small trees only under overhead wires, and an agreement to maintain. The Administrative Officer has 14 days, and "Failure to issue such decision within said time period shall have the same effect as approval of the application."
- You are responsible for your street tree even though the city can alter it. Section 891.4 makes it unlawful to let any tree, including street trees, "grow in a manner which interferes with normal sidewalk traffic... or to grow so as to pose a threat to safety or public rights-of-way," binds successive owners, and preserves the city's right to make "such alterations in street trees as necessary to protect its reasonable interests."
- The stump is where a permit can actually attach. Zoning Section 1620.2 requires a Grading Permit for anyone "doing any grading, stripping, excavating, filling or otherwise disturbing the natural ground cover," unless exempt. The relevant exception, Section 1640.24, covers "tree cuttings at or above existing ground level, and logging operations leaving the stump, ground cover and root mat intact." So cutting at or above ground level is exempt on its face; grinding or pulling the stump is not covered by that exception. Two other exceptions commonly cover small residential jobs - Section 1640.23 for excavation under four feet deep and under 100 cubic yards with no drainage impairment, and Section 1640.25 for landscaping grading where "The aggregate area(s) affected, or stripped at any one time does not exceed 4,000 square feet, and is not within a natural or designated floodplain." Those are stated as conditions, not as a single number, and no calculation is made here. Call Planning and Zoning at 859.885.9385 before grinding a stump if your lot is in a floodplain.
- The landscaping article never reaches a house. Article 14 is tied entirely to vehicular use areas: "No new vehicular use area (VUA) shall hereafter be created or used unless landscaping is provided as required by the provisions of this Article," and the existing-site clause only bites when a building, structure or VUA is expanded, moved, removed or reconstructed.
- Burning the debris requires a free fire department permit. Code Section 8-41.4.1(d): "No person shall start or have any open fire without first obtaining a permit from the fire department... There shall be no charge for such permit." Burning is allowed only on a Class 1 or Class 2 fire day as designated by the Kentucky Division of Forestry, only for naturally occurring vegetation or untreated wood products, and residential fires may not be larger than four feet in diameter by three feet high. Land-clearing burns need a separate permit issued only after a site inspection, must be in a pit excavated to mineral soil with 25 feet of clearance, must be attended by a competent adult, and run 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
- Free wood disposal, with a hard size limit. The City Brush Pile accepts "Stumps, Logs and Tree Trunks (8 inches in diameter or less ONLY)," un-bagged, free, with proof of residency and valid ID, Tuesday and Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Saturday 8:00 a.m. to noon. As of August 6, 2026 the city's page states the brush pile is closed starting 8/6/26 for grinding, so call 859-885-1121 before hauling.
- Curbside limb rules, Code Section 18-2(e): "Tree limbs less than four (4) inches in diameter and brush shall be securely tied in bundles not larger than forty-eight (48) inches long and eighteen (18) inches in diameter when not placed in store containers. The weight of any individual bundle shall not exceed seventy-five (75) pounds." Material may not go to the curb until the regularly scheduled collection day.
- Preserving a large existing tree earns credit on commercial projects. Section 1402.16 lets a healthy 6 to 12 inch caliper tree substitute for two required new trees, 12 to 24 inch for three, and 24 inch or greater for four, each with a minimum surrounding landscape area. That applies to parking lot landscaping, not to houses.
- Sinkholes and karst are a plat-level concern only. The Subdivision Regulations require sinkholes to be labeled with their low point marked on topographic submittals and excluded from drainage design, but nothing restricts tree removal in a karst area on an existing lot.
- A tree is never a weed violation. The weed-height thresholds conflict across the three documents - Code Section 11-2(b) says eight inches, Code Section 6-302(d) says twelve, Zoning Section 892.51 says twelve - but all three exclude "trees, bushes, flowers or other ornamental plants" from the definition of weeds.
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 internal conflict between two provisions of the same zoning ordinance. Section 891.7(1) REQUIRES that "the entire tree including the stump is removed" for a street tree, while the grading exemption at Section 1640.24 only exempts "tree cuttings at or above existing ground level" and "logging operations leaving the stump, ground cover and root mat intact." Complying with 891.7 therefore takes you outside the 1640.24 exemption. Recorded rather than resolved; the Planning Commission is the office that reconciles it.
- — A five-year gap between two official currency statements. The city's own Ordinances page says local legislation is current through Ordinance No. 1075-2019, dated 9-25-19; the American Legal library the city links to says Ordinance No. 175-2024, dated 1-13-25. Both are official city-published statements and they disagree.
- — The Subdivision Regulations cover page states "Amended thru November 28, 2022" while the abstract block on the same page states "Amended thru February 2022."
- — Whether the "Tree Board" referenced at Zoning Section 1402.15 exists. That section says trees required for vehicular use area perimeter landscaping "may be placed on the right-of-way adjoining such vehicular use area when approved by the Planning Commission and the Tree Board." It is the only mention in either document, no ordinance creating a Tree Board appears in the Code, and the city lists only the Planning Commission and the Board of Adjustment. Treat it as unconfirmed.
- — Whether Nicholasville is a Tree City USA community. The Arbor Day Foundation directory URLs returned 404 or did not render a state roster.
- — Whether Kentucky publishes an official seasonal oak wilt pruning window. The Kentucky Division of Forestry forest health page addresses emerald ash borer, hemlock woolly adelgid and spotted lanternfly and does not mention oak wilt. What can be stated definitively is that no Nicholasville ordinance imposes any seasonal restriction on pruning or cutting oaks, or any tree, at any time of year - the entire Code and Zoning Ordinance were searched for it.
- — Whether any Kentucky state quarantine currently restricts moving oak or ash wood or firewood out of Jessamine County.
- — Whether Nicholasville licenses or registers tree services. Chapter 27 is an occupational license TAX on payroll and net profits, not a trade competency license, and Section 27-2 requires every business operating in the city to register with the occupational tax office. The city's contractor registration form is tied to construction permits, not tree work. No provision was found making it unlawful to hire an unregistered tree service.
- — Whether the Planning Commission office charges for a paper copy of the Zoning Ordinance. Section 25-1(c) guarantees only that it "may be reviewed without charge."
Sources
- Nicholasville, KY Code of Ordinances (American Legal, 2025 S-25)
- Nicholasville Code Sec. 19-61 - Removal of trees or vegetation prohibited (parks)
- Zoning Ordinance for the City of Nicholasville (Rev 08-29-25) - Sec. 891 Street Trees, Sec. 891.7 Tree Removal, Art. 14, Art. 16 (PDF)
- Nicholasville Subdivision Regulations (PDF)
- City of Nicholasville - Planning and Zoning (staff, phone, meetings)
- City of Nicholasville - Planning and Zoning Forms and Links
- Building Permit and Planning and Zoning Fee Schedule, Ordinance 171-2024 (PDF)
- City of Nicholasville - Application for Grading Permit (PDF)
- City of Nicholasville - Ordinances page (city currency statement)
- City of Nicholasville - Brush Pile (free disposal, size limit, closures)