Do you need a permit?
It depends on the tree
Norman has a real Tree Protection article, and it is aimed at the street tree, not your back yard. NCC 16-903(a) makes it unlawful "to intentionally alter any street tree standing or growing, wholly or in part, in or on any street right-of-way without first obtaining the permission of the Forester," and "alter" is defined to include cutting, pruning and removal. A street tree means one six inches DBH or more sitting between the sidewalk and the street. A tree behind your own property line is outside the article entirely, with one voluntary exception: if you yourself nominated it as a historic tree, the same restrictions attach to it in perpetuity and you record a deed restriction saying so.
Size threshold
Six inches DBH, for street trees. NCC 16-901: "Street tree means a tree six inches DBH or more, which is between the publicly dedicated sidewalk and the publicly dedicated street surface or where there is no sidewalk, then within six feet of the edge of the street surface." Norman defines the measurement expressly: "DBH means tree diameter at breast height, which is measured at 4.5 feet above the ground." The private-property track uses 36 inches instead: one of the six characteristics of a historic tree at NCC 16-912(b) is "Trees with trunk diameters equal to or in excess of 36 inches DBH," and a nominated tree needs at least three of the six.
What's protected in Norman
- Street trees, six inches DBH and up, in the platted public right-of-way. NCC 16-903(a): "It shall be unlawful for any person to intentionally alter any street tree standing or growing, wholly or in part, in or on any street right-of-way without first obtaining the permission of the Forester." NCC 16-901 defines alter as "to cut, girdle, prune, destroy, remove, or in any manner injure a large tree."
- Trees designated historic under NCC 16-912, which is the only way a Norman private-property tree comes under the article. Owners nominate their own trees; the Forester recommends and the Tree Board gives final approval. Once designated, "all provisions outlined above, including the limitations on alteration outlined in NCC 16-904, shall apply to the tree in perpetuity, regardless of its location," and "the owner shall place deed restrictions upon the tree... The City shall be named a party to such deed restrictions." The Forester may release the restriction only if the tree is dead, an unmitigable imminent hazard, in a right-of-way or easement, or diseased or infected.
- Dead, broken and dangerous trees anywhere in the defined area, which are declared a public nuisance by NCC 16-905 and which NCC 16-906 makes the private owner's duty to "cause the same to be promptly abated."
How to apply in Norman
- 1
NCC 16-904(a): "Any person desiring to alter any street tree, or any branch, root or part thereof standing or growing, wholly or in part, in any publicly dedicated street or public right-of-way, not specifically exempted in NCC 16-903(b), must first request permission from the Foresters to do so."
- 2
The Forester decides "if a street tree must be altered to eliminate damage to existing buildings, foundations, utilities, or pavement surfaces or for some other good reason and shall grant permission where appropriate."
- 3
If permission is denied, NCC 16-913(a) gives you 30 working days to apply to the City Manager for relief; the City Manager then has ten working days to act "upon an adequate showing that undue hardship would be suffered if not granted."
- 4
If the City Manager denies relief, NCC 16-913(b) gives you ten working days to file a written appeal with the City Clerk. The Council hears it on the next regular agenda and its decision "shall be final and conclusive."
- 5
To designate a private tree as historic instead, NCC 16-912(c): "complete the forms provided by the Foresters and provide rationale for the designation," then the Forester recommends and the Tree Board approves.
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Fee
- Norman's Appendix A fee schedule lists no application fee for the Forester's permission. The only tree lines in the whole schedule are the enforcement ones: NCC 16-904(b)(1), "Applications to alter trees-Street tree removal, $50.00--$2,000.00," and the NCC 16-904(b)(2) remediation credits of $200.00 for one tree, $500.00 for two, $900.00 for three, $1,400.00 for four and $2,000.00 for five.
- Penalties
- NCC 16-904(b)(1): "Removal of a street tree in violation of NCC 16-903 may be subject to an administrative fine of up to $50.00 per inch DBH. The total administrative fine assessed shall not exceed $2,000.00." NCC 16-904(b)(2) lets you buy the fine down by planting: one tree earns a $200.00 credit, two $500.00, three $900.00, four $1,400.00 and five $2,000.00, all trees over one inch DBH, replanted within six months, in locations the Forester approves, and replaced again if they die within two years. NCC 16-911 adds a separate court fine "as provided in the City penalty and fine schedule per offense," but says "An owner shall not be subjected to both a penalty and an administrative fine." Money collected under 16-904(b) goes into a special fund "utilized for the sole purpose of replanting trees in the public right-of-way, in the same vicinity as the removed trees."
- Ordinance
- Norman City Code Article 16-IX (Tree Protection), NCC 16-901 through 16-913, in Chapter 16 (Health and Safety). Every section carries the same history line: "Adopted by Ord. O-2223-23 on 2/28/2023." The article derives from Code 1976, Sections 10-1001 through 10-1013, and from Ord. No. O-1819-34. Norman's code is published on municipalcodeonline.com, not on Municode.
Worth knowing
- The article does not cover the whole city. NCC 16-901 defines the "Defined area" as "the area east of West 48th Street, south of Franklin Road, and west of East 36th Street continuing south to the City limits," and says the regulations "are intended to address platted and developed properties throughout the defined area." NCC 16-903(b)(6) then exempts "Unplatted and undeveloped properties" outright.
- Storm damage has its own carve-out, which matters in Oklahoma. NCC 16-904(d): "In the event of a storm, freeze, wind event, or other environmental event resulting in damage to trees, the owner will be allowed to remove broken or damaged branches in the right-of-way without permission from the Forester. Disposal of debris generated by owner will be the responsibility of the owner. Permission from the Forester will be required for the removal of an entire tree."
- Several routine jobs need no permission at all. NCC 16-903(b) exempts branches under four inches removed to keep seven feet of clearance over sidewalks and 14 feet over streets, water sprouts and suckers, work required to satisfy sight triangles, curb cuts, stormwater or utility requirements, and removal of dangerous, diseased or infected trees.
- You still owe the pruning. NCC 16-910 makes every owner abutting a street prune "so that the limbs and undergrowth shall not hang or extend down over the sidewalk or street abutting such property less than seven feet from the level of the sidewalk or 14 feet from such street."
- Construction near a street tree triggers a physical duty. NCC 16-909 requires guards around all street trees during permitted construction or major renovation involving heavy equipment, "no less than a four-foot by four-foot area around the tree." NCC 16-908 bars paving over roots without leaving "an open space of ground outside the trunk of such a tree in an area not less than 16 square feet."
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 the Forester issues a written permit document or simply grants permission. NCC 16-904 says "request permission" and never uses the word permit for the approval itself; no form is published online.
- — The Tree Board's meeting schedule, membership and direct contact. The article assigns it final approval of historic tree designations but does not create or describe it.
- — How many trees have actually been designated historic under NCC 16-912. Norman publishes no register.
- — Whether Norman licenses or registers tree services. The word arborist appears in NCC 16-1002 and 16-1004 (best management practices) but no licensing provision was found in the code search.
- — Whether an ordinary private tree outside the historic designation truly needs nothing. Article 16-IX simply does not reach it; that is silence about private trees, not written permission.