Tree Removal Permits in Owensboro, KY

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

Do you need a permit?

No permit required for most private trees

No. You do not need a permit from the City of Owensboro to remove a tree growing on your own private property, at any size. That is not inferred from silence - Owensboro has a real, titled tree ordinance, and the ordinance defines its own scope as city property, the public right-of-way, medians and the "street lawn." Its only permit is a free permit to PLANT a tree in the right-of-way. There is no size threshold, no protected-tree list, no heritage category and no mitigation formula anywhere in the municipal code, the zoning ordinance or the subdivision regulations. The traps are elsewhere: the strip between your sidewalk and the curb is not your tree, the downtown core carries an outright ban rather than a permit, and you are affirmatively obligated to deal with a private tree that damages a public sidewalk or blocks sight lines at an intersection.

Size threshold

None, because there is no permit. Be careful with the diameter figures that do appear in Owensboro's ordinances - they are nursery-stock specifications for trees being PLANTED, and they are expressly measured six inches above ground, not DBH at 4.5 feet. Zoning Section 17.432: "A minimum of ten (10) feet overall height or a minimum caliber (trunk diameter, measured six (6) inches above ground for trees up to four (4) inches caliber) of at least 1 3/4 inches immediately after planting shall be required." What the tree ordinance itself uses to classify trees is MATURE HEIGHT, not trunk size - Section 5-159 defines large trees as those "expected to attain a mature height of forty (40) feet or more," medium as "twenty-five (25) to forty (40) feet" and small as "twenty-five (25) feet or less" - and that classification governs planting spacing in the street lawn only, never removal.

What's protected in Owensboro

Trees on city property, any street lawn, or public right-of-way. Section 5-160(b)(1): "It shall be unlawful for any person to cut, carve, poison by use of any gaseous liquid, herbicide, or other toxic substance harmful to trees, transplant, temporarily or permanently attach any signs, boards, or other items excluding tree support devices, or damage any trees or shrubs located on city property, any street lawn, or other public right-of-way."
The downtown core area - an outright ban, not a permit. Section 5-160(b)(6)a: "No trees or shrubs shall be planted, pruned, or removed by any person other than the city, its licensed agent or contractor, on or from city property or right-of-way within the downtown core area." The area is bounded by Fifth Street on the south, the riverfront on the north, Walnut Street on the west and Crittenden Street on the east.
City parks. Section 19-6(2) prohibits any person to "Cut, remove or destroy any tree, sapling, seedling, brush, shrub, or flower, whether alive or dead."
Another person's tree. Section 17-10 makes it unlawful to "intentionally, maliciously, wantonly or recklessly destroy, damage, deface, remove" trees or landscaping owned by another.
NOT protected: trees in the two local historic districts. Certificate of Appropriateness review expressly excludes vegetation - Zoning Article 21 Section 21.81(g)(i)(x) lists reviewable "Site features other than vegetation." Outside the Downtown Overlay, Section 2-356 limits COAs to alteration of a building exterior, new construction, demolition and relocation. Trees are not listed.

How to apply in Owensboro

1
To remove a tree on your own private property there is no application, no notice and no fee.
2
If the tree is in the street lawn or right-of-way and does not qualify for city removal, Section 5-160(b)(4) lets you remove it at your own expense - call Grounds at 270-687-8733 first to confirm whether the tree is actually yours and whether the Section 24-61 excavation rules apply.
3
For the one tree permit that does exist, planting in the right-of-way: call the City Horticulturist at least ten days before you want to plant. A site visit determines what is possible, at no charge.
4
Call Kentucky 811 (dial 811 or kentucky811.org) to have underground utilities marked within 15 feet of the pavement edge. State law requires locating utilities before excavation, and the ordinance requires it before the on-site visit.
5
If a free permit is approved, the horticulturist can provide a list of suggested species and may attach conditions.
6
You must agree to maintain the tree, and Section 5-160(a) makes that "a binding, real covenant between applicant, applicant's successors in interest, and the city" - the obligation transfers with ownership of the property.

Fees, penalties, and the ordinance

Fee: No fee to remove a tree on your own property, because no permit exists. The right-of-way tree PLANTING permit is free - Section 5-160(a): "Permits authorized herein shall be issued at no cost to the applicant by the city horticulturist provided the following conditions are met." The separate right-of-way construction permit for sidewalk, driveway, curb or gutter work is $50 under Section 24-63. The OMPC planning fee schedule contains no tree, landscaping-review or vegetation-removal fee at all.
Penalties: Section 5-163(b): "Any person violating any provision of division 3 of this article shall be, upon conviction or a plea of guilty, subject to a fine of not less than ten dollars ($10.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00)." Damaging another person's tree under Section 17-10 carries "not less than fifty dollars ($50.00), but no more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) and/or incarcerated for a term not to exceed ninety (90) days, or both." Code enforcement may add a daily civil penalty "not to exceed $100.00 per day per property," and unpaid amounts become a lien recorded with the Daviess County clerk bearing 12 percent interest and running for ten years.
Ordinance: The "Tree Ordinance of the City of Owensboro, Kentucky" (Section 5-158), codified at Municipal Code ch. 5, art. IV, div. 3, Sections 5-158 to 5-162. Adopted as Ord. No. 19-2011, Section 1, on May 17, 2011; most recently amended by Ord. No. 17-2025, Sections 3 to 5, adopted September 16, 2025. The code is codified through Ordinance No. 7-2026, adopted April 21, 2026 (Supp. No. 54, Update 1), so anything adopted after that date is not yet in the codified text. The landscape article is Owensboro Metropolitan Zoning Ordinance art. XVII, enacted by Ord. No. 37-2009 on October 20, 2009 and last amended August 15, 2023.

Worth knowing

The strip between your sidewalk and the curb is not your tree. That is the "street lawn," and cutting a tree there is unlawful. Per the city, the right-of-way "is approximately 6 inches behind the public sidewalk," but it varies by subdivision - call Engineering at 270-687-8641 if you are unsure.
The city removes right-of-way trees only when the tree is dead or severely damaged, is damaging infrastructure, conflicts with a city construction project, or poses an unacceptable safety risk (Section 5-160(b)(3)). Otherwise the adjoining owner may remove it at their own expense.
You have an affirmative duty for your private tree's effect on public infrastructure. Section 5-161(a): "Adjoining property owners shall also maintain and repair, if necessary, any abutting public street or sidewalk, or other public right-of-way damaged by the root system, trunk, or limb of a privately owned tree, at the property owner's expense."
A dead or dangerous private tree can be forced on you. Section 5-160(b)(5) authorizes the city "to prune trees growing on private property that, in the judgment of the city's agent, present an unacceptable safety risk to vehicular or pedestrian traffic in the right-of-way," and Section 5-137(b)(6) treats a tree that "poses a danger to life, limb or property" as a nuisance.
Stump grinding may pull in a separate permit even though tree removal does not. Zoning Section 3-2(c)(5): "No excavation, cut or fill of earth or debris shall hereafter be undertaken unless a permit is issued by the Zoning Administrator." Tree and stump removal are not named and no size threshold is given, so call OMPC at 270-687-8650 before grinding a stump, and call 811 regardless.
The city will not haul away a tree service's debris. Sanitation: "No contractor yard waste. Your service is limited to what you or your immediate family living at the residence have cut." Negotiate haul-away into your tree-service quote. Self-cut limbs are collected if under 6 inches in diameter, butt-ends to the street, one pickup-load per week, placed behind the curb.
There is no tree-service licensing in Owensboro and no rule against hiring an unlicensed one - chapter 16 has no arborist or tree-service article. The phrase "licensed agent or contractor" in the downtown ban constrains the city's agents, not you.
Owensboro is in its 36th year as a Tree City USA community and runs an $84,303 Equitable Urban Canopy Initiative, but that program covers ten city parks and creates no private-property obligation.

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.

— The date of the tree ordinance is contradicted by three primary sources and we are recording the conflict rather than resolving it. The codified text credits Ord. No. 19-2011 adopted May 17, 2011. The city's own Grounds page says "In October, 1999, the City of Owensboro passed a Tree Ordinance." Owensboro Municipal Utilities cites "City of Owensboro Ordinance 76-99." The 1999 date and the 76-99 number are consistent with each other and a plausible reading is that 76-99 was superseded by 19-2011, but we could not obtain the text of 76-99 to confirm it. The operative law today is unambiguously the codified Section 5-158 et seq.
— The nuisance cross-reference in the ordinance is broken. Section 5-162 says a tree violation is a public nuisance abatable "in accordance with section 18-41, et seq.," but Section 18-41 defines public nuisance in terms of repeated citations for prostitution, controlled substances, illegal alcohol sales or gambling, and assigns enforcement to the chief of police. Chapter 18 does not contemplate trees at all. Reported as written.
— No one is publicly named to the codified "city horticulturist" role. The published tree contact is the Grounds Manager, but the city never states he holds that title.
— We could not confirm whether any written application form exists for the free right-of-way planting permit; both the ordinance and the city process page describe it as a phone call followed by a site visit.
— We could not confirm whether removing a tree or grinding a stump in the street lawn triggers the $50 right-of-way permit. Section 24-61 names sidewalk, driveway, street, curb and gutter work; Section 5-160(b)(2) routes "any excavation" there; neither names tree or stump removal.
— We could not confirm whether the city publishes an approved street-tree species list. The ordinance says a list "can be provided" by the horticulturist, but none is posted.
— We could not confirm Owensboro Municipal Utilities line-clearance distances or whether OMU will drop a service line on request; omu.org returned HTTP 403 and the text obtained by another route does not address it.

Sources

Who to contact in Owensboro

City of Owensboro Public Works - Grounds Department (Adam Wright, Grounds Manager)

270-687-8733 (Grounds, 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; after 4:00 p.m. contact CityAction). CityAction, to report a hazardous tree: 270-687-4444. Public Works and Engineering, for right-of-way location questions: 270-687-8641. OMPC, for zoning and excavation permits: 270-687-8650. Adam.wright@owensboro.org Official page

1410 W. 5th Street, Owensboro, KY 42301

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Size threshold

What's protected in Owensboro

Trees on city property, any street lawn, or public right-of-way. Section 5-160(b)(1): "It shall be unlawful for any person to cut, carve, poison by use of any gaseous liquid, herbicide, or other toxic substance harmful to trees, transplant, temporarily or permanently attach any signs, boards, or other items excluding tree support devices, or damage any trees or shrubs located on city property, any street lawn, or other public right-of-way."

The downtown core area - an outright ban, not a permit. Section 5-160(b)(6)a: "No trees or shrubs shall be planted, pruned, or removed by any person other than the city, its licensed agent or contractor, on or from city property or right-of-way within the downtown core area." The area is bounded by Fifth Street on the south, the riverfront on the north, Walnut Street on the west and Crittenden Street on the east.

City parks. Section 19-6(2) prohibits any person to "Cut, remove or destroy any tree, sapling, seedling, brush, shrub, or flower, whether alive or dead."

Another person's tree. Section 17-10 makes it unlawful to "intentionally, maliciously, wantonly or recklessly destroy, damage, deface, remove" trees or landscaping owned by another.

NOT protected: trees in the two local historic districts. Certificate of Appropriateness review expressly excludes vegetation - Zoning Article 21 Section 21.81(g)(i)(x) lists reviewable "Site features other than vegetation." Outside the Downtown Overlay, Section 2-356 limits COAs to alteration of a building exterior, new construction, demolition and relocation. Trees are not listed.

How to apply in Owensboro

1
To remove a tree on your own private property there is no application, no notice and no fee.
2
If the tree is in the street lawn or right-of-way and does not qualify for city removal, Section 5-160(b)(4) lets you remove it at your own expense - call Grounds at 270-687-8733 first to confirm whether the tree is actually yours and whether the Section 24-61 excavation rules apply.
3
For the one tree permit that does exist, planting in the right-of-way: call the City Horticulturist at least ten days before you want to plant. A site visit determines what is possible, at no charge.
4
Call Kentucky 811 (dial 811 or kentucky811.org) to have underground utilities marked within 15 feet of the pavement edge. State law requires locating utilities before excavation, and the ordinance requires it before the on-site visit.
5
If a free permit is approved, the horticulturist can provide a list of suggested species and may attach conditions.
6
You must agree to maintain the tree, and Section 5-160(a) makes that "a binding, real covenant between applicant, applicant's successors in interest, and the city" - the obligation transfers with ownership of the property.

Fees, penalties, and the ordinance

Fee

No fee to remove a tree on your own property, because no permit exists. The right-of-way tree PLANTING permit is free - Section 5-160(a): "Permits authorized herein shall be issued at no cost to the applicant by the city horticulturist provided the following conditions are met." The separate right-of-way construction permit for sidewalk, driveway, curb or gutter work is $50 under Section 24-63. The OMPC planning fee schedule contains no tree, landscaping-review or vegetation-removal fee at all.

Penalties

Section 5-163(b): "Any person violating any provision of division 3 of this article shall be, upon conviction or a plea of guilty, subject to a fine of not less than ten dollars ($10.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00)." Damaging another person's tree under Section 17-10 carries "not less than fifty dollars ($50.00), but no more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) and/or incarcerated for a term not to exceed ninety (90) days, or both." Code enforcement may add a daily civil penalty "not to exceed $100.00 per day per property," and unpaid amounts become a lien recorded with the Daviess County clerk bearing 12 percent interest and running for ten years.

Ordinance

The "Tree Ordinance of the City of Owensboro, Kentucky" (Section 5-158), codified at Municipal Code ch. 5, art. IV, div. 3, Sections 5-158 to 5-162. Adopted as Ord. No. 19-2011, Section 1, on May 17, 2011; most recently amended by Ord. No. 17-2025, Sections 3 to 5, adopted September 16, 2025. The code is codified through Ordinance No. 7-2026, adopted April 21, 2026 (Supp. No. 54, Update 1), so anything adopted after that date is not yet in the codified text. The landscape article is Owensboro Metropolitan Zoning Ordinance art. XVII, enacted by Ord. No. 37-2009 on October 20, 2009 and last amended August 15, 2023.

Worth knowing

The strip between your sidewalk and the curb is not your tree. That is the "street lawn," and cutting a tree there is unlawful. Per the city, the right-of-way "is approximately 6 inches behind the public sidewalk," but it varies by subdivision - call Engineering at 270-687-8641 if you are unsure.
The city removes right-of-way trees only when the tree is dead or severely damaged, is damaging infrastructure, conflicts with a city construction project, or poses an unacceptable safety risk (Section 5-160(b)(3)). Otherwise the adjoining owner may remove it at their own expense.
You have an affirmative duty for your private tree's effect on public infrastructure. Section 5-161(a): "Adjoining property owners shall also maintain and repair, if necessary, any abutting public street or sidewalk, or other public right-of-way damaged by the root system, trunk, or limb of a privately owned tree, at the property owner's expense."
A dead or dangerous private tree can be forced on you. Section 5-160(b)(5) authorizes the city "to prune trees growing on private property that, in the judgment of the city's agent, present an unacceptable safety risk to vehicular or pedestrian traffic in the right-of-way," and Section 5-137(b)(6) treats a tree that "poses a danger to life, limb or property" as a nuisance.
Stump grinding may pull in a separate permit even though tree removal does not. Zoning Section 3-2(c)(5): "No excavation, cut or fill of earth or debris shall hereafter be undertaken unless a permit is issued by the Zoning Administrator." Tree and stump removal are not named and no size threshold is given, so call OMPC at 270-687-8650 before grinding a stump, and call 811 regardless.
The city will not haul away a tree service's debris. Sanitation: "No contractor yard waste. Your service is limited to what you or your immediate family living at the residence have cut." Negotiate haul-away into your tree-service quote. Self-cut limbs are collected if under 6 inches in diameter, butt-ends to the street, one pickup-load per week, placed behind the curb.
There is no tree-service licensing in Owensboro and no rule against hiring an unlicensed one - chapter 16 has no arborist or tree-service article. The phrase "licensed agent or contractor" in the downtown ban constrains the city's agents, not you.
Owensboro is in its 36th year as a Tree City USA community and runs an $84,303 Equitable Urban Canopy Initiative, but that program covers ten city parks and creates no private-property obligation.

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.

— The date of the tree ordinance is contradicted by three primary sources and we are recording the conflict rather than resolving it. The codified text credits Ord. No. 19-2011 adopted May 17, 2011. The city's own Grounds page says "In October, 1999, the City of Owensboro passed a Tree Ordinance." Owensboro Municipal Utilities cites "City of Owensboro Ordinance 76-99." The 1999 date and the 76-99 number are consistent with each other and a plausible reading is that 76-99 was superseded by 19-2011, but we could not obtain the text of 76-99 to confirm it. The operative law today is unambiguously the codified Section 5-158 et seq.
— The nuisance cross-reference in the ordinance is broken. Section 5-162 says a tree violation is a public nuisance abatable "in accordance with section 18-41, et seq.," but Section 18-41 defines public nuisance in terms of repeated citations for prostitution, controlled substances, illegal alcohol sales or gambling, and assigns enforcement to the chief of police. Chapter 18 does not contemplate trees at all. Reported as written.
— No one is publicly named to the codified "city horticulturist" role. The published tree contact is the Grounds Manager, but the city never states he holds that title.
— We could not confirm whether any written application form exists for the free right-of-way planting permit; both the ordinance and the city process page describe it as a phone call followed by a site visit.
— We could not confirm whether removing a tree or grinding a stump in the street lawn triggers the $50 right-of-way permit. Section 24-61 names sidewalk, driveway, street, curb and gutter work; Section 5-160(b)(2) routes "any excavation" there; neither names tree or stump removal.
— We could not confirm whether the city publishes an approved street-tree species list. The ordinance says a list "can be provided" by the horticulturist, but none is posted.
— We could not confirm Owensboro Municipal Utilities line-clearance distances or whether OMU will drop a service line on request; omu.org returned HTTP 403 and the text obtained by another route does not address it.