Do you need a permit?
No permit required for most private trees
Springfield keys its tree permit to location, not size, and the location is the public right-of-way. Every permit requirement in the vegetation chapter sits inside the Street Trees division, and a street tree is defined as "any tree located within the right-of-way of any public street or alley open to travel within the city." Nothing in the city code or the Land Development Code requires a permit to cut down a tree growing in your own yard, at any trunk size, and the city's own All Permits catalog lists more than forty permit types without a tree permit among them. The city says it plainly on its emerald ash borer page: "Ash trees located on private residential and commercial properties are the responsibility of the property owner." What the code does regulate on private land is the opposite of removal, making it unlawful to let your tree become a hazard over the sidewalk or street.
Size threshold
None. No diameter, DBH, caliper or height figure triggers a removal permit anywhere in Chapter 114. The numbers that exist do other jobs: development tree-preservation credits are scored on "the diameter of the tree measured six inches above grade" at 2 to 3 inches, 3 to 6 inches and over 6 inches; a street tree planted in a narrow parkway must mature to "a height no greater than 20 feet and a trunk diameter no greater than eight inches"; and the tree-service license splits at "trees up to 15 feet in height."
What's protected in Springfield
- Street trees and any tree in the right-of-way — "It shall be unlawful for any person to transplant, move, spray, brace, prune or otherwise disturb, alter or do any surgery on any street tree without first obtaining a permit therefor from the director of public works. The director of public works shall not issue the permit unless the work to be done shall be necessary to the proper maintenance and preservation of the street trees and the director of public works finds that the person to do the work is reasonably competent to perform the work desired." Section 114-65 separately makes it unlawful "to damage, injure or destroy any street tree unless such acts shall be done pursuant to the provisions of this division."
- Trees on private property that threaten the public way, which is a prohibited condition rather than a permit — "It shall be unlawful for the owner of any private property to allow any tree thereon to become or remain in such an unsafe condition from age, disease, storm or insect damage or other cause so that the tree, or any part thereof, is apt to fall upon the public ways or do injury to persons traveling the public ways or thoroughfares of the city."
- Sight-triangle vegetation — "No person shall permit any tree, shrub, hedge, flower or other form of vegetation to grow within any sight triangle ... to a height in excess of two feet above the lowest grade of the two intersecting streets, provided that a single tree now growing in such areas may grow above such height if the limbs are trimmed to a minimum height of eight feet."
- Not protected, despite the name: the Land Development Code defines an "exceptional tree" by size, condition and species value, but the term appears only in the definitions section and carries no removal restriction anywhere in either code.
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Fee
- Nothing. The street tree permit is free by ordinance: Section 114-64 states "There shall be no charge for any permit issued pursuant to the provisions of this division." For a private-property removal there is no permit and therefore no fee. The one tree-related fee in Springfield is on your contractor, not you: a tree surgeon license costs "$25.00, together with an insurance policy."
- Penalties
- Street tree violations route to the general penalty, Section 1-7(a): "the violation of any such provision of this Code or other ordinances of the city shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000.00 or by imprisonment in jail for a period not exceeding 180 days, or both such fine and imprisonment," and "Every day any violation of this Code or any other ordinance of the city shall continue, such violation shall constitute a separate offense." Hazard-tree abatement adds an escalating administrative fine on top of the abatement cost: nothing for the first abatement, "$250.00 may be added to the certified costs" for the second, and "$500.00" for each one after that. Section 114-81, covering trees that threaten a neighbor rather than the public way, deliberately carries none: "No penalties are provided, it being the intent of the City to rely upon cooperation between property owners and their reliance upon the civil courts if necessary."
- Ordinance
- Springfield City Code Chapter 114 (Vegetation), Article II — Trees: Section 114-31 (Division 1, Generally), Sections 114-51 through 114-65 (Division 2, Street Trees) and Section 114-81 (Division 3, Dangerous, Dead or Diseased Trees). Section 114-31 was last amended by G.O. No. 6577 on March 9, 2020; the street tree division traces to G.O. No. 5171 (April 8, 2002) and G.O. No. 5267 (May 5, 2003); Section 114-81 came in with G.O. No. 4982 (May 15, 2000). Chapter 114 has been substantively unchanged for six years, with no 2024, 2025 or 2026 amendments. The Code of Ordinances is "Codified through G.O. No. 6961, enacted November 3, 2025 (Supp. No. 23, Update 1)" and the Land Development Code is "Codified through Ordinance No. 6935, passed July 14, 2025 (Supp. No. 9, Update 1)."
Worth knowing
- Springfield licenses your tree company, and this is the Missouri pattern in its purest form. Section 70-84(140): "Tree surgeons: Those persons engaged in the occupation of tree surgeons, tree trimming, tree and plant treating or spraying services shall pay a fee of $25.00, together with an insurance policy." Smaller work falls in a cheaper tier covering "treating, spraying and trimming of flowers, shrubs and trees up to 15 feet in height."
- The required insurance is thin by modern standards, so ask for more. The code minimum is "a public liability policy written by a company authorized to do business in the state, with minimum coverages of $5,000.00 for injuries to any one person, and $10,000.00 for all injuries arising out of one accident or occurrence; and $5,000.00 for property damage." If the policy lapses the license dies with it: cancellation "shall render the occupational license null and void from the date of such revocation or cancellation."
- It is unlawful for a tree service to advertise here without that license, and the burden is on the company. "The listing in an advertisement of an address which is inside the city or a telephone number which phone is located inside the city shall constitute prima facie evidence that the person is engaged in the business activity that is being advertised." Nothing makes it unlawful for you to hire an unlicensed one, but you can check a license through the city's Business License Search.
- There is no arborist certification requirement. The word "arborist" appears nowhere in either Springfield code, and the $25 license is a revenue and insurance instrument, not a skills credential. The only competency screen is the street tree permit's requirement that the director find the worker "reasonably competent."
- The city owns the strip between your sidewalk and the curb and takes real responsibility for it. If you plant a street tree you maintain it for three years, after which "the city shall assume all responsibility for the maintenance of the tree," and if the city later removes it for death or disease "it shall be replaced by a tree of the same type at the city's expense." Trees removed for street widening or sidewalk work are also replaced by the city. Public Grounds cares for over 20,000 public trees and removed 376 of them in 2024.
- The city can abate a hazard tree and lien your property. A violating tree "is declared to be a public nuisance"; you get written notice and twelve days to abate or request a hearing, after which "the director of public works is authorized to abate the nuisance." Costs go on a special tax bill that "shall be a lien upon the tract of land where the nuisance was abated until paid in full," with interest, foreclosure and attorney fees. Summary abatement without notice is allowed where a tree "presents an imminent danger of harm to the safety of the public to constitute an emergency," and Public Works can get a search warrant from the municipal judge if refused access.
- The Springfield Tree Registry is commemorative, not regulatory. It was "established by the Tree City USA Citizen Advisory Committee to heighten the level of awareness and appreciation of Springfield's urban forest," and registering a tree gets you a certificate and a book entry, not a protection. "Landmark" in the Land Development Code refers only to historic buildings.
- The development code exempts houses in so many words: "The standards and criteria contained within this section are deemed to be minimum standards and shall apply to all new construction occurring within the city except that single-family detached and duplex dwellings shall be exempt because such uses rarely fail to comply with the requirements set forth in this section." For everything not exempt there is a real anti-clearcutting rule requiring "clear and convincing evidence" before clear cutting is approved.
- You owe clearance over the public way even from a private tree: nine feet above any sidewalk and twelve feet above any street, with fourteen feet required over expressways and major streets.
- Missouri law punishes cutting a tree that is not yours. RSMo 537.340 awards treble damages for cutting down, injuring or destroying "any tree placed or growing for use, shade or ornament" on another person's land, and the claimant "need not prove negligence or intent."
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 street tree permit application procedure. The code requires a permit from the director of public works but no form, submittal checklist or processing time is published on springfieldmo.gov.
- — Whether the street tree permit section reaches outright removal. Its verb list is "transplant, move, spray, brace, prune or otherwise disturb, alter or do any surgery" and does not enumerate "remove," while Section 114-65 separately bars destroying a street tree except "pursuant to the provisions of this division." Removal is effectively gated but the two sections do not line up on their face. Both readings are reported rather than reconciled.
- — The abatement charge amount. Section 114-31(f)(1) says the charge "shall be as established in section 2-425," but no Section 2-425 exists in the current Chapter 2. Fee schedules are adopted by reference and held "at the office of the city clerk," so the dollar figure is not in the online code.
- — A stale cross-reference. Sections 114-56 and 114-58 point to "section 6-1207 of the city zoning ordinance" for the approved street tree species list, but that numbering predates the 2014 Land Development Code recodification and no current Section 6-1207 could be located. The list is probably the "Arboricultural Design Guidelines" that Section 114-57 says are "available in Planning and Development Department."
- — A dedicated urban forestry email address. The city staff directory obfuscates emails; only the licensing address could be extracted.
- — City Utilities line clearance practice. City Utilities is a separate municipal utility with its own line-clearance program that was not researched, and Section 70-482 separately gives telephone and cable companies a "right to trim trees and shrubs for protection of wires and cables."
- — Unincorporated Greene County. A Springfield mailing address is not necessarily inside the city limits, and county rules were out of scope.
- — Ordinances adopted after G.O. No. 6961 (November 3, 2025) are not in the codified text that was read.
Sources
- Springfield City Code Ch. 114 — Vegetation, Article II Trees (Municode)
- Springfield City Code Sec. 1-7 — General penalty (Municode)
- Springfield City Code Sec. 70-84 — Schedule of occupational license fees, incl. tree surgeons (Municode)
- Springfield Land Development Code Sec. 36-482 — Landscaping and bufferyards (Municode)
- City of Springfield — Tree Programs
- City of Springfield — Public Grounds
- City of Springfield — All Permits (complete permit catalog)
- City of Springfield — Emerald Ash Borer Response
- City of Springfield — Tree Registry
- RSMo 537.340 — Trespass on realty, treble damages