Do you need a permit?
No permit required for most private trees
St. Cloud's tree ordinance is about the street, not your yard. Section 670 governs trees in streets, parkways and public grounds: a permit from the parks director is needed to plant there, and removal is simply off limits to a private person. We found no permit requirement anywhere in the code for a tree on private property. The city can still order a diseased tree removed and bill you as a special assessment if you do not.
What's protected in St. Cloud
- Any tree within the limits of a street, parkway or public ground. "No person will remove or cause to be removed any tree or trees or rain gardens that have been and at present are located within the limits of any street in the City of St. Cloud."
- Rain gardens in the right-of-way, treated the same way as street trees
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Ordinance
- St. Cloud City Code Chapter VI (Right-of-Way Management), Section 670 — Trees in Streets, Parkways and Public Grounds; Chapter X (Public Nuisances), Section 1045 — Dutch Elm Disease and Oak Wilt and Emerald Ash Borer.
Worth knowing
- Section 670:05 requires a permit from the parks director to plant anything other than grass in a street, and 670:15 limits boulevard planting to a long named list of approved shade and ornamental species.
- Only the owner of the contiguous property can be issued a boulevard planting permit, and the code adds that "No person will trim any tree or trees growing upon any street except under the supervision of the parks director."
- Section 1045:10 declares a public nuisance any elm infected with Dutch elm disease, any oak infected with oak wilt, any ash infested with emerald ash borer, and any dead elm, ash or oak including logs, branches, stumps and firewood.
- On private property the city mails you notice and gives 15 calendar days to remove or effectively treat the nuisance. Miss the deadline and the city abates it and the cost becomes a charge and lien collected as a special assessment.
- Section 1045:11 carves out an exemption: land zoned rural residential or agricultural under the St. Cloud Zoning Ordinance is exempt from the whole shade tree disease section.
- Report a tree concern through the city's Accela portal or by calling Parks and Recreation.
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 Land Development Code (Appendix A) imposes tree preservation, landscaping or replacement obligations during development, including inside the Shoreland and Scenic Rivers overlay districts. Those articles reference tree preservation and we could not read them in full.
- — Boulevard planting permit fees.
- — The penalty for removing a street tree.
- — A direct phone number and email for the city forester.
- — Whether St. Cloud licenses tree care contractors.