Do you need a permit?
It depends on the tree
Tempe has no tree removal permit for an ordinary tree in a single-family yard, and no native plant preservation ordinance at all. Two narrower rules do bite. If the tree was installed as part of an approved landscape plan, Zoning and Development Code section 4-102(E)(3) requires the Community Development Director's prior approval to remove it and makes you replace it with one of like size and quality. And the strip between sidewalk and curb is public right-of-way: City Code section 29-41 says no person shall plant, move, remove or replace any tree or shrub there without the Public Works Director's permission.
What's protected in Tempe
- Trees installed under an approved landscape plan. ZDC section 4-102(E)(3): "Landscape features, lighting, walls, screening devices or other features installed in conformance with Part 4 of this Code shall not be modified or removed without prior approval by the Community Development Director, or designee. The removal or destruction of such features without prior approval ... shall constitute a violation of this Code. In such case, the owner shall be required to replace said feature(s) with those of like size and quality."
- Trees and shrubs in the public right-of-way. City Code section 29-41: "No person shall plant, move, remove or replace any tree or shrub in a public right-of-way except by permission of the Public Works Director."
- Trees and shrubs in public parks, which are handled the same way under Chapter 29 Article II.
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Penalties
- For right-of-way violations, City Code section 29-48 is a notice-and-cost-recovery mechanism rather than a fine: the Public Works Director notifies the violator by certified mail, and if the violation is not corrected within 30 days the Director "shall have authority to take the necessary remedial action and charge the cost thereof to the owner of the property abutting the right-of-way." On the private-property side, ZDC section 4-102(E)(6) makes lack of maintenance a violation of the Code with penalties provided in section 1-201.
- Ordinance
- Tempe Zoning and Development Code section 4-102(E) (Ord. No. O2017.15, adopted April 20, 2017), codified through the ordinance of July 1, 2026; Tempe City Code Chapter 29, Article II — Trees and Landscaping in Public Rights-of-Way and Parks, sections 29-36 through 29-48, most recently amended by Ord. No. O2024.19, adopted September 5, 2024. City Code codified through the ordinance of July 1, 2026.
Worth knowing
- Tempe's landscape chapter is written for development. ZDC section 4-701(B): "All uses and developments shall conform to the standards of this chapter, except as provided for uses and developments in the RCC district, all MU districts and single-family uses, as noted herein." The practical effect is that a detached single-family back yard is not covered, but a subdivision common area or an HOA-maintained front yard planted under an approved plan can be.
- Even where no permit is needed, ZDC section 4-102(E)(2) gives you 30 days to replace any required landscape feature that does not survive.
- City Code section 29-44 makes the abutting property owner responsible for irrigating and maintaining trees planted in the right-of-way, so the tree you may not remove is still the tree you have to water.
- Tempe bans planting eucalyptus (with named exceptions), elm other than Ulmus parvifolia, ficus nitida, willow, cottonwood and poplar in any public right-of-way, and prohibits planting or replacing pollen-producing olive and mulberry (section 29-46, amended by Ord. No. O2024.19, September 5, 2024). Those are planting bans, not removal rules.
- Section 29-47 lets the Transportation and Sustainability Director declare a right-of-way tree a public nuisance and remove or trim it, and separately says no tree with a potential growth over 20 feet may be planted directly under a public utility overhead line.
- Tempe's Urban Forestry Master Plan and canopy goals are policy documents, not law. Nothing in them creates a permit requirement.
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 phone number for Tempe's Community Development permit counter or for the Public Works right-of-way tree permission under section 29-41. Tempe.gov blocks automated access, so the number above is the main city line — ask to be routed.
- — Any fee for the section 29-41 right-of-way permission. The code allows the Public Works Director to give that permission orally, which suggests there may be none, but no fee schedule was located.
- — Whether Tempe treats a front-yard tree on a platted single-family lot as a "feature installed in conformance with Part 4." This is the decisive question for a Tempe homeowner in a newer subdivision and the code does not answer it plainly.
Sources
- Tempe Zoning and Development Code (Municode) — section 4-102 general regulations and maintenance
- Tempe City Code (Municode) — Chapter 29, Streets and Sidewalks, Article II trees in rights-of-way
- City of Tempe — Government / City Hall contact
- A.R.S. 3-904 — Arizona Native Plant Law, private landowner notice and the 10-acre exemption