Do you need a permit?
Yes — a permit is required
Waukegan is the strictest city on this list and the answer will surprise most people. Its tree preservation rules moved out of the municipal code and into the Unified Development Ordinance in 2024, and the replacement section adopted in January 2025 opens with "This section applies to all trees in the City of Waukegan." You need a tree removal permit from the City Forester to remove any tree at 6 inches DBH or larger, and to remove any oak tree at any size. There is no single-family exemption. Approved removals carry a 2-to-1 replacement obligation and permits take about 14 business days.
Size threshold
UDO section 11.02.A.1: "A permit authorizing tree removal must be obtained from the City Forester prior to the following activities: a. Removal of any tree six inches or greater DBH (diameter at breast height). b. Removal of any tree or vegetation from a conservation easement. c. Removal of any tree from a tree preservation or no disturbance area. d. Removal of any tree or vegetation on any property that is the subject of a development application prior to the final approval of the development application and issuance of a building permit. e. Removal of any tree or shrub from any ravine or bluff, as defined by the Steep Slope Ordinance, see Ordinance 02-O-75 (Steep Slope), or its successor regulations. f. Removal of any oak tree."
What's protected in Waukegan
- Any tree at 6 inches DBH or greater, anywhere in the city including private residential yards
- Any oak tree, at any size
- Any tree or vegetation in a conservation easement
- Any tree in a tree preservation or no disturbance area
- Any tree or shrub in a ravine or bluff as defined by the Steep Slope Ordinance (Ordinance 02-O-75)
- Any tree or vegetation on property that is the subject of a pending development application
- Parkway and right-of-way trees, which the UDO says outright are city property: "Trees in the parkways and public rights-of-way are the property of the City of Waukegan. Residents may not prune or remove such trees."
How to apply in Waukegan
- 1
Apply online through the city Form Center: Application for Tree Removal Permit, filed under the Public Works forms category.
- 2
Include a tree preservation and removal plan specifying the tree or vegetation to be removed and how surrounding trees and vegetation will be protected and preserved.
- 3
The City Forester must approve that plan in writing before the permit issues.
- 4
Provide your tree replacement plan with the application. The city states removed trees "must be replaced on a 2:1 inch replacement rate."
- 5
Allow roughly 14 business days for approval. Do not cut first.
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Penalties
- UDO section 11.02.B: "Mature trees removed illegally or to be removed as part of a new development pursuant to a tree removal permit must be replaced... Illegally removed trees are subject to the fines outlined in the Fee and Fine Schedule." Replacement runs 2 to 1: "Any tree designated for removal on an approved tree preservation and removal plan must be replaced by a sufficient number of new trees such that the aggregate caliper size of the replacement trees is greater than or equal to double the aggregate diameter at breast height of the tree being removed." The Forester may waive replacement and fines in whole or part for trees under 10 inches DBH. Separately, failing to remove a dead tree after notice under section 22-9 draws "a fine ranging from $200.00 to $750.00," with each day a separate offense.
- Ordinance
- City of Waukegan Unified Development Ordinance (Code of Ordinances Appendix A), Section 11 - Landscape Standards, Section 11.02 - Tree Preservation. Adopted by Ord. No. 25-O-03, section 2(Exh. A), January 6, 2025 and amended by Ord. No. 25-O-255, section 2(Exh. A), October 6, 2025. Dead-tree removal orders are Code Chapter 22, section 22-9 (Ord. No. 25-O-06, January 6, 2025); Dutch elm disease is section 22-8. Code current through Ordinance No. 26-O-66, enacted April 20, 2026 (Supp. No. 113).
Worth knowing
- The city's own Tree Removal page is unambiguous: "If you need to remove a tree on your property, you will need to apply for a Tree Removal Permit. Removed trees must be replaced on a 2:1 inch replacement rate."
- Approval is not automatic. Section 11.02.A.3 says the City Forester must find at least one of four things before allowing removal of a mature tree: the tree is dead, dying, diseased or a threat to public health or safety; it interferes with public services or is a traffic hazard; its location prevents development that cannot reasonably be redesigned around it; or it is not on the Morton Arboretum Northern Illinois Tree Species List or is not recommended for its planting site.
- Replacement trees must go on the same zoning lot unless the Forester waives it. If they cannot, the city determines another location or requires a fee in lieu. Replacement is due within six months of approval or you pay the full value of the removed tree into the city General Fund.
- The rules moved. Chapter 22, Article IV of the municipal code held the tree preservation and landscaping ordinance from 2005, amended in 2022. Ord. No. 24-O-164 of July 1, 2024 repealed much of Chapter 22, and an editor's note records that the remaining Article IV "has been removed from the Code to prevent duplication of subject matter" at the city's direction per an email dated September 5, 2024, pointing readers to the UDO instead. Anything citing Waukegan Chapter 22 Article IV is stale.
- The obligation runs both ways. Section 22-9, new in January 2025, lets the Director of Public Works order removal of a dead tree that threatens public health or safety, interferes with public services, or is a hazard to traffic. You get 30 days from mailing. Section 22-8 declares any tree infected with Dutch elm disease a nuisance and gives you 10 days.
- Waukegan sits on Lake Michigan with ravines and a bluff, and the Steep Slope Ordinance pulls any tree or shrub in those areas into the permit requirement regardless of size.
- The city runs a Tree Ambassadors Program, which appears as its own category in the Form Center.
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 tree removal permit fee. The UDO does not state one and the online application is a JavaScript form whose fee could not be read. Ask when you apply.
- — The dollar figures in the Fee and Fine Schedule for illegally removed trees and for tree replacement valuation. The UDO points to that schedule rather than printing the numbers.
- — A direct phone number or email for the City Forester. The Planning and Zoning Department number above is the office that enforces the ordinance; the main city switchboard is 847-599-2500.
- — Whether the Lake County Watershed Development Ordinance, administered by the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission, adds wetland or riparian buffer vegetation restrictions inside Waukegan, and whether Waukegan is a certified community administering it locally.
- — Whether Waukegan licenses or registers tree service companies. No tree service article appears in Chapter 14 (Licenses and Miscellaneous Business Regulations).
- — The city's Tree Removal page carries the note "Permit information updated Fall 2023" even though the governing UDO section was adopted in January 2025 and amended in October 2025. The ordinance text is the authority here.
Sources
- City of Waukegan - Tree Removal
- City of Waukegan - Application for Tree Removal Permit
- City of Waukegan - Urban Forest
- City of Waukegan - Planning and Zoning Department
- Waukegan Unified Development Ordinance, Section 11 - Landscape Standards (Code Appendix A)
- Waukegan Code of Ordinances, Chapter 22 - Trees and Shrubbery