Tree Protection in Bloomington, IN (2026)
2 verified tree protection rules for Bloomington, Indiana, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Protected Tree Species
The City of Bloomington's Unified Development Ordinance requires developers to retain a set percentage of a site's existing tree canopy and directs that when individual trees must be chosen for preservation, priority goes to heritage trees valued for their type, size or age, under Bloomington Municipal Code Section 20.04.030(h).
Bloomington Heritage Tree Preservation Priority
Some RestrictionsBloomington Municipal Code § 20.04.030(h)(2)-(3), Table 04-8
(2)Retention of Existing Canopy. The following table shall be used to determine the minimum amount of existing vegetation canopy that must be retained during land-disturbance activity. ... Baseline Canopy Cover Retained Canopy Cover 80—100% 0.50 × Baseline canopy cover 60—79% 0.60 × Baseline canopy cover 40—59% 0.70 × Baseline canopy cover 20—39% 0.80 × Baseline canopy cover 0—19% 0.90 × Baseli...
Parkway Planting
In the City of Bloomington, owners of property next to a public street must maintain the street tree lawn, the strip between the curb and the sidewalk, including mowing, raking and removing prohibited plants. Paving, graveling, removing or otherwise converting a grassed tree lawn is against the code, and the city aims to plant twenty percent more trees than it removes each year.
Bloomington Street Tree Lawn Maintenance Duty
Some RestrictionsBloomington Municipal Code §§ 12.24.025, 12.24.030
It is the policy of the city to maintain and expand the tree cover of the city as a whole and of individual streets and neighborhoods in particular by planting trees in accordance with practices observed by certified urban foresters. Overall, the city's annual goal shall be to plant at least twenty percent more trees than it removes, in order to maintain a planting to removal ratio of at least ...