Muncie, IN Invasive Plant Rules: Prohibited Species (2026)
Key Facts
- Named banned trees
- Box elder, silver maple, cottonwood
- Also banned
- Species on Indiana Invasive Species Council list
- Applies to
- Non single/two-family development landscape plans
- Tree replacement ratio
- 2 new trees per mature tree removed
- Max fine
- $2,500 per offense (§10.99)
Summary
In the City of Muncie, Muncie City Code § 150.214.5(B)(3)(f)(1) bars three named trees, box elder, silver maple, and cottonwood, plus anything on the Indiana Invasive Species Council's invasive-plant list, from any landscape plan a commercial, industrial, or multi-family development is required to file. The rule protects the city's mandatory buffer and green-belt plantings, not single-family yards.
To provide for easier and more cost efficient maintenance, the following trees, which are invasive, prone to disease, excessive breakage, and/or other problems, shall not be used and/or planted as a part of any required landscape plan: acer negundo, box elder; acer saccharinum, silver maple; and populus deltoides, cottonwood; and plants included on the Indiana Invasive Species Council's list of invasive plants.
Full Breakdown
The invasive-species restriction lives inside Muncie's zoning development standards for site landscaping, Muncie City Code § 150.214.5, which under § 150.214.5(B)(1) applies to all development other than one- and two-family residential, plus any enlargement that increases ground coverage by more than ten percent or floor area by more than 25 percent. Section 150.214.5(B)(3)(f) sets the landscaping, screening, planting, and preservation standards a required landscape plan must meet, and its first numbered item bans three named species outright, box elder (acer negundo), silver maple (acer saccharinum), and cottonwood (populus deltoides), because the city found them invasive, disease-prone, and prone to breakage, then extends the ban to whatever the Indiana Invasive Species Council currently lists as an invasive plant, so the prohibited list grows as the state's list grows.
The same subsection separately protects healthy existing trees of 12 inches or more in diameter and requires two replacement trees for each one removed. Required landscaping under § 150.214.5(B)(3)(f)(6) must go in before a certificate of occupancy issues, or within eight months of first occupancy if weather delays planting, and owners remain responsible under § 150.214.5(B)(3)(f)(7) for replacing anything that dies in its first growing season. An owner who disagrees with how a landscape plan was scored can appeal to the board of zoning appeals or seek a variance under § 150.214.5(C).
Because this section of the zoning code carries no fine of its own, noncompliance falls back on Muncie City Code § 10.99, the citywide general penalty of not more than $2,500.00 per offense.
Violations & Fines
Planting box elder, silver maple, cottonwood, or a species on the Indiana Invasive Species Council's list in a required commercial, industrial, or multi-family landscape plan violates Muncie City Code § 150.214.5(B)(3)(f)(1); the plan commission can withhold a certificate of occupancy until the landscaping is corrected, and any remaining violation is fined under the citywide general penalty of § 10.99, not more than $2,500.00 per offense.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I plant a silver maple in Muncie?
Does Muncie's invasive-plant rule apply to my house?
What list does Muncie use to decide which plants are invasive?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Muncie
Compare Muncie to another location·View the Indiana invasive plant rules overview
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