Kalamazoo, MI Invasive Plant Rules: Tree-of-Heaven Removal (2026)

Kalamazoo's Tree Ordinance, City Code Chapter 42, regulates the planting, maintenance and removal of trees and shrubs on public places, curblawns and street rights-of-way, and § 42-6A(1) is where the City draws the line on species choice. A property owner who wants to plant a street tree must first get written permission from the Public Works Department, and once planted the tree becomes a City tree subject to Chapter 42's maintenance and removal rules. That same subsection flatly bars planting 19 named species in curblawns and rights-of-way, headlined by Ailanthus Altissima, the Tree of Heaven, a fast-spreading invasive species notorious for suckering roots that damage sidewalks and pavement and for a foul odor when its leaves or bark are crushed.

Other banned species on the same list include Populus Spp. (White Poplar or Aspen), Acer Negundo (Box Elder), Ulmus (American, Winged, Slippery, Rock, Cedar and Siberian elm), Robinia Pseudoacacia (Black Locust), Elaeagnus Angustifolia (Russian-Olive) and Morus Alba (Mulberry), several of which share the Tree of Heaven's reputation for aggressive, weedy growth in disturbed urban soil. The list sits inside § 42-6, Tree planting, maintenance and removal, which a City-created Tree Committee, drawn from the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, the Environmental Concerns Committee, utility companies and the Public Services Department, helps administer under § 42-4.

Because Tree of Heaven is banned outright rather than merely discouraged, the Public Works Department can refuse a planting permit application for that species on sight. Planting it or any other listed species without authorization falls under Chapter 42's tree-planting rules and is enforced by the Director of Public Works, who administers the chapter and can require compliance before any curblawn planting proceeds.