Mount Prospect, IL Invasive Plant Rules: Tree-of-Heaven Removal (2026)

Section 14.2309 of the Mount Prospect Village Code carries the Prohibited Tree List, and tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima) sits on it alongside box elder, Russian olive, mulberry, cottonwood, black locust, Siberian elm and ash species. The list belongs to the Village's landscaping regulations in Chapter 14, Article 23. Section 14.2304 sends every planting job to it, stating that a schedule of prohibited and permissible plant materials is provided in section 14.2309.

The list bites hardest where a landscape plan is required. Under section 14.2302, the director of community development must approve a landscape plan for any nonresidential development involving new buildings, structures or parking facilities, any multi-family residential development or residential PUD, and any development expanding an existing structure's building footprint by more than twenty five percent, excluding single-family residences. Section 14.2303 requires that plan to include a planting schedule listing the botanical and common names of every proposed plant, so a tree of heaven cannot pass review unnoticed: it appears by its botanical name and is measured against the prohibited list.

Plants that are not on the Village's recommended list are handled separately. Subsection B of section 14.2309 says use of plants not included on the recommended plant list can be permitted with the approval of the director. Tree of heaven is not on the recommended shade, evergreen or ornamental lists, and the Village prints it on the prohibited list instead, so it is the one to plan around rather than seek approval for.

Landscaping required by the chapter is also a condition to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy under section 14.2301, which gives the Village leverage before a building opens. Section 14.2304 D makes the owner of the premises responsible for maintenance, repair and replacement of landscaping plant materials, and on non-single-family residential property, removed and replacement materials must be approved by the director. Replacement trees under the tree preservation rules in section 14.2308 must be of like kind and drawn from the schedule of permissible plant materials the director maintains.