Taylor, TX Invasive Plant Rules: Tree-of-Heaven Removal (2026)

Chapter 28, Article II of the Taylor City Code governs landscaping citywide, adopted by Ordinance No. 2010-12 in 2010 and amended by Ordinance No. 2017-15 in 2017. Section 28-26 states the article's purpose is to preserve the ecological and aesthetic environment, promote neighborhood character and reduce water consumption through drought-resistant, native planting. Section 28-27 makes the article applicable to all new construction of non-single-family property in the incorporated city, while exempting single-family dwellings, property in the Central Business District, the city municipal airport, and land used for agriculture or zoned rural/agriculture.

Section 28-33, Invasive Plants Prohibited, defines an invasive species as an alien species whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic, environmental or human-health harm, and states plainly that introducing or continuing invasive species of plants is prohibited, with the prohibited list published as Appendix B. That appendix organizes species into Prohibited Trees, Prohibited Shrubs, Prohibited Vines and Other Prohibited Plants; Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) appears under Prohibited Trees alongside Chinese Tallow Tree, Bradford Pear, Mimosa and Chinaberry. Compliance is checked at the permitting stage: Section 28-30 requires the community development director to review and approve a landscape plan before a building permit issues, and to inspect the site before a certificate of occupancy is granted.

Because Tree of Heaven is a listed invasive species rather than merely undesirable, it cannot be substituted into a required landscape plan, and existing specimens on regulated property are not grandfathered, since the statute bars continuing the species as well as introducing it.