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

Sec. 21-67(a) sets West Bloomfield's subdivision street-tree standard: at least three trees per platted lot within 20 feet of the curb, planted at occupancy or within six months after, with a three-inch caliper for deciduous stock or a six-foot minimum height for evergreens. The same subsection then flatly excludes eight species from fulfilling that requirement: Box Elder, Elm, Poplar, Willow, nut-bearing Horse Chestnut, Tree of Heaven, Catalpa, and Russian Olive. Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) is widely known as an aggressive, fast-spreading invasive that resprouts from cut stumps and roots, so its inclusion on the township's do-not-plant list functions as a local check on the species even though West Bloomfield does not run a separate invasive-species ordinance naming it elsewhere.

The rule binds the subdivision's proprietor and builder, not individual homeowners planting trees on an already-developed lot. It traces to the original 1983 subdivision ordinance, Ord. No. 115, Sec. 502(4), and was amended by Ord. No. C-365 in 1992. Chapter 21 carries no dedicated fine for using a barred species, so a developer who plants Tree of Heaven toward the required count is subject to the Code's general penalty at Sec. 1-10, a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in jail and a $500 fine, or a municipal civil infraction of $150 for a first offense and $300 for a repeat, with Planning and Development verifying species compliance during plat review before the township board accepts the subdivision.