Racine County, WI Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)
Tree removal permit rules in Racine County, WI, sometimes called heritage tree, protected tree, or street tree ordinances, list which trees require a permit before you can cut them down.
Key Facts
- Buffer zone width
- 35 ft from high-water mark
- Viewing corridor cap
- 35% of shoreline width
- Forestry exception
- 10+ wooded acres
- Enforcer
- Zoning administrator, sheriff's dept.
- Penalty
- $20-$1,000 forfeiture per day
Summary
Racine County bans cutting trees or shrubs within 35 feet of a lake or stream's ordinary high-water mark unless the work fits a listed exception or the county issues a vegetation-management permit.
...land that extends from the ordinary high-water mark to thirty-five (35) feet inland is a vegetative buffer zone and removal of vegetation in the vegetative buffer zone is prohibited except as follows...By permit, additional vegetation management activities in the vegetative buffer zone. The permit shall require that all management activities comply with detailed plans approved by the county and designed to control erosion by limiting sedimentation into the waterbody, to improve the plant community by replanting in the same area.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 33).
Full Breakdown
The county's shoreland chapter creates a 35-foot vegetative buffer zone running inland from the ordinary high-water mark of navigable lakes, streams and Lake Michigan. Removing trees or shrubs inside that strip is prohibited except for routine maintenance, a limited viewing corridor capped at 35 percent of shoreline width, forestry on parcels of 10 or more wooded acres, and removal of invasive, diseased, or hazardous vegetation (which must be replanted). Any other clearing needs a permit from the economic development and land use planning committee, approved against a detailed plan that controls erosion, replants native cover, and is monitored afterward. The rule applies only in the county's unincorporated shoreland areas, which are regulated countywide regardless of town zoning adoption.
Violations & Fines
Violating chapter 20's shoreland rules carries a forfeiture of $20 to $1,000 plus prosecution costs per offense, with each day of noncompliance a separate violation; the zoning administrator and sheriff's department enforce it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I clear trees anywhere along my Racine County shoreline?
Does this rule apply inside the City of Racine?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Racine County
Compare Racine County to another location·View the Wisconsin landscaping rules overview
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