Burlington, WI Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

Section 234-4A sets the permit requirement itself: no planting, removal or transplanting of any tree or shrub within parkways, public ways, parks or other land owned or leased by the City may occur without first obtaining a Department of Public Works permit. Section 234-4B tasks the Park Board with promulgating rules and regulations for planting, removal and transplanting within 90 days of the provision's adoption, and requires those rules to be distributed to any City resident on request and kept on file with the City Clerk; § 234-4C lets the Park Board amend those rules later, but only after a Class 1 published notice and a hearing on the proposed change.

Section 234-4D carries the enforcement teeth: beyond the standard penalty, an unpermitted planting can be ordered removed by the Park Board, and if the property owner does not remove it, the Department of Public Works may remove it and assess the cost to the landowner. Anyone who removes or transplants a City tree or shrub without Public Works permission must pay or reimburse the City for the cost of replacing it, a separate financial exposure from the criminal forfeiture for the ordinance violation itself.