Eagan, MN Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

Eagan City Code § 11.70, Subd. 13 requires a tree preservation plan, certified by a forester or landscape architect, for any new development, new building construction, a 10-percent-or-greater expansion of an existing commercial, industrial or institutional building, or any project needing a city grading permit. Single-family building permit applicants must still prepare an individual lot tree preservation plan when significant trees, specimen trees or significant woodland are on site, though that plan need not be professionally certified. The plan must map every significant tree, specimen tree and significant woodland on the parcel, identify which ones will be removed, show protective measures such as snow fencing at the critical root zone, and list replacement trees sized and species-matched to a city replacement schedule.

Removal is capped by percentage of the inventory: single-unit residential development on a single lot may clear no more than 20 percent of significant trees, commercial and multiunit residential up to 30 percent, and multi-lot single-phase development up to 40 percent residential or 47.5 percent commercial. The city may grant an exception for practical hardship, but only paired with a reforestation plan or cash mitigation. No significant tree, specimen tree or significant woodland may be cut until the plan is approved and only in accordance with it; removing or damaging a protected tree outside the approved plan, or letting one decline within a year of project closure, obligates the applicant to pay cash mitigation calculated per diameter inch of tree, or per square foot of woodland, at the rate in the city's fee schedule. New development must also post a performance guarantee covering trees within 15 feet of the construction zone, waived only for single-family building permits.