Farmington Hills, MI Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

City Code § 31-2 gives the city manager control over every tree in the street right-of-way and parks, including planting, care and removal. An owner of land abutting a street may prune, spray, plant or remove trees in the strip of street frontage next to their property only after obtaining prior written permission from the director of public services; the code is explicit that "no person shall otherwise prune, spray, plant or remove any tree in any street or park" without it. Every permit issued must specify the scope of the work authorized and any conditions attached.

When an owner asks to remove a tree, the director has discretion to require the work follow department regulations, to make the owner pay all or part of the removal cost, and to require a replacement tree be planted nearby, not necessarily of the same species. Separately, § 31-4 requires the removal of all dead trees and trees with a fatal or communicable disease, done by the department or a private contractor with the director's approval, and lets the city manager order removal of any "prohibited species" (poplar, willow, or box elder, per § 31-1).

Removal of undesirable-but-not-diseased trees under § 31-5 requires notice to the abutting owner, who can force a public hearing before council by filing written objection within seven days. This chapter's rules apply specifically to public streets, parkways, parks and other city-owned or controlled land under § 31-1(b), not to tree removal generally on private lots away from the right-of-way.