Fort Collins, CO Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

Section 27-31 makes it unlawful to plant, treat, cut, trim, prune or remove any tree within a public street or sidewalk right-of-way, or on other City-owned property, without first obtaining a written permit; the section carves out an exception letting owners adjoining alley rights-of-way cut, trim, prune or remove trees there without a permit, so long as they keep the alley unobstructed under § 27-57. Section 27-32 spells out the application: a request must name the applicant, the company or person doing the work, the tree species involved and the location, plus any other information the City Forester requires, and the applicant must agree in writing to hold the City harmless.

That same section extends the permit requirement to removal of any tree on commercial property with a trunk diameter of 15 inches or greater, even off the right-of-way. Under § 27-33, the City Forester personally inspects the site before issuing a permit, and will only issue one if the work would protect life or property or improve the City's urban forest; the issued permit names the approved worker, the tree's location, and any conditions. Failing to follow a permit's conditions, or the City Forester's standing rules under § 27-17, is itself a violation of the Article.

Commercial tree services also need a City arborist license under § 27-34 whenever cuts are made ten feet or higher above ground, backed by a $1,000,000 general liability policy (§ 27-37) and a $105 license fee that adjusts annually to the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood CPI (§ 27-38). Certain nuisance and cottonwood-type species are separately banned from planting anywhere in the City under § 27-18.