Tree removal permit rules in Fort Smith, AR — sometimes called heritage tree, protected tree, or street tree ordinances — list which trees require a permit before you can cut them down.
Tree removal in Fort Smith is largely unregulated on private property. There is no general permit requirement to remove a tree on a private residential lot in Fort Smith. The Streets Department handles trees in City right-of-way and drainage easements. Dead or dying trees must be removed when ordered by the City Administrator under Chapter 16 (Nuisances). Land-development projects may face additional tree-protection conditions under Chapter 27 (Unified Development Ordinance) and PA-like AR State erosion-control review.
Tree removal in the City of Fort Smith is governed primarily by Chapter 16 (Nuisances) and Chapter 27 (Unified Development Ordinance) of the Fort Smith Municipal Code at https://library.municode.com/ar/fort_smith. Fort Smith does not impose a general tree-removal permit on private residential property. Routine removal of healthy, dead, diseased, or hazardous trees on private lots does not require a City permit. Chapter 16 actually compels removal when conditions deteriorate: the City Administrator may order any owner or occupant to remove dead or dying trees and dead limbs (whether on the ground or hanging in trees) from the property and from adjoining alleys, utility easements, and rights-of-way, with abatement and lien authority under A.C.A. §14-54-901+. The Fort Smith Streets Department maintains trees within the City right-of-way and drainage easements and may remove trees from those areas; the Streets Department does not work on private property. Land-development projects on private property may face tree-inventory, replacement-planting, or landscape-buffer conditions under the Unified Development Ordinance (Chapter 27, https://library.municode.com/ar/fort_smith/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=COOR_CH27UNDEOR) and the City Planning Commission's site-plan review. Construction-site land disturbance exceeding one acre triggers Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment (ADEE) - Division of Environmental Quality NPDES construction stormwater permitting under the federal Clean Water Act and Arkansas Pollution Control & Ecology Commission Regulation 6.
Failure to remove dead or dying trees and dead limbs after written notice under Chapter 16 is enforced as a nuisance violation, with City abatement after seven days and recovery of costs as a lien under A.C.A. §14-54-901+. Removal of trees that were designated as 'to be saved' on an approved land-development plan under the Unified Development Ordinance can trigger stop-work orders and required replacement planting. Land-disturbance work over one acre without an ADEE construction stormwater permit violates Arkansas Regulation 6 with state-level civil penalties separate from Fort Smith enforcement.
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