Kingsport, TN Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

Kingsport Code § 106-27(a)(1) bars any person from planting, fertilizing, pruning, removing, cutting above ground, or conducting ground disturbing activities within a ten-foot radius of a public tree without first obtaining a written permit from the landscape specialist. A public tree is a tree growing on real property owned in fee by the city. Section 106-27(d) covers the removal permit itself: the application must state the number of trees or shrubs to be removed, the location, grade, species, cultivar or variety of each, the method of removal, and any other reasonable information the landscape specialist needs. A removal permit can be denied or revoked if the application is incomplete or the removal would conflict with any part of Article II of Chapter 106.

The process has fixed timing. Section 106-27(a)(3) requires an application not less than two working days before the work, and a permit fee can be set by resolution of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen. Every permit carries a definite expiration date, the work must finish in the time allowed and in the manner described, and a permit is void if its terms are violated. Within five days of completing the work, the permittee must notify the landscape specialist, who makes a final inspection. An emergency that could endanger public safety or cause damage or loss of property waives the permit application under section 106-27(a)(2).

Private trees are handled differently. Section 106-28 gives the landscape specialist the right to order or cause the removal of any tree on private property that is a hazard to the life or property of others, or that harbors insects or disease threatening other trees in the city. If the owner ignores the order and public safety requires immediate removal, the city can remove the tree and charge the cost to the property owner. Otherwise the owner and any party in interest can be ordered in writing to remove it through the notice procedure in section 106-29. Trees inside Bays Mountain Park and Nature Preserve are controlled by the director of leisure services under section 106-23(c).