Tree removal permit rules in Lee's Summit, MO — sometimes called heritage tree, protected tree, or street tree ordinances — list which trees require a permit before you can cut them down.
Removing a tree in your own Lee's Summit yard needs no permit; Missouri has no tree-protection statute. New development is different: UDO Article 8 sets landscaping and tree standards, and cutting a neighbor's or public tree carries penalties.
Missouri does not regulate cutting trees on your own land, and Lee's Summit requires no removal permit for an existing home's yard trees, so a homeowner may take down trees on property they own. Three limits apply. Trees in the public right-of-way and city parks are City property and are removed only by Public Works. New development must meet the landscaping and tree-planting standards in the UDO's Article 8 site standards, updated by Ordinance No. 10182 in August 2025. And RSMo 537.340 makes anyone who cuts or destroys a tree on another person's land liable for three times its value.
No penalty for removing your own yard trees. Removing a City street or park tree without authorization is a code violation, and destroying a neighbor's tree makes you liable for treble the tree's value plus costs under RSMo 537.340.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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Lee's Summit does not regulate residential holiday decorations and requires no permit for them. Any holiday-related yard signs follow the city's temporary-si...
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Lee's Summit treats garage-sale signs as temporary signs. Stake signs are limited to 3 square feet each and 12 square feet total per property, must sit on pr...
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Lee's Summit allows political and other noncommercial signs on private property with no permit. Under the Unified Development Ordinance, temporary stake sign...
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Lee's Summit runs no general rental-registration or landlord-licensing program for long-term residential rentals. There is no citywide rental permit or per-u...
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Lee's Summit has no just-cause eviction law; state law governs. Landlords may end a month-to-month tenancy with one month's written notice under RSMo 441.060...
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Lee's Summit has no rent control and cannot enact one. Missouri's RSMo 441.043 preempts local rent regulation, so landlords charge market rents and may raise...
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