Olmsted County, MN Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

12(C). Inside the protected zones, item 7 permits only limited clearing: cutting, pruning and trimming trees and shrubs to open a view to the water from the principal dwelling, and to make room for stairways, landings, picnic areas, access paths, livestock watering areas, beach and watercraft access, and permitted water-oriented accessory structures such as docks. That limited cutting still has to leave the screening of structures, vehicles and other facilities as seen from the water substantially intact under summer leaf-on conditions, preserve existing shading of the water surface along rivers, scatter rather than mound cutting debris and slash, and retain perennial ground cover.

The screening and clearing limits do not apply to removing tree limbs or branches that are dead, diseased, dying or a safety hazard, and that kind of removal never requires a permit. 15(A) sits inside Article IX, the shoreland overlay that only reaches the regulated strip near public lakes and rivers in unincorporated Olmsted County, and only where the county itself administers zoning directly, in Eyota, Marion, Oronoco and Quincy townships; other townships plan through the Township Cooperative Planning Association. 10 shoreland development permit covering the structure itself.