Peoria, IL Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

Chapter 29's Shade Tree Ordinance treats any shade or ornamental tree on a street or public land, with at least half its trunk on the city right-of-way, as a 'public tree' under Sec. 29-2, and public trees belong to the city's urban forest even when they stand directly in front of a private residence. Sec. 29-4(b) sets the removal process: if a property owner wants a public tree gone and the city arborist finds the tree healthy, removal is not automatic. The owner must first bring the request to the Peoria Urban Forestry Advisory Board, the eight-member citizen board created under Sec.

29-31 that the mayor appoints with council approval, with the arborist sitting on it ex officio without a vote. If the Board approves removal of a healthy tree, the property owner still owes the city the tree's value, calculated with the Arbor Day Foundation's National Tree Benefit Calculator, before the tree comes down. The process differs sharply for a dead, diseased, or dangerous public tree: under Sec. 29-5(2), the arborist can instead declare that tree a nuisance under Sec. 15-96 and order it removed on the city's own initiative, serving the owner written notice by certified mail and giving five days to abate before the city removes it and bills the owner for the cost. Separately, Sec. 29-6 bars anyone from intentionally damaging, carving, or injuring a public tree at all, valuing that damage the same way.