Royal Oak, MI Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

City Code § 710-1 gives the Department of Public Works (DPW) control over every tree, shrub and plant planted in City highways, parks and other public places, including the power to determine which species may be planted on a given street. Section 710-3 backs that authority with a removal ban: no person, firm or corporation may cut down, deface, destroy or damage or injure any tree, shrub or plant on a public highway, park or other public place without first obtaining permission from the DPW.

The section carves out one exception, letting DPW itself remove or destroy a tree when necessary for building a sidewalk, sewer, water main or other public improvement. Anyone who instead wants to clear a public tree to make room for their own walk, drive, building or other structure faces a separate financial condition under § 710-17: they must deposit a sum equal to the tree's replacement value, as fixed by the Director of Public Works, before the removal proceeds. The City keeps that deposit in the Treasury and applies it first toward replanting a tree at the same location, or elsewhere on public highways if replanting there is not advisable.

Related sections in the same article reinforce the protective scheme: § 710-7 requires a written DPW permit and a protective frame box before anyone excavates within five feet of a public tree, and § 710-16 separately directs the Director of Public Works to remove any public tree, shrub or plant that becomes a nuisance or a hazard, independent of any private removal request.