Toledo, OH Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)
Tree removal permit rules in Toledo, OH, sometimes called heritage tree, protected tree, or street tree ordinances, list which trees require a permit before you can cut them down.
Key Facts
- Permit required for
- Cutting, removing or disturbing a street/park tree
- Issuing authority
- Commissioner of Parks, Forestry & Open Space Planning
- Permit fee
- None: issued free under § 917.06
- Replacement condition
- May require planting a replacement tree
- Penalty
- Misdemeanor of the fourth degree
- Adopted
- Ordinance 14-95, passed 1-10-1995
Summary
Toledo requires a written permit from the Commissioner of Parks, Forestry and Open Space Planning before anyone cuts, removes or otherwise disturbs a tree or shrub along a public street, park or public ground, under Municipal Code § 917.01. The Commissioner issues permits only when the proposed work is necessary and the method is satisfactory.
No person, firm or corporation shall hereafter plant, move, spray, fertilize, brace, trim, do surgery work, cut above or below ground, cut any branch or root therefrom or otherwise disturb any tree or shrub along any street or public way in the City or in or upon any public park or public ground, nor cause any such acts to be done by others without first obtaining a written permit for such work from the Commissioner of Parks, Forestry and Open Space Planning. Such permit shall be issued only when and in the judgement of such Commissioner of Parks, Forestry and Open Space Planning, the desired work is necessary or advisable and the proposed methods of doing the same are satisfactory.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-105: Complete to June 30, 2026).
Full Breakdown
01 of the Toledo Municipal Code controls removal of any tree or shrub growing along a city street, public way, park or public ground. The section reaches far beyond cutting down a tree: it also covers planting, moving, spraying, fertilizing, bracing, trimming, surgery work, and cutting roots or branches above or below ground, and it requires a written permit before any of that work, including removal, is done by the property owner, a contractor, or anyone acting on their behalf. 01, may only do so when the Commissioner judges the work necessary or advisable and the proposed removal method satisfactory.
02 adds a further condition specific to removals: the Commissioner may require the permit holder to plant an approved replacement tree or shrub in place of the one removed, and refusing or neglecting to plant that replacement is itself a separate violation of Chapter 917. 08 lets the City order removal of a privately owned tree that has become a public nuisance, doing the work itself and assessing the cost to the owner if the deadline in the notice passes. 99.
Violations & Fines
Removing, cutting or otherwise disturbing a public tree or shrub without the § 917.01 permit is a misdemeanor of the fourth degree under § 917.99. If the Commissioner conditioned a removal permit on replacement planting under § 917.02, failing to plant the replacement tree or shrub as specified is a separate violation of Chapter 917, on top of any liability for cutting without a permit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a permit to remove a tree in Toledo's right-of-way?
Will Toledo make me plant a replacement tree?
Does the removal permit cost anything?
What happens if I remove a city tree without a permit?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Toledo
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