Ankeny, IA Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

Ankeny Code of Ordinances § 166.07, Duty to Trim Trees, places the trimming obligation on "the owner or agent of property abutting public right-of-way," requiring any trees, shrubs, or other plantings overhanging the street, alley, or sidewalk to be kept trimmed so that all branches clear "at least fifteen (15) feet above the surface of the street or alley and eight (8) feet above the surface of the sidewalk." Those clearance heights protect passing vehicles, including fire apparatus and delivery trucks, on the street or alley side, and pedestrians on the sidewalk side.

If the abutting owner does not bring overhanging growth up to those clearances, the section does not create its own separate fine; instead it routes enforcement into the City's general Nuisance Abatement Procedures under Chapter 50, meaning an untrimmed tree becomes a nuisance case handled the same way as other property-maintenance nuisances, up to and including the City doing the trimming and assessing the cost. The section's own citation ties the duty back to the Iowa Code's grant of authority for cities to regulate trees and shrubs in the right-of-way, confirming Ankeny's power to require this maintenance rather than leaving it purely voluntary.

Because the duty is written as a continuing "shall keep... trimmed," a tree that grows out of clearance after having once been compliant falls back into violation, so owners must recheck clearance as trees mature rather than treating a single trim as permanent compliance.