Berwyn, IL Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

Section 1028.09 of the Berwyn Code of Ordinances puts pruning on the owner of any tree overhanging any street, alley, sidewalk or right-of-way in the city. The owner must cut back branches so they do not obstruct the light from any street lamp or the vision of any street intersection, and so there is a clear space of eight feet above the surface of the street and sidewalk. The city can step in on private property: it can prune any tree or shrub that interferes with the proper spread of street lighting, traffic signals, signs or intersection visibility, and it can charge the cost of the trimming or removal to the property owner as necessary to ensure public safety or to preserve or enhance the symmetry and beauty of public grounds. The city can also remove any tree or part of a tree that is in an unsafe condition.

Wire crews are handled separately. When branches must be trimmed for the benefit of people running wires through a tree, the Department of Public Works does the trimming or orders it done, at the expense of the person owning the wires.

Other sections in Chapter 1028 shape how the work is done. Section 1028.04(A) also makes the owner responsible for dead, decayed or broken limbs that overhang a sidewalk, street, alley or public highway. Section 1028.07 bars topping any street tree, park tree or other tree on public property to the degree that it removes the normal canopy and disfigures the tree, and § 1028.18(F) requires pruning to ANSI A300 standards as outlined in the Urban Forest Management Plan. Section 1028.10 prohibits anyone from trimming a tree growing in a parkway or on other city-owned property, so parkway trees are the city's to prune. Anyone who prunes, treats or removes street trees or park trees as a business needs an annual license from the City Collector under § 1028.17 and must file evidence of liability insurance, and a Chapter 1028 permit expires 60 days from issuance under § 1028.16.