Carmel, IN Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

Carmel addresses tree trimming primarily as a public-safety and right-of-way issue. City Code § 6-55 (Obstruction of Streets and Sidewalks by Overhanging Trees or Shrubs Prohibited) requires that any tree or shrub which overhangs a sidewalk, street, or other public place so as to impede or interfere with traffic travel be trimmed by the owner, and that any tree likely to fall on or across a street, sidewalk, or other public place be removed. This places the duty for clearance over public ways on the adjacent property owner. Trees and parts of trees located within the public right-of-way (typically the strip between the street and the sidewalk or property line) are separately regulated under § 6-64, which subjects planting and removal in that area to the rules and specifications adopted by the Carmel Urban Forestry Committee; the City and public utilities also retain the right to reasonably remove trees or shrubs that impede necessary work. For trees entirely on private property and away from public ways, Carmel does not impose a routine trimming permit — maintenance is left to the owner, subject to the hazardous-tree rules in § 6-222. There is no city-published grass-height-style schedule for how often private trees must be pruned.