Charlotte, NC Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

City Code Sec. 10-140(a), part of the Article III maintenance-of-premises division, makes it unlawful to allow vegetation on any premises to protrude or hang so as to obstruct the safe passage of pedestrians or motor vehicles. The rule targets branches, shrubs, hedges and similar growth that extend into the travel path of a street or sidewalk rather than vegetation confined to a yard. An express carve-out in the same subsection excludes fallen trees, dead trees, shrubbery and bushes from the removal mandate as long as they do not themselves protrude into the pedestrian or vehicle passageway, so a dead tree standing entirely within a yard is not, by itself, a violation.

The same section reaches beyond live vegetation: Sec. 10-140(c) separately makes it unlawful to let yard waste, bulky waste or junk obstruct safe passage, and Sec. 10-140(b) bars parking a vehicle on the roadway during posted collection restriction times referenced in Sec. 14-216. Each subsection of Sec. 10-140 carries its own $150 civil penalty, so a property with both overhanging branches and a yard-waste pile blocking a sidewalk can be cited under more than one subsection at once. Enforcement follows the standard Article III path: a code enforcement inspector documents the obstruction, issues a notice of violation under Sec.

10-101 giving the owner a specified time to trim back the growth, and escalates to a civil penalty under Sec. 10-102 if the obstruction is not cleared, with a written notice of assessment mailed to the owner's address of record with Mecklenburg County.