Columbia, SC Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

Section 12-6 of the Columbia Code of Ordinances gives the director of public services broad authority over vegetation that threatens the safe movement of traffic. Under subsection (a), the director may remove any shrubbery, trees, weeds, bushes, or plants of any kind from the city's streets and sidewalks once it is determined that the growth creates a dangerous condition for motor vehicle traffic, and the same official may cut and remove any overhanging portion of trees, shrubbery, or bushes that interferes, in the director's judgment, with the safe and proper movement of traffic.

That authority extends beyond city-owned rights-of-way: subsection (b) lets the director act against vegetation on privately owned property or lots located at street intersections when it obstructs the view of motor vehicles or other traffic or otherwise creates a dangerous condition. In that private-property scenario, the city does not remove the vegetation itself first; it gives the owner or occupant written notice, and the owner or occupant then has ten days to remove the offending tree, bush, shrubbery, or plant. A related provision in the same chapter, section 12-7, separately declares any structure or obstruction in the public streets that creates a traffic hazard to be a public nuisance, which the police chief is directed to abate, underscoring that the city treats sight-line obstructions, whether from vegetation or physical structures, as an enforcement priority tied to traffic safety rather than aesthetics.