Columbus, IN Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

Section 10.04.070 of the Columbus Municipal Code, adopted by the Common Council of the City of Columbus, Indiana, applies at every street corner where the curb lines of two streets form a corner. Trees, shrubbery, hedge and other live fences and all other plants and vegetation must be kept cut and trimmed, and every other obstruction removed, so that a driver has a clear view from street to street across the corner. The protected band runs from a height of three feet to a height of seven feet above the center of the street at the corner.

The clear view must be kept open at all times over a triangular space. Its two sides are the curb lines of the intersecting streets, and its third side is a straight line connecting points on those curb lines twenty-five feet back each way from the corner. The text says at all times, so seasonal growth does not suspend the duty.

Section 10.04.080 puts the duty on people, not on the city: the owner, the manager and the occupant of the lot or premises abutting upon any corner must each keep and maintain the clear and unobstructed view. A landlord, a property manager and a tenant are all named, so none of them can point to another to escape the rule.

The rule sits in Chapter 10.04 of Title 10, Vehicles and Traffic. Section 10.04.020 assigns police department officers, as assigned by the chief of police, to enforce street traffic laws of the city, and Section 10.04.030 makes it an ordinance violation to do any act forbidden or fail to perform any act required in the chapter. The section sets the sight band and the triangle; it does not set a general trimming height over sidewalks or roadways away from corners.