New Britain, CT Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

Sec. 21-7, in Chapter 21's general article on streets and sidewalks, bars anyone from cutting down, removing, or trimming "any of the trees located in the public streets" without the board of park and recreation commissioners' permission; it traces back to 1970 Code Sec. 20-12. The same restriction is repeated almost word for word later in the chapter at Sec. 21-18, sourced from the older 1970 Code Sec. 2-236, covering trees "located on or along the public streets of the city." Because both sections route through the same board, a resident, contractor, or utility crew that wants to prune branches over a street, or take down a street tree entirely, must first get that board's sign-off rather than acting on its own, even for routine clearance trimming.

The chapter's own footnote traces the city's underlying authority to G.S. Sec. 7-148(c)(6)(A)(v), which lets a municipality provide for "the planting" and care "of shade and ornamental trees on the streets and public grounds." Chapter 17's separate tree warden program, Secs. 17-90 through 17-96, covers city trees more broadly, including replacement ratios and a $250 per-tree charge for unauthorized removal on approved development sites, but the board of park and recreation commissioners is the named authority specifically for street trees under Chapter 21. Neither Sec.

21-7 nor Sec. 21-18 states a specific fine for cutting or trimming a street tree without permission; the permission requirement itself, enforced by withholding or granting that permission, is the operative rule in both sections.