Novi, MI Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

Section 21-210, added by Ordinance No. 14-182 on October 6, 2014 and found in Chapter 21's Division 12 on obstructions in public ways, places an affirmative duty on anyone owning, leasing, occupying or controlling property in Novi where a tree, bush, shrub, vine or plant grows. That person must trim or prune, or arrange to have trimmed or pruned, any limbs, branches, twigs or leaves that overhang, protrude or extend into a street, sidewalk or pathway in a way that obstructs or is likely to obstruct the public way.

The clearance standard is either trimming back to the property line adjacent to the public way, or maintaining a clear height of at least eight feet above the surface of the street, sidewalk or pathway. The section also forbids planting or maintaining vegetation so close to a property line that it obstructs the sight lines of drivers along the street. A violation is declared a public nuisance that the city may abate directly. Before doing so, the city must give the owner of record ten days' written notice by first-class mail to the address on the tax rolls and to the property address if different.

If the owner or occupant still has not trimmed, pruned or removed the obstruction, city crews may enter the property to do the work themselves and then bill the owner for the cost. An unpaid invoice becomes delinquent after thirty days, at which point the city may add a reasonable administrative fee and collect the balance through any method available by law, including placing it on the property's tax roll to be collected the same way as delinquent taxes.