Owensboro, KY Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

Owensboro Municipal Code § 5-161 puts the maintenance burden for right-of-way trees and shrubs on the adjoining property owner or the permittee who planted them under section 5-160. That owner must prune permitted trees and shrubs to improve visibility of traffic control devices, meet sight-visibility requirements, and provide sufficient overhead clearance for vehicular and pedestrian traffic on the adjoining street or sidewalk. Owners must also repair any street, sidewalk, or right-of-way damaged by a privately owned tree's roots, trunk, or limbs, at their own expense.

Section 5-161(b) separately makes it unlawful for any owner, resident, tenant, or occupant to let trees or shrubs, including ones planted in the street lawn, grow so they interfere with or damage a public street or sidewalk, block traffic visibility, violate intersection sight-visibility rules, obstruct the right-of-way, or create an imminent risk of injury to vehicles or pedestrians. An unmaintained tree or shrub that becomes dangerous, diseased, or obstructive can also be declared a public nuisance under section 5-162 and abated by the city under section 18-41 et seq.

Because the tree ordinance (division 1) carries its own penalty schedule at section 5-163, code enforcement can cite an owner and refer an uncontested or upheld citation to the code enforcement board.