Peoria, IL Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

Sec. 29-5, titled 'Obstruction; trees to be removed or pruned,' places the duty to prune squarely on the person owning or occupying property that borders a street with overhanging trees, whether the tree itself sits on private ground or the public parkway. The clearance floor is exact: seven feet over any sidewalk and 16 feet over any street, and the same duty covers keeping branches off streetlights and out of sightlines for traffic signs, traffic signals, and street or alley intersections. If an owner fails to prune, subsection (1) lets the city arborist send a notice to trim by certified mail, and the owner then has 14 days to complete the pruning.

Subsection (2) covers dead or diseased trees on private property separately: the arborist can declare such a tree a public nuisance under Sec. 15-96 if it threatens health, life, safety, or property, mail a notice, and the owner then has five days to abate before the city takes corrective action. Subsection (4) is the backstop: if the owner still doesn't comply within the specified time, the city may prune or remove the tree itself and collect the cost from the owner as a debt owed to the city, the same collection mechanism used throughout Chapter 29.

Utility company line-clearance trimming is carved out from the whole permit scheme under Sec. 29-3(f), so long as the utility's forestry representative coordinates trimming methods with the city arborist.