Warren, MI Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

Division 3 of Chapter 38 locks down who may touch a public tree at all. Section 38-14 states that, except as allowed in Section 38-15, 'a person shall not perform maintenance on a public tree,' meaning day-to-day trimming is reserved for the city unless one of the listed exceptions applies. Section 38-15 lists those exceptions: routine maintenance; work by a licensed contractor for an abutting property owner or utility company to abate utility disruption, storm damage, or another hazardous condition that poses an immediate safety threat; work covered by the Division 4 annual utility vegetation-management permit; work tied to an authorized public improvement project; and work with all necessary city approvals already in hand.

Section 38-16 requires that within two business days of doing storm-damage or hazard-abatement trimming under Section 38-15(2), the contractor or utility must give the engineering division written notice of the damage and the work performed, and the city can order additional work if the remediation falls short. Division 4 governs the recurring case of utility line-clearance trimming. Section 38-17 requires a utility company to obtain an annual permit before removing, trimming, or otherwise altering a public tree or public shrub. Section 38-18 sets the application and performance terms: the engineering division's application form must identify the utility, the person filing it, the scope and locations of anticipated work with a timeline, and any other information the engineering division reasonably needs; the utility must give the city at least seven days' written notice before working at a particular site, and the city may schedule a field meeting first.

The utility has an ongoing duty to perform the work to ANSI A300 industry standards, to give the Section 38-16 remediation notice, and to comply with all engineering division requirements, which the city may add to at any time.