Youngstown, OH Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

Youngstown Codified Ordinances Section 921.03 puts the job of trimming street-facing shade trees on the owner of the abutting lot or parcel, not the City. Any owner whose land fronts a street, avenue or public ground where shade trees grow must trim the branches so they do not block the light from a nearby streetlamp, and must keep branches overhanging any sidewalk or roadway cut back to a clear height of eight feet above the sidewalk and twelve feet above the roadway. The same section requires owners to remove dead, decaying or broken limbs that overhang a sidewalk or street or are likely to fall on it, and to take up and remove an entire tree once it is dead.

The Commissioner of Engineering enforces the section by written notice; an owner who fails to trim, clear or remove a tree within ten days of that notice is subject to punishment under Section 921.99. Section 921.01 separately treats a tree as a public nuisance, and authorizes the Commissioner of Engineering, the Park and Recreation Superintendent, the Chief of Police or the Fire Chief to cut it down and remove it outright, if it obstructs travel, blocks sewage or water flow, heaves up sidewalks or curbing, interferes with police or fire signal lines, or blocks visibility of a traffic sign or signal.

Section 921.02 lets the Park and Recreation Superintendent or Traffic Coordinator order an owner to remove or correct a private tree or shrub that overhangs or endangers a public street, with the City able to do the work and assess the cost against the property if the owner ignores the notice.