Unlike many Chicago-suburb ordinances, Champaign and Urbana impose no trunk-diameter permit on removing a private-yard tree. Permits and authorization apply to the city-owned parkway trees and to tree removal on development and subdivision sites, not a resident clearing their own lot.
Some Illinois municipalities require a permit to remove any private tree above a set trunk diameter; Champaign and Urbana are not among them for established single-family lots. The permit and approval framework here centers on two things: the public parkway and street trees the city owns, which residents cannot remove without city authorization, and tree preservation reviewed during subdivision and commercial site-plan approval. Urbana's City Arborist and Tree Commission oversee a public urban forest that is among the most diverse in the Midwest. A homeowner taking down a dead, hazardous, or ash-borer-killed tree in their own yard needs no diameter permit.
No penalty for removing your own established-lot tree. Removing or damaging a city parkway or street tree without authorization violates the tree ordinance and can require restitution for the tree's appraised value plus replacement.
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See how Urbana's tree removal permits rules stack up against other locations.
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