Texas Tree Ordinances

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Some Texas Municipal Tree Ordinances
(Accuracy not guaranteed - please check with individual communities for updates and addendums)

2012 Update

Texas Tree Ordinances

Public Tree Care:
Austin, Buffalo Gap, Burleson, Cedar Hill, Colleyville, Coppell, El Paso, Euless, Flower Mound, Fort Hood, Fort Worth, Grande Prairie, Highland Village, Houston, Irving, Keller, Killeen, Lake Jackson, Laredo, Lufkin, Muenster, New Braunfels, Odessa, Pflugerville, Piney Point Village, Plano, Richardson, Rockport, Sachse, Shenandoah, Sonora, The Colony, Victoria, Waco, West University Place, Westlake

Tree Preservation:
Abilene, Allen, Austin, Bedford, Bunker Hill Village, Carrollton, Cedar Hill, Colleyville, Columbus, Coppell, Dickenson, Duncanville, Frisco, Grapevine, Helotes, Hewig Village, Hillshire Village, Houston, Hunters Creek Village, Ingleside, Kennedale, La Porte, Lake Dallas, Lancaster, League City, Little Elm, Lockhart, Mansfield, McKinney, Mesquite, North Richland Hills, Oak Point, Orange, Paris, Pearland, Pflugerville, Roanoke, Rockwall, Round Rock, Rowlett, Sachse, San Antonio, San Marcos, Seabrook, Shenandoah, Sunset Valley, The Colony, Weatherford, West Lake Hills

Landscape:
Abilene, Addison, Alamo Heights, Allen, Amarillo, Austin, Balch Springs, Baytown, Beaumont, Bryan, Burleson, Burnet, Cleveland, Commerce, Crowley, Del Rio, Denison, Denton, Dickenson, El Paso, Euless, Flower Mound, Fredericksburg, Friendsburg, Grapevine, Helotes, Hidalgo, Highland Village, Houston, Irving, Jersey Village, La Marque, La Porte, Lake Jackson, Lampasas, League City, Lewisville, Lorena, Mansfield, Marble Falls, McAllen, Mesquite, Midland, Missouri City, Nacogdoches, North Richland Hills, Pasadena, Pflugerville, Port Aransas, Portland, Richardson, Richland Hills, Roanoke, Rockwall, Rowlett, Saginaw, San Antonio, San Marcos, Sealy, Shenandoah, Shertz, Stafford, Sugar Land, Sunset Valley, Texarkana, The Colony, Tomball, Waco, Weatherford, Webster, Wichita Falls

Landscape and Tree Preservation:
Arlington, Conroe, Dallas, Edinburg, Fort Worth, Gainsville, Georgetown, Leon Valley, Melissa, New Braunfels

Other

Technical Manuals:
Arlington, Austin, College Station, Conroe, Corpus Christi, Edinburg, El Paso, Fort Worth, Lakeway, Pflugerville, Round Rock, San Antonio, Schertz, Southlake, Tomball

Oak Wilt and Diseased Trees:
Amarillo, Boerne, Hill Country Village, Hunters Creek Village, New Braunfels, San Antonio, Sunset Valley, West Lake Hills

Obstructions and Clearance:
Alice, Alvin, Amarillo, Angleton, Bridge City, Bryan, Colleyville, Copperas Cove, Decatur, Eagle Pass, Fort Stockton, Grande Prairie, Haltom, Henrietta, Hewitt, Humble, Hunters Creek Village, Kaufman, Kerrville, La Porte, Lampasas, Laredo, League City, McAllen, Midland, Missouri City, Odessa, Orange, Pasadena, Rockport, Rockwall, Seguin, Texarkana

Nuisance:
Allen, Deer Park, Gainsville, Mission, Oak Ridge North, Port Arthur, Princeton

Utility:
Angleton, Corpus Christi, Richwood

Thanks to Texas Forest Service and AgriLife for assisting with this information

Texas Tree Ordinance Definitions

ANSI Park Tree List, Qualified

Arboriculture Specifications Manual Parkway Area Tree Mitigation Plan

Arborist Peninsula Tree Preservation Analysis

Arborist, Certified Permeable Surface Tree Preservation Zone

Bark Protection Permit, Pruning Tree Technical Manual

Bore Utilities Permit, Tree Removal Tree Value or Tree Appraised Value

Boring Permit, Urban Forestry Tree, Champion

Brush Person (Citizen) Tree, Corridor

Caliper Plan, Landscape Tree, Deciduous

Canopy Plan, Tree Tree, Designated (Landmark)

Circumference Plan, Tree Disposition Tree, Diversity

Cleaning Plan, Urban Forestry Tree, Evergreen

Clear or Clearing Plant Material Tree, Existing

Clear-cutting Planting Strip Tree, Healthy

Critical Root Zone Property Line Tree, Heritage

Critically Alter Property Owner Tree, Historic

Crown Property, Commercial Tree, Large

Cut and Fill Property, Private Tree, Marginal

Damage Property, Public Tree, Monarch

Deadwood Property, Residential Tree, Multi-stem

Developed Land Protected Area Tree, Nonaesthetic

Development Review Committee Protection Zone, Tree Tree, Ornamental

Diameter (DBH) Protective Fencing Tree, Park

Director Protective Measures Tree, Parking Lot

Drip Line Pruning Tree, Parkway

Erosion Pruning, Root Tree, Preserved

Forester, City Public Place (Area) Tree, Protected

Forester, Urban Public Tree Care Tree, Public

Forester, Manager Raising Tree, Quality

Fund for Restoration Reduction Tree, Replacement

Grading Removal Tree, Shade (Canopy)

Groundcover Remove or Seriously Injure Tree, Significant

Grubbing Right of Way Tree, Small (Noncanopy)

Impervious Cover (Surface) Right of Way, Public Tree, Specimen

Infected with Disease Root Collar Tree, Undesirable

Infected with Insects Shrub Tree, Unprotected

Island Shrub, Large Trees, Urban

Landscape Administrator Soil, Top Trees, Stand of

Landscape Buffer or Buffer Planting Strip Street Yard Under Brushing

Landscape or Landscape Area Street, Public Understory

Landscape Reserve Streetscape Urban Forest

Limits of Construction Survey, Tree Urban Forestry (Tree) Board

Median Thinning Utilities

Mulch Thinning, Selective Visibility Triangle

Nonpermeable Topping Weed

Nuisance Tree Wounds

Oak Wilt Tree Health Zoning Ordinance

Open Space

Thanks to Texas Forest Service for assisting with this information

Trees in an ETJ: Ruling from the Fourth Court of Appeals District of Texas on Milestone Portranco Development Ltd. v. City of San Antonio "Milestone Potranco Development, Ltd. appeals the trial court’s judgment declaring that the City of San Antonio’s Tree Preservation Ordinance and Streetscape Tree Planting Standards (the “Tree Ordinance”) are enforceable against Milestone’s property which is located in the City’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (“ETJ”). Milestone asserts that the City’s limited authority to enforce its ordinances beyond its corporate limits does not entitle the City to extend the Tree Ordinance to the City’s ETJ. We affirm the trial court’s judgment." May 27, 2009

Click here for the text of the ruling.

Property line trees and encroaching limbs: When can the encroached homeowner cut the trees, tree limbs or roots? When can the owner of the tree prevent encroaching limbs and roots from being cut? Click here for some opinions from Texas law.

Other Ordinance Resources:
Municipal Law 101: Basic Municipal Laws and Issues for Texas City Officials, 2009 (PDF)

Tree Conservation White Paper by Auburn University September 2007

ISA Guidelines for Developing and Evaluation Tree Ordinances
California Tree Ordinance Information
LSU Tree Ordinance Information

Model Public Tree Care Ordinance

Tree City USA Bulletin #9 How to Write a Municipal Tree Ordinance

Tree City USA Bulletin # 31 Tree Protection Ordinances

Tree Ordinance Development Guidebook (Georgia Forestry Commission)

Guide to Developing a Community Tree Preservation Ordinance (Minnesota Shade Tree Advisory Committee)

Guidelines for Developing Urban Forest Practice Ordinances - Oregon Department of Forestry

Tree Ordinances for Iowa Communities

General Code Publishers (on-line ordinance clearinghouse

LexisNexis Municipal Codes (on-line ordinance clearinghouse)