Two questions come up on almost every tree job around Tyler: do I need a permit, and who takes the debris. This is the plain-language version; the city and county pages linked from the home page are the ones that count.
Inside the city the rules that matter are about the street strip and the landmark houses. Trees overhanging a street have to keep 14 feet of clearance, the city treats trees between the sidewalk and the curb as its own, and work on a designated historic landmark goes through a certificate of appropriateness. Outside the city the county's main rule is the burn ban. Power lines are the utility's, everywhere.
Permits: the usual pattern
- A tree on your own lot, away from the street, normally needs no permit.
- Trees in the strip between the sidewalk and the street belong to the city; its crews take down only the ones the city arborist has judged dead or hazardous, and a contractor working in that strip clears the job with the city engineer five days ahead.
- The certificate of appropriateness for historic landmarks covers the building itself, masonry, roof, windows, porches and additions, and its checklist does not mention trees; if your house is a landmark, a call to the planning office before cutting a big front-yard tree is still worth making.
- A lot in a mapped floodplain can need a permit before clearing or grading; the city engineer or the county floodplain office will say which.
- Power lines: city tree crews do not trim near them and neither should anyone else; Oncor, at 1-888-313-4747, clears its side first.
A tree on the house
Get everyone out from under it, call the utility if a line is down, photograph the tree, the roof and the ceiling inside for the claim, then call the line on this site. A tree on a structure is roped down in sections, never felled, and it is priced as emergency work, quoted before the crew starts.
Storm debris
The city clears fallen trees and limbs off public streets, but a tree in your yard is yours to deal with. Limbs bundled under 4 feet and 50 pounds are collected free at the curb; bulk brush, big limbs and stumps go as a paid special collection by request, from $20, stacked in a separate pile at least two feet from any household bulk waste. After the February 2021 freeze that was the route most of the city's brush took. We take trees off houses, fences and cars first, then chip and haul what the pickup will not.
Official pages
The links under Local resources on the home page go to the city, the county and the Texas A&M Forest Service; the brush rules are on the city's bulky items page and the burn ban status on the county fire marshal's page.
Questions we get about this
Do I need a permit to cut down a tree in my yard in Tyler?
Usually not for a tree on your own lot, outside the street strip and outside a landmark designation. The crew checks on the estimate visit and tells you if the city or the utility has to move first.
Whose tree is it when it stands in the strip between the sidewalk and the curb?
The city treats it as its own. Its crews remove those trees only when the city arborist has judged them dead or hazardous, and the Street and Stormwater department at (903) 531-1393 is the number to report one.
Will the city haul my storm limbs?
Small bundles, under 4 feet and 50 pounds, go free at the curb. Bulk brush is a paid special collection by request, starting at $20, stacked in its own pile. Fallen trees on the street itself are the city's job; a tree on your house is a crew job.