Tree Trimming and Removal in Phoenix

Tree Service In Phoenix, IL And The Nuisance Tree Rules

In Phoenix, a dead or dying tree on private property is a code problem, not just an eyesore. Section 98-141 lists “any dead or dying tree” on village or private property as a nuisance, § 98-143 requires the owner to remove it “no less than 14 days after” notice is delivered, and under § 98-144 the village may take it down itself, collect “the reasonable cost thereof,” and file a lien “superior to all other liens and encumbrances, except tax liens.” That makes the tree service Phoenix IL owners schedule on their own terms the better route.

Get A Free Estimate

Phoenix Chapter 98, Article IV: Trees And Shrubs

The tree rules sit in Chapter 98, “Vegetation,” Article IV of the Phoenix Code of Ordinances, in three divisions: general rules (§§ 98-88 to 98-93), Dutch elm disease (§§ 98-115 to 98-121), and other nuisance trees and shrubs (§§ 98-141 to 98-144). The oldest piece is § 98-88, from a 1909 ordinance: “No person shall cut down, destroy, break, or in any way injure any tree or shrub standing” on village property, rights-of-way, streets or public places. Section 98-92 lets the village remove, at its discretion, trees that are diseased or dying, lift or crack sidewalks, or block sewer pipes.

Planting in the parkway takes a permit under § 98-93, with the application going to the clerk and on to the president and board of trustees. No new tree may go “within 25 feet of any other tree” or within two feet of a sidewalk, and Carolina poplars, cottonwoods, box elders, willows and dwarf catalpas are prohibited. For a yard tree, the ISA’s tree owner information is a fair starting point on species and site.

Owners also carry clearance and hazard duties. Under § 98-90, boughs “shall not project over such sidewalk at a less height than ten feet.” Under § 98-91, the owner removes a tree “likely to fall on or across any public way or place,” and the superintendent of public works may trim or remove it. Infected elms are “hereby declared to be a public nuisance” by § 98-115, and § 98-120 puts an owner in violation who does not remove one “within ten days after service of such notice.” The general penalty in § 1-10 is “a fine not exceeding $750.00,” with each day a separate offense. We did not find a permit requirement for removing a private tree.

The Village That Kept Its Name And Its Independence

On August 29, 1900, residents voted 38 to 18 to incorporate. The village held its independence through legal challenges from Harvey and changed its name from Phenix Park to Phoenix. In 1962 the southern portion was de-annexed into Harvey, which cost the village about a third of its population and 60 percent of its tax base. Today Phoenix sits in Thornton Township about 19 miles south of the Loop, with 1,708 residents in 2020 on roughly 0.45 square miles.

Cook County’s 2024 hazard mitigation annex places the village in the Little Calumet River watershed planning area and lists no repetitive-loss properties. Whatever the size of the lot, a tree that falls across a property line becomes a neighbor’s problem as well, which is reason enough to take the 14-day notice seriously.

Phoenix Tree Jobs We Handle

• Tree and bush removal — dead, dying and infected trees cleared before a § 98-143 notice runs out
• Trimming and pruning — boughs raised to the ten feet § 98-90 requires over the sidewalk
• Stump grinding — so a permitted replacement can go in at proper spacing
• Storm response, 24 hours a day

Request A Tree Service Phoenix IL Estimate

If you have a village notice, send it along with a photo of the tree so we can fit your tree service Phoenix IL job inside its deadline. Phone us at 708-424-5885, or see our Cook County service area for the surrounding villages. Neighboring work: Harvey, South Holland.