Tree Trimming and Removal in Hinsdale

Tree Service In Hinsdale, And The $25,000 Parkway Fee

Hinsdale puts a price on parkway trees that stops most people cold. Section 7-2-2(B)(1) of the village code sets a fee of $5,000 for any permit to remove or cut down a tree in a public street or parkway, rising to $10,000 if the owner applies after a building permit has issued, and § 7-2-2(B)(3) charges a $25,000 permit fee to anyone who removes one without a permit or kills it through negligence during construction. Any tree service Hinsdale homeowners hire should know which side of the property line a trunk stands on before a saw comes out.

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Title 7, Chapter 2: Hinsdale’s Trees And Shrubs Code

Chapter 2 of Title 7 runs from definitions in § 7-2-1 to the Tree Board in § 7-2-10 and a general penalty in § 7-2-11, in a code current through Ordinance O2026-21. A public tree is any tree on village right of way, parkway or property. Section 7-2-2 makes it unlawful to plant, remove, cut down “or otherwise work on” one without a permit from the director of public services or the village forester, issued “for good cause shown,” and appeals go to the Tree Board within 60 days. The fees do not apply to diseased or damaged trees unrelated to construction, removals that benefit surrounding trees, or work under a Board-approved commercial landscape plan, and the money goes to a Tree Fund. Section 7-2-6 requires open ground “not less than four feet (4′) square” around a parkway trunk.

On private land the code uses the term landmark tree: any tree eight inches or more in diameter, measured four and one-half feet up on the high side. Section 7-2-8 requires 14 days’ prior written notice to the director of public services before one is removed, “as part of any applicable village construction permit application”; the section contains no permit fee, replacement or exemption language. Under § 7-2-9, applications to demolish a house or detached garage, or to add 600 square feet or more, must include a landmark tree preservation plan with “A certification from an arborist.” Where no more specific provision applies, § 7-2-11 fines up to $500 per offense, each day separate. The ISA’s homeowner site explains what arborist certification covers.

Historic Districts And Teardowns

Hinsdale incorporated April 1, 1873, and lies mostly in DuPage County with a small piece in Cook. Its downtown is a National Register Historic District described as “remarkably little changed despite many teardowns,” and Robbins Park, just east of downtown, is a second historic district. The village’s Tree Board page cites its designation as a Tree City USA.

Teardowns are where § 7-2-9 comes into play. Demolishing a house triggers the preservation plan, and the plan must show every landmark tree on the lot and within 15 feet of its lines, along with how each will be protected — before an excavator gets near the roots.

Hinsdale Services

• Tree and bush removal — private landmark trees scheduled with the 14-day notice in mind when construction is involved
• Trimming and pruning — elm and ash work with tools cleaned in alcohol between uses, as § 7-2-2(B)(8) requires
• Stump grinding — ground out and hauled from private lots
• Storm response, 24 hours a day

Get A Tree Service Hinsdale Quote

Tell us if a demolition or addition is in the works, because that changes the paperwork around any tree service Hinsdale job. Reach us any hour at 708-424-5885, or see the rest of our DuPage County service area. Neighboring work: Clarendon Hills, Oak Brook.