Tree Removal and Trimming in Kenilworth, IL

A tree service Kenilworth residents call pays for the privilege of working here at all. Section 57.06 makes it “unlawful for any person to engage in the business of planting, removing trimming, spraying or otherwise caring for trees in the village, without obtaining a license therefor.” The 2026 fee schedule prices that license at $350.00 a year. The same section closes the obvious loophole: “The holding of a license shall not abrogate the necessity of securing the permit required in § 57.01.” License and permit, both, every time.

Request An Estimate

Two Chapters, Two Sets Of Rules

Tree law here sits in two places, and they do different jobs. Chapter 57 “Trees and Shrubs” at §§57.01–57.99 governs the public realm and the trade; Chapter 150 “Tree Preservation” at §§150.155–150.167 governs construction.

Section 57.01 makes it unlawful “to plant, maintain or permit the existence, or to cut down or remove any tree or shrub in a public street or other public place, without obtaining a permit therefor from the Village Manager.” All work must be done “under the direction and with the approval of the Village Manager.”

On the construction side, §150.157 requires “tree ordinance authorization or a tree permit from the Village Manager before commencing construction activity, except in tree emergencies.” Emergency work must be documented and reported within 48 hours. Section 150.158 requires the application to state “the size (DBH), genus, species and condition,” and §150.166 attaches a tree protection plan to building permit applications. The code protects trees from 8 to 17 inches DBH and treats 18 inches and above as Heritage, measured at 4.5 feet. A removal requires “an Arborist Report detailing the basis of removal.” The village typically processes permits within five business days. If you want to know what an arborist report actually assesses, the ISA’s homeowner site is the place to start.

The Fees, And Where The Sources Disagree

Fees run $75.00 for a Tree Removal Permit, $100.00 for Tree Removal Only, and a $250.00 Tree Removal Security Deposit. Payment-in-lieu is where it gets messy, and we will report the mess rather than tidy it. The fee schedule gives $400 per DBH inch for good forestry practices and $200 per inch where the removal is not. The village web page gives $326.25 per tree for good forestry and $400 per DBH inch for a healthy Heritage tree. The two sources disagree on which category draws which rate. Ask the Building and Planning Division which figure governs your tree before you budget. The §57.99 penalty text was not retrievable.

223.6 Acres, Bought In 1889, Planned Around Its Trees

Joseph Sears bought 223.6 acres for $150,300 in 1889 and founded the village on three rules: “Large lots, high standards of construction, no alleys.” The Kenilworth Company sold lots until 1904. The plan deliberately preserved “a country atmosphere” through “large lots and setbacks, tree plantings along roadways, and generous park lands.” The trees along these streets are not incidental to the village. They were part of the original specification, which is a fair explanation for why the ordinance protects them as hard as it does. It is also why any tree service Kenilworth permits has to be licensed, permitted and documented at every step.

Incorporation followed on 4 February 1896 after the population reached 300. Kenilworth peaked at 2,980 residents in 1970 and holds 2,514 today on 0.61 square miles, all of it land. Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Hiram Baldwin House here in 1905.

Water is almost a non-issue. The mapped floodplain covers 4.32 acres, with zero repetitive-loss properties and zero severe. Localized flooding shows up at Green Bay Road at Wayland Avenue, and on Roger Avenue where “debris from Skokie ditch causes flooding.” Several side streets in the southeast quadrant see it too.

Tree Service Kenilworth: What We Take On

• Removals with the Arborist Report the village requires, prepared as part of the job
• Trimming under both the § 57.06 license and the § 57.01 permit
• Stump grinding on narrow lots laid out before anyone imagined machinery
• Emergency and storm work — reported to the village inside 48 hours, as §150.157 requires

Get A Tree Service Kenilworth Price

Give us the DBH, the genus and the species — the three things §150.158 asks for. We will tell you which permit applies before we quote our own. No charge to look.

Call 708-424-5885. Also see our Cook County coverage, Winnetka and Wilmette.