Tree Service in Des Plaines, IL

Tree Service In Des Plaines And The Eight-Foot Rule

The number in Des Plaines’ tree chapter that matters most to a homeowner is a clearance. Section 8-4-3 of the City Code says trees maintained in any street or public place by the owners or occupants of the abutting property must be trimmed “so that the branches thereof shall be at least eight feet (8′) above the sidewalk.” When trees block public lamps or walkways, § 8-4-4(B) makes it “the duty of the chief of police to notify the owner or occupant of the premises forthwith to trim the same,” and if the owner refuses or neglects it, the chief has the trimming done. A tree service Des Plaines owners call for sidewalk clearance should be working to that eight-foot line.

Get A Free Estimate

What Title 8, Chapter 4 Says About Street Trees

Chapter 4 of Title 8 is short: planting requirements, replanting by the city, the trimming duty, and prohibited acts. Section 8-4-4(A) says “No person shall cut, break or otherwise injure or destroy any shade or ornamental tree” on or beside the sidewalks. Under § 8-4-1(B), where parkways are narrow or overhead lines or setbacks cause problems, “the selection of the site and species shall be determined by the city forester,” and large trees are generally planted 40 to 60 feet on center, medium trees at least 35 feet apart and small trees at least 25. Anyone who ignores a trimming notice faces the general penalty in § 1-4-1; we have not confirmed that amount, and the city can give it to you.

We found no permit for removing a private tree, or for trimming or removing a parkway tree, in the sections we read, and the city’s Forestry page lists none. That is not proof that none exists, so check with Public Works and Engineering before anyone touches a parkway tree. The Forestry page says “The City cares for 21,000 trees within the public rights-of-way,” including “trimming and shaping healthy trees and removing diseased ones,” and replaces removed trees each spring through a cost-share program with affected residents. University of Illinois Extension covers species selection if you are joining that program.

A River City With 223 Repetitive-Loss Properties

Des Plaines incorporated in 1869 and had 60,673 residents in 2020. Cook County’s 2024 hazard mitigation annex counts 223 FEMA repetitive-loss properties and 17 severe repetitive-loss properties here, lists flooding along the Des Plaines River, Weller Creek, and the Big Bend and River/Oakton area, and notes that “Levee 50 is located along the east side of the Des Plaines River.” Federal flood declarations followed in August 1987 and again in spring 2013. Ground that floods that often stays soft, and soft ground gives a big tree less to hold.

The annex also tracks what wind does to the canopy: “A large tree was blown down on Madelyn Drive” in 2003, 60 mph gusts brought down “multiple large tree limbs” near Golf and Wolf Roads in 2011, and in 2012 “Two houses in Des Plaines sustained minor damage by falling trees.” Emerald ash borer is the slower problem. The city counts 200 ash trees in the public rights-of-way, and its page says “there has been no confirmed method of eradication other than tree removal.” The annex lists Des Plaines as a Tree City USA, recognized in 1986.

Tree Work We Handle In Des Plaines

• Tree and bush removal — ash and storm-cracked trees on private lots, lowered in sections near houses
• Trimming and pruning — sidewalk-side branches lifted to the eight-foot line in § 8-4-3
• Stump grinding — ash stumps included, ground below grade
• Storm response, 24 hours a day

A Tree Service Des Plaines Quote, Day Or Night

Measure from the sidewalk to the lowest branch if you can; that one number tells us most of what a tree service Des Plaines clearance job involves. Reach us at 708-424-5885, or scan the rest of our Cook County service area. Neighboring work: Park Ridge, Mount Prospect.