Tree Trimming and Removal in Lincolnwood

Tree Removal In Lincolnwood Needs A Permit At Eight Inches

Lincolnwood regulates trees on private lots, and the village does not treat a skipped permit lightly. Its Tree Management page says “residents must obtain a tree removal permit from the Community Development Department” for trees “eight inches or greater in diameter on private property,” and it warns of “a fine of no less than $1000” plus a replacement fee “no less than $150 per diameter inch at breast height (DBH) of the tree removed.” Any tree removal Lincolnwood homeowners plan for a mature yard tree therefore begins with that application, not with a saw.

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How The Village Processes A Removal Permit

The village’s Tree Removal Handout cites Chapter 14.17.1 through 14.17.14 of the village code; we have not read that ordinance text, so what follows is the village’s own summary. The handout measures diameter at 4.5 feet above grade, has the Village Arborist measure the tree after you apply, and takes applications through the village’s online permit portal. The Village Manager or a designee decides the replacement obligation and whether a fee applies; where one does, the handout lists a “base fee of $65 per tree plus $150 per diameter inch” of the trees removed.

The application takes some assembly. The handout asks for a signed, itemized contractor proposal with a cost breakdown, citing 815 ILCS 513/15, and a property survey dated within five years that shows every tree, with those 8 inches and larger identified by species; Google Earth images, sketches and site plans are not accepted. Work hours apply as well: citing 14.15.10(M), the handout allows construction from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7:00 a.m. to noon on Saturday, with none on Sunday. If you need species names for the survey, University of Illinois Extension has tree identification material.

Parkway trees are another matter entirely. The village “owns and maintains more than 8,600 parkway trees,” trims them on a rotating schedule one section of the community at a time, and its page is direct: “Residents and private contractors are not allowed to prune or remove parkway trees.” Only Public Works personnel or contractors the village directs may trim them, and a resident who wants a new one can submit a parkway tree planting request.

From Tessville’s Elms To The North Shore Channel

Lincolnwood began as Tessville, and Cook County’s hazard mitigation plan annex records that in the 1930s officials “hired the community’s entire unemployed workforce to plant 10,000 elm trees on the village streets.” That planting set the pattern for the street canopy the village still manages itself. The annex lists Lincolnwood as a Tree City USA with a date of 1997, and the 2020 census counted 13,464 residents.

Water here is concentrated in one place: “the only FEMA designated 100-year flood-plain exists along the North Shore Channel,” and the village lies within the North Branch of the Chicago River watershed. The annex records 7.85 inches of rain on September 13, 2008 and lists new storm sewers and an outfall along North Shore Avenue as a mitigation project. Ground that takes on that much water needs days to firm up, and a large tree is at its least stable in the meantime.

Lincolnwood Tree Work We Take On

• Tree and bush removal — itemized proposal written the way the village application asks for it
• Trimming and pruning — private trees only, since parkway pruning belongs to the village
• Stump grinding — scheduled inside the village’s weekday and Saturday-morning hours
• Storm response, 24 hours a day

Start A Tree Removal Lincolnwood Permit File

If you have a recent survey, send it with your request; it is the document that most often holds up a tree removal Lincolnwood permit. Call 708-424-5885 with the address, or move on to the rest of our Cook County service area. Neighboring work: Skokie, Niles.