Urban Forestry

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The Urban Forestry Division is charged with growing and maintaining healthy trees throughout the City for the public good.

Our mission is to make Montgomery a more attractive and healthy environment in which to live. We do this by:

regulating the planting, maintenance and removal of trees located on public property
establishing and maintaining the maximum sustainable amount of tree cover on public and private lands in the City
maintaining City trees in a healthy and non-hazardous condition
establishing and maintaining appropriate diversity in tree species and age classes to provide a stable and sustainable urban forest

Landscape Ordinance & Inspections

All development containing parking of 10 spaces or more must submit a landscape plan to the Urban Forestry Division for review and approval. Landscape plans are reviewed in the order in which they are received. Each plan is reviewed for compliance with the landscape ordinance, and detailed review sheets are sent to the applicant if there is a problem with compliance. Once the landscape plan has been approved, the Urban Forester will sign off on the project.

Before the City of Montgomery will issue a Certificate of Occupancy, the Urban Forestry Division must approve the installation of landscaping for the site. The approved plan on file is used for the final landscape inspection. If the landscaping on site does not concur with the landscape plan on file for the development, a Certificate of Occupancy will not be issued, nor will a temporary Certificate be issued. Once the landscaping has been approved, a Certificate of Occupancy can be issued for the site.

Documents to help with your landscape planning:

Tree Removal Policy

Citizens may request tree maintenance or removal of a city tree by contacting the Urban Forester. Upon receipt of a request, the tree or trees shall be inspected and evaluated and an appropriate plan of action shall be implemented. The citizen making the request shall be notified of the findings of the evaluation and the course of action to be taken.

The City of Montgomery will allow the removal of a tree from public property only when one or more of the following conditions exist:

The tree is hazardous. A tree will be considered hazardous when the tree has a condition which makes failure imminent.
The tree is a sight distance problem and no other cost effective alternative exists. In the event that a removal request is due to a tree causing a blind corner at an intersection, the Urban Forester will work with the city of Montgomery Traffic Engineering Department to best address the situation. Options that will be evaluated shall include pruning, installing stop or other signage or installing traffic signals. Removal of the tree will be performed only if no other alternatives exist.
The tree is recognized by the Alabama Invasion Plant Council as an exotic/invasive species.

The City of Montgomery shall not allow the removal of a tree from public property without the written permission of the Urban Forester.

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