Do You Need a Permit to Remove a Tree in Lubbock?

Updated 2026-10 · Lubbock, TX

The short answer

For a tree on your own residential lot, behind the sidewalk, we have not found a City of Lubbock permit requirement for taking it down. That puts Lubbock in a different position from many large Texas cities with protected-tree ordinances, and it is the most common question people ask before a removal.

There are four places where that simple answer stops being true: the parkway, your HOA, the power lines, and what is buried under the tree. This guide goes through each. We are not a tree company and not the city, so treat it as a starting point and confirm anything that matters with the City of Lubbock before work starts.

The parkway is the city's call

The parkway is the strip of ground between the sidewalk and the street, and in front of many older Lubbock homes it is where the biggest tree stands. Lubbock's code gives the director of Parks and Recreation authority over trees, plants and shrubs in parkways and on any land the city owns, and lets the city prune or remove trees in the right-of-way when they threaten public safety or damage utilities, drainage or other public improvements.

In practice, if the tree you want gone is in that strip, contact the city before anyone cuts it. The same code also expects owners to keep branches clear over streets and sidewalks and to deal with dead or hazardous trees, so a dead parkway tree is not something to leave standing either.

What you can plant afterwards

Lubbock's code lists species that may not be planted as new street trees in the parkway without approval: mimosa, hackberry, ash, fruitless mulberry, sycamore, cottonwood, willow, American elm, Siberian elm, maple, magnolia, tree of heaven and poplar. Several of those are exactly the trees most often being removed.

Species the code recommends instead include cedar elm, lacebark elm, live oak, bur oak, red oak, pecan, honey locust, bald cypress and Eldarica pine. If you are replacing a parkway tree, pick from that list and plant it far enough from the line that it will not need hacking back in fifteen years.

HOA rules in newer subdivisions

Many subdivisions built in south and southwest Lubbock over the last twenty years have deed restrictions that cover the front yard, and some require approval to remove a tree the builder planted or to leave a yard without one. We cannot tell you what your governing documents say. Read them, or ask the management company, before the estimate turns into a booked job.

Power lines and buried utilities

Anything within ten feet of a high-voltage line is work only a utility-authorized crew should do, as Lubbock Power and Light's own safety guidance points out. If the tree is tangled in a line, call the utility first; they may need to make it safe or do the clearance work themselves.

Below ground, call 811 or make sure the tree company does before any stump grinding near the house, the alley or a gas meter. Irrigation lines are not on the locate maps, so mark those yourself.

Disposing of the brush

If you are clearing smaller trees or limbs yourself, the City of Lubbock's solid waste division runs citizen convenience stations that take brush. The city's rules ask for limbs cut to about five feet, light enough to handle, and stacked neatly in the alley rather than blocking it. Check current requirements with the city or 311 before a large job.

Where to go next

• Tree removal in Lubbock
• Trees near power lines
• Siberian elms: prune, keep or remove