Permits Required for Right-of-Way Plantings

INDIANAPOLIS — The Department of Code Enforcement is pleased to announce an updated flora permit application. The fillable PDF form is available electronically and for immediate use at www.indy.gov/dce
A flora permit is required for any tree planting, landscaping, spraying, bracing, removal, or pruning work on trees or flora in the city’s right-of-way. A right-of-way is city-owned property along streets extending beyond the edge of the road. Commonly, this is the lawn strip between the street and sidewalk.
The revisions of this permit application will allow DCE staff to better understand the intentions of the applicant. The revised application asks for more information than the previous version. The purpose of requiring additional information is to eliminate the confusion between what the applicant is requesting and how DCE interprets the request.
To ensure health of the city’s urban forest, DCE issues and regulates flora permits, as well as provides enforcement of violations of the city’s ordinance related to trees and flora. Any work that is to be done on city-owned trees is inspected and approved by a DCE Forestry Inspector to ensure it will be done in a safe and effective manner.