Permits Guide
For most homeowners in most RGV cities, the answer is no — but there are real exceptions, and getting one wrong is expensive. Here's the honest lay of the land.
For a tree on your own private residential property, Valley cities generally do not require a removal permit. The RGV has no county-wide or state-level protection for ordinary trees on private homesteads — if the mesquite in your backyard needs to go, in most cases you can just have it removed. That's the rule of thumb; the rest of this guide is the exceptions.
Rules change, so treat this as a pointer, not gospel: for residential removals, McAllen, Edinburg, Mission, Pharr, San Juan, Alamo, Donna, Weslaco, and Mercedes generally require nothing for a privately owned tree on your own lot. For commercial work, new construction, or anything in a right-of-way, call the city's planning or code office first — every city above has one, and a five-minute call beats a citation. We work in these cities daily and can usually tell you at the estimate whether your situation has a wrinkle.
Every removal estimate we do is free and on-site. If your tree sits in an easement, straddles a line, or belongs to a commercial site plan, we'll flag it before any work is scheduled — it's a lot easier to check first than to argue with the city later.
In most Valley cities, yes — ordinary trees on private residential property generally aren't regulated. The exceptions are right-of-way strips, utility easements, HOA rules, and boundary-line trees shared with a neighbor.
Under Texas law, generally yes — you can trim encroaching branches back to the property line at your own expense, as long as the trimming doesn't destroy the tree. You can't go over the line, and you can't remove the tree itself; that belongs to your neighbor.
Usually the city — that strip is typically public right-of-way even though you maintain it. Don't remove or heavily trim a right-of-way tree without checking with the city first; that's one of the few situations where a Valley homeowner can actually get cited over a tree.
If your covenants say so, yes — HOA rules are enforceable even where the city requires nothing. Front-yard tree removal is the most commonly restricted. Read your covenants or ask the HOA before scheduling; we're happy to provide a written scope you can submit for approval.