Bear Creek, Texas · Hays County
Tree removal in Bear Creek
Up in the hills off FM 1826, where the soil runs out fast.
No permit needed — Bear Creek has never adopted a tree ordinance.
About 18 minutes from me in Kyle. Whatever the answer turns out to be, it is a form and a measurement rather than a refusal — these get approved all the time. Call me and I’ll tell you where you stand.
What Bear Creek actually regulates
Thin-soil plateau country. Trees here are slower-growing, tougher, and less forgiving of root damage than the same species down on the prairie. A trench for a water line can start a decline that doesn't show up for three summers.
Under the threshold
Not regulated
No permit needed — Bear Creek has never adopted a tree ordinance.
Bear Creek is an incorporated Hays County village, but its full published set of ordinances — flood damage prevention, outdoor burning, right-of-way, driveways and more — has no tree, vegetation or land-clearing rule in it. There's nothing to file for a straight removal. A deed restriction, plat note or HOA rule can still say otherwise on your specific lot, worth a quick check of your paperwork before you assume you're clear.
The ordinance, in its own words
The Village of Bear Creek's complete published ordinance set — subdivision, flood damage prevention, outdoor burning, right-of-way, driveway and culvert ordinances among others — contains no tree, vegetation or land-clearing ordinance.
Source: Village of Bear Creek, TX — official ordinance document repository. This is a reading of the code, not legal advice and not the city’s own determination. Ordinances change.
Everything else the Bear Creek code attaches
- If it's not construction-related
- Nothing to file with the village for a straight removal. If your lot is in an HOA or has deed restrictions, those are private rules, not government ones, worth reading before you cut.
- How it's measured
- Not applicable — no ordinance exists to measure against.
- Who to call
- Village of Bear Creek — no tree ordinance on the books
Check your own tree against Bear Creek’s rule
Permit checker
Measure it, then check it
Pick Bear Creek, put the trunk measurement in, and it will show you exactly which band you are in and what the code says about it.
How a removal actually goes in Bear Creek
Hill lots off FM 1826, often steep, sometimes with the tree downhill from any place a truck can sit. Access is the main cost driver. Eighteen minutes from me, up in the hills off 1826. Rocky ground, so stump grinding runs into limestone sooner than on the prairie side.
Everything gets hauled away and the ground raked off behind us. Want the logs kept for firewood? Say so before we start and my crew will cut them to length and stack them rather than running them through the chipper.
The trees I get called about here
Live oak, ashe juniper and Texas red oak on some of the thinnest soil in Hays County. Trees here grow slowly, which means they're older than they look and they heal slowly. A wound that a prairie cedar elm would seal in two seasons can stay open for years on a Bear Creek oak. Thin plateau soil means roots run wide and shallow, which makes anything that disturbs the ground a bigger deal than it looks. A trench for a water line, a new drive, a pad for a shed — each one can sever a meaningful share of a mature tree's root system without touching the trunk.
Before you decide to remove it
A mature live oak took fifty years to reach that size and I can take it down in a morning. Neither of us can put it back. So the first thing I want to know is whether it actually needs to go — a tree that looks finished is quite often a tree that needs the deadwood out of it and nothing more. Here’s how to tell the difference, and here’s the risk check if you want to work it through yourself.
If it does need to come out, the permit side is the easy part. The rules for every town I’ve read are here, and here’s everything else I do in Bear Creek.
Questions I get asked
Do I need a permit to remove a tree in Bear Creek?
It depends on the trunk size. The Village of Bear Creek's complete published ordinance set — subdivision, flood damage prevention, outdoor burning, right-of-way, driveway and culvert ordinances among others — contains no tree, vegetation or land-clearing ordinance. That is Village of Bear Creek, TX — official ordinance document repository, and it is quoted in full further down this page.
How do I measure my tree for Bear Creek's rules?
Put a tape around the trunk 4.5 feet above the ground to get the circumference, then divide by 3.14 for the diameter. Bear Creek writes its rule in inches in diameter. If the trunk splits into several stems below 4.5 feet, measure below the split — that usually puts you in a higher bracket than you expected.
What if the tree is dead or dangerous?
Most ordinances around here treat a dead, diseased or genuinely hazardous tree differently from a healthy one somebody would simply rather not have, and a written assessment from a Certified Arborist is usually what the city wants to see. There is one on my crew. Get the condition documented before you file anything, not after.
How much does tree removal cost in Bear Creek?
Access is the biggest driver, ahead of size — whether there is a drop zone or whether every piece has to be roped out over a roof is the difference between a morning and a full day. Then trunk diameter, then lean and deadwood. Send me a photo and the circumference and I can usually price it from that.
Got a tree in Bear Creek you’re not sure about?
Text me a photo and the measurement round the trunk. I’ll tell you which side of the line it’s on and what it takes to get it done.
Same-day callback on estimates
Call or text before 5pm on a weekday and you'll hear back from me the same day. Not an answering service — me.