Marion, Texas · Guadalupe County
Tree removal in Marion
Small farming town between Seguin and Cibolo.
No permit needed — Marion doesn't regulate tree removal on an existing home.
About 42 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 Marion actually regulates
Rural work: fenceline mesquite, old yard pecans, and the occasional storm cleanup. Haul-away's included, which out here usually matters more than the cutting does.
Under the threshold
Not regulated
No permit needed — Marion doesn't regulate tree removal on an existing home.
Marion publishes its complete ordinance list on the city's own site, and none of it puts a permit on cutting down a tree. The zoning ordinance's landscaping section (adopted 2010) sets planting and screening rules for new commercial and multi-family projects, not for removals on a lot that's already built, and the subdivision ordinance says in plain words that tree care, maintenance and removing storm-damaged trees don't count as development. 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
Lawn and yard care, including mowing of tall weeds and grass, gardening, tree care and maintenance, removal of trees or other vegetation damaged by natural forces, and ranching and farming shall not constitute development.
Source: City of Marion, TX — Subdivision Ordinance 1-2018 and Zoning Ordinance 03-2010, from the city's published ordinance list. This is a reading of the code, not legal advice and not the city’s own determination. Ordinances change.
Everything else the Marion code attaches
- If it's not construction-related
- Nothing to file with the city for a straight removal on an existing home. New commercial and multi-family construction has landscaping requirements under the zoning ordinance, but those attach to site-plan approval, not to taking a tree down on a built lot.
- How it's measured
- Not applicable — no removal ordinance exists to measure against.
- What's exempt
- Subdivision Ordinance 1-2018, Section 1 (definition of Development): lawn and yard care, tree care and maintenance, and removal of trees or other vegetation damaged by natural forces do not constitute development.
- Who to call
- City of Marion — no tree-removal or tree-preservation ordinance on the books
Check your own tree against Marion’s rule
Permit checker
Measure it, then check it
Pick Marion, 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 Marion
Open farm country, easy equipment access, forty-two minutes from Kyle. Haul-away is included, which out here usually matters more than the cutting does. Rural Guadalupe County between Seguin and Cibolo, forty-two minutes out, with open ground and easy equipment access on most properties. Haul-away being included matters more out here than the cutting does, because otherwise you're left with a pile nobody wants. Forty-two minutes out. Open rural properties, easy equipment access, and it pairs naturally with Schertz, Cibolo or Seguin work on the same run.
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
Small farming town between Seguin and Cibolo, so it's rural work: fenceline mesquite and cedar elm, old yard pecans, and storm cleanup. The yard pecans here are the same story as Seguin's, generally untended and generally worth saving. Old farmstead pecans are the trees worth talking about here — planted decades ago beside houses, never structurally pruned, now carrying long horizontal limbs with real weight on the ends. Deadwood out and end-weight reduced keeps them going a long time. Beyond that it's fenceline mesquite and cedar elm. One more thing worth knowing about old farmstead pecans: the biggest limbs often have a distinct downward sweep and then turn up at the end. That shape concentrates load exactly where the tree is weakest. Shortening those tips back to a sound lateral branch takes the leverage off without changing the look of the tree from the ground.
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 Marion.
Questions I get asked
Do I need a permit to remove a tree in Marion?
It depends on the trunk size. Lawn and yard care, including mowing of tall weeds and grass, gardening, tree care and maintenance, removal of trees or other vegetation damaged by natural forces, and ranching and farming shall not constitute development. That is City of Marion, TX — Subdivision Ordinance 1-2018 and Zoning Ordinance 03-2010, from the city's published ordinance list, and it is quoted in full further down this page.
How do I measure my tree for Marion'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. Marion 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 Marion?
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 Marion 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.