Staples, Texas · Guadalupe County
Tree removal in Staples
A San Marcos River crossing so small you'll miss it, with real bottomland trees along the water.
No permit needed — Staples has never adopted a tree ordinance.
About 22 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 Staples actually regulates
Pecan and cypress on deep river soil. Close enough to Kyle that it's an easy trip, which isn't true of most of Guadalupe County.
Under the threshold
Not regulated
No permit needed — Staples has never adopted a tree ordinance.
Staples is an incorporated Guadalupe County city, but its full published ordinance list — building code, zoning, manufactured homes, solicitation — 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 City of Staples' complete published ordinance list — building code, zoning, manufactured home, and solicitation ordinances among others — contains no tree, vegetation or land-clearing ordinance.
Source: City of Staples, TX — official ordinances page. This is a reading of the code, not legal advice and not the city’s own determination. Ordinances change.
Everything else the Staples code attaches
- If it's not construction-related
- Nothing to file with the city 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
- City of Staples — no tree ordinance on the books
Check your own tree against Staples’s rule
Permit checker
Measure it, then check it
Pick Staples, 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 Staples
Easy to reach at twenty-two minutes, which isn't true of most of Guadalupe County. Riverside lots have the usual soft-ground and bank constraints. Twenty-two minutes from Kyle, which makes it one of the easier Guadalupe County trips I make, and unusual for that county. Riverbank work means soft ground and thinking about where equipment sits. Twenty-two minutes from Kyle. Soft riverside ground means thinking about where the truck sits, particularly after rain.
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
A San Marcos River crossing with real bottomland trees along the water — pecan and bald cypress on deep river soil. Small place, big trees. River-bottom pecan and bald cypress on deep San Marcos River soil, in a place small enough that most of the tree work is on a handful of properties along the water. Cypress here wants leaving alone more than most people expect — they don't need the interior thinning that gets applied to oaks. One more note on the bottomland trees along the river here: soil deposited by flooding can bury a root flare over time without anyone doing anything wrong. If the trunk goes into the ground without widening out, it's worth having a look at what's under there.
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 Staples.
Questions I get asked
Do I need a permit to remove a tree in Staples?
It depends on the trunk size. The City of Staples' complete published ordinance list — building code, zoning, manufactured home, and solicitation ordinances among others — contains no tree, vegetation or land-clearing ordinance. That is City of Staples, TX — official ordinances page, and it is quoted in full further down this page.
How do I measure my tree for Staples'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. Staples 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 Staples?
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 Staples 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.