Parkway, private or ComEd: who is responsible for a tree in Hoffman Estates?

The tree between the sidewalk and the curb belongs to the Village

The grass strip that runs along the street, with a tree every so often, is the parkway. Parkway trees are owned and maintained by the Village,¹ with routine trimming every four to seven years, mostly in late fall and winter. If you planted it or if it came with the house makes no difference. Once a tree stands in the parkway, it is on the Village's list.

That is also why its decisions on that tree are the Village's to make: the pruning schedule, the species chosen when a parkway tree is replaced, and the first call about whether a limb is a problem all sit with their Forestry team.

Residents are told to leave parkway trees alone

The Village's own tree care guidance says residents should not trim parkway trees themselves² and should call Public Works about broken, hanging or storm-damaged branches. A ladder leaning against a parkway maple to clear a low limb is not a project the Village wants a resident to run.

For most parkway work, Public Works is the first call. Their Forestry Division inspects public trees for disease, decay and structural problems,³ with the Village's arborists deciding on treatment, trimming or removal, and residents can ask Public Works to look at a parkway tree they think is declining.

Everything on your side is yours to look after

The yard between the parkway and your fence is different ground. The Village maintains parkway trees only; trees on private property are the homeowner's responsibility,¹ and the Village points residents to a private contractor for removal or trimming. The oak by the back deck, the maple over the garage, the ash in the side yard: these sit with you.

That ownership covers the good parts and the hard ones. You decide when to prune, whether a split fork gets cabled, and whether the tree comes down at all. Removing a tree that is yours is your call. The code's 3-inch permit rule covers land other than developed detached single- or two-family lots under one acre and any removal in a right-of-way;⁴ for your lot, the Village's Development Services has the answer.

Sidewalk clearance falls to the homeowner too

Even when the tree in question is private, the public sidewalk is public. Homeowners must trim excessive landscape growth on their property near public sidewalks,³ and parkway tree branches blocking a sidewalk should be reported to Public Works.

Trim your private branches off the walk, and call Public Works for parkway ones. Trimming a private tree back from a sidewalk edge is a job we do.

Removing a parkway tree takes the Director of Public Works

Not every parkway tree stays forever. The Village code says no person, firm or corporation other than the Public Works Department or a Village contractor may remove a street tree without a permit from the Director of Public Works,⁴ and the request needs a written reason, approved driveway and building permits, and a Village review and site inspection. The permit holder pays for removing the tree and stump and restoring the parkway grade and turf, and a replacement charge applies by trunk size.

Those steps exist because a parkway tree is Village property. If a wider driveway or a new build makes a parkway tree a problem, the process begins with Public Works, not with a saw.

ComEd looks after its lines, with three routes for trees near them

Trees that grow into the power lines along the back of a lot have a third owner in the picture. For trees near the lines between poles on a property, ComEd lists three routes⁵ a homeowner can take: a visit from ComEd's own line clearance crew that opens space around the wires, a free investigation into whether those lines can be powered down for the work, or a qualified private contractor whose team meets the ANSI Z133.1 line clearance standard, with the owner picking up that bill.

Which route fits depends on the tree, the line and what the homeowner wants done. The Village's forestry page refers residents to ComEd's Tree Trimming Assistance program³ for trees growing near power lines, utility boxes and poles.

The wire to your meter has its own arrangement

The low wire that runs from a pole or a transformer to the meter on your house is different from the lines between poles. ComEd does not do non-emergency trimming around the service wire that runs to a customer's meter. If a homeowner or their contractor trims there, ComEd will drop or de-energize the wire at no charge⁵ and reconnect it afterward, scheduled through 1-800-334-7661. The drop lets a crew prune near the wire safely for the day of the work.

A limb on a line is ComEd's to report, never yours to move

Any branch that is already touching a power line is treated as live. ComEd tells homeowners⁵ not to climb or trim trees near those lines without precautions, says a qualified contractor is the safer path, and warns that even brief contact with a line, or a branch touching one, can severely injure or kill.

If a limb is lying on a wire or likely to fall on one, keep people, pets and cars clear. Call 911 first if anyone is hurt or if a line is down, sparking or burning. ComEd asks anyone who sees it not to touch it and to report it at 1-800-334-7661.⁶ Our crew does not touch a tree that touches a wire until the line side is handled.

Storm debris comes back to the owner

After a storm, ComEd cuts and removes trees and branches from its own equipment, but disposing of the branches, logs and other debris is the customer's responsibility;⁶ ComEd says it cannot help with debris removal. The brush left in the yard is not theirs to haul.

That is part of why a quote for storm cleanup matters. If the tree is yours, the pile is yours too, and what the Village and ComEd leave on the ground is the piece a tree crew carries off.

A neighbor's tree is worth a conversation first

This guide is not legal advice. The practical place to start when a neighbor's branches hang over your yard is a conversation, often with photos. If you want a sense of what the tree is doing before that talk, a look at a tree you share a line with is a quieter way to come to it than a letter.

Where a tree is clearly dying and the branches already drop into your yard, bringing that to your neighbor as a shared problem usually goes further than framing it as a complaint. For a question about Illinois law on overhanging branches, an attorney is the right call.

Who handles which tree in Hoffman Estates