Tree removal permit rules in Adams County, CO — sometimes called heritage tree, protected tree, or street tree ordinances — list which trees require a permit before you can cut them down.
Adams County does not require a general permit to remove a healthy tree from your own private, unincorporated residential lot. The county's tree rules apply to development sites, landscape/buffer plantings, and trees in the public right-of-way, not to routine homeowner tree removal.
In unincorporated Adams County there is no countywide heritage-tree or removal-permit ordinance for private residential trees. The Development Standards require new development to preserve existing valuable vegetation where feasible and to install and maintain required landscaping, so trees planted to meet a landscape, bufferyard, or right-of-way requirement generally may not be removed without replacement or county approval. Trees in a public right-of-way are county-controlled. If your parcel is inside Commerce City, Thornton, Brighton, Northglenn, or another city, that city's tree code applies and some do require removal permits.
Removing development-required landscaping or right-of-way trees without approval can require replacement and trigger a land-use code violation and abatement.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Adams County, CO
Neglecting, abandoning or mistreating animals is unlawful in Adams County under its Animal Control Code and Colorado's cruelty statute. Officers may impound ...
Adams County, CO
Intentionally feeding big-game wildlife (deer, elk, pronghorn, mountain lions, bears and others) is illegal statewide in Colorado, carrying a $100 fine. Adam...
Adams County, CO
Adams County parks, trails, and open spaces are open 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., except for authorized and permitted events. Overnight camping is prohibited anywhere ...
Adams County, CO
Exterior lighting in unincorporated Adams County must be arranged and positioned so no direct light or reflection creates a nuisance or hazard on any adjacen...
Adams County, CO
Adams County has no formal dark-sky ordinance, but its operational standards require exterior lighting to be shielded, low-level, indirect and diffused, and ...
Adams County, CO
Garage-sale signs fall under Adams County's content-neutral temporary sign rule: up to 32 sq ft, on private property, for no more than 14 consecutive days (t...
See how Adams County's tree removal & heritage trees rules stack up against other locations.
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