Brookhaven, NY Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

Chapter 70, Tree Preservation, adopted in 1987, puts the Planning Board in charge of tree-removal permits under § 70-5. Section 70-3A requires a permit before anyone destroys, removes or otherwise kills a tree on any size commercial or industrial parcel or on a residential parcel larger than two acres; contiguous commonly owned parcels are merged for that two-acre calculation, and no removal permit can issue before a building permit is issued. Section 70-3B layers on two absolute prohibitions tied to state wildlife protection: no tree may be removed from a parcel under 10 acres between March 1 and November 30 if the parcel sits within five miles of a New York State DEC-designated occupied habitat of the Northern Long-eared Bat, and no tree may be removed from a parcel over 10 acres at all without the DEC's express written permission.

Applicants apply to the Planning Board under § 70-6 with a sketch showing wooded areas and site improvements; the Board weighs tree size and condition, disease and hazard potential, proximity to structures, project necessity and environmental effect, with input from the Division of Environmental Protection, and can waive parking-space requirements under § 70-7 if preserving trees cuts into required parking. Exemptions in § 70-4 cover surveying and soil-boring clearing under a Commissioner-approved plan, utility trimming to repair existing service, and property already covered by a pre-1987 subdivision or site plan approval.

Inspectors who find work proceeding illegally, or in a bat-habitat window, or on a large parcel without DEC permission, can issue a stop-work order under § 70-9 that halts all activity until rescinded.