Kitsap County, WA Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

030 governs installation and maintenance of that landscaping, including vegetation set aside in recorded Native Growth Protection Easements (NGPEs), landscaping strips developments must retain in a natural or planted state under the county's zoning code. Subsection F requires a site assessment permit before any vegetation is removed from an NGPE. Where removal is authorized, naturalized species may only be cleared by hand; no machinery is allowed except hand-held tools that will not disturb native vegetation or soil, and any other removal must be an activity expressly allowed as a condition of the original approval.

Subsection G separately addresses danger trees inside these easements: a site assessment permit is again required before removal, the county's Department of Community Development (DCD) must give written authorization before a tree comes down, and every removed tree must be replaced at a 3:1 ratio (three new trees planted for each one removed) unless the county specifies a different ratio in writing. This is a development-landscaping rule, not a permit system for cutting a tree in an ordinary residential yard outside a recorded easement; it attaches to properties where an NGPE was created as a condition of subdivision, site plan, or other development approval under Title 17.

130(B), lets DCD approve danger-tree removal inside critical areas or their buffers under the Critical Areas Ordinance, with required consultation with a certified arborist or professional forester and replanting coordinated with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife where habitat is affected. These county rules bind only the unincorporated area; Bremerton, Port Orchard, Poulsbo and Bainbridge Island enforce their own tree codes.