Gaithersburg, MD Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

City Code § 21-10 makes it unlawful to remove, relocate or top any tree on private property within Gaithersburg without a permit issued by the city manager. Before that permit issues, the property owner must first satisfy Chapter 22, Trees and Forest Conservation, if that chapter applies to the property (typically triggered by subdivision, site plan or sediment-control review on tracts of 20,000 square feet or more). Two narrow carve-outs exist: commercial nursery stock in transplant or maintenance, and any tree with a caliper of two inches or less measured four inches above grade, need no permit; nor does routine safety-clearance trimming performed by a utility company.

The companion sections in Chapter 21 add related duties: Section 21-11 requires owners to keep trees, shrubs and plants trimmed back from streetlights, traffic signs, signals and intersection sightlines, and Section 21-12 lets the city manager order removal of a hazard tree on private land at the owner's expense, with unpaid costs collectable as a property-tax lien. The permit requirement is separate from, and narrower than, the development-triggered forest conservation and specimen-tree retention rules in Chapter 22, which can require a forest conservation plan and financial security before a comparable removal is approved for a larger project.