Greenwich, CT Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

Chapter 13, adopted by the Representative Town Meeting on June 8, 2009, governs trees, shrubs and woody vegetation on property the Town of Greenwich itself owns: street rights-of-way, parks, school campuses and other Town facilities, not trees on private residential lots. Sec. 13-9 is the operative prohibition: no one may cut, trim, prune, remove, injure or interfere with any Town-owned tree, shrub or woody vegetation, including its branches, trunk, root system or crown, without a permit from the Tree Warden, who under Sec. 13-2 is the Superintendent of the Parks and Trees Division of the Department of Parks and Recreation, exercising the powers of Connecticut General Statutes Sec.

23-59. Sec. 13-10 requires a written application and limits every permit to thirty days from issuance unless the Tree Warden notes a longer term, and all permitted work must follow the pruning standards in the Greenwich Arboricultural Specifications and Policy Manual under the Tree Warden's direction per Sec. 13-11. Sec. 13-12 lets emergency work, such as clearing a tree tangled in failed gas, water or electric lines, proceed on the Tree Warden's oral authorization at the requester's expense. Public utilities face a parallel permit duty under Sec.

13-5 before pruning or removing a Town tree near their wires or conduits. Sec. 13-13 backs the permit requirement with real money: unlawful cutting, destroying or removing a Town tree or shrub draws a fine of not more than one hundred dollars per tree plus civil liability, and the Tree Warden may separately seek treble the tree's value under Connecticut General Statutes Sec. 52-560, or the encroachment remedies of Sec. 52-560a.