Kauai County, HI Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

Kaua'i County Code Article 5 (Chapter 22, Sections 22-5.1 through 22-5.9) does not regulate ordinary tree removal islandwide; it only protects the specific historic and rare trees the County Council has placed on its "exceptional trees" list, currently two dozen individually described specimens such as the Tropical Almond near Ahukini Road and the Kamani trees at Hanalei's Waioli Mission House, each tied to a tax map key parcel. Section 22-5.6 gives the County Planning Department and the Public Works Building Division police power to cite violations, and Section 22-5.7 makes it unlawful to damage, remove or otherwise destroy a designated exceptional tree without the County Council's approval, with a penalty of up to $1,000 or 90 days imprisonment, or both, per offense.

Normal maintenance, such as trimming, pruning or shaping branches or roots by the owner, is not "damage" or "destruction" under the Article, and trees that are part of a larger designated grove may be removed with the Planning Department's approval alone rather than a full Council vote. Anyone wanting to challenge or add a tree to the list works through the five-member County Arborist Advisory Committee, and the Council may also strip a tree's protection if the designation amounts to a total denial of the owner's reasonable economic use of the property.

A threatened violation can be halted through an injunction in Circuit Court, and a property owner aggrieved by a Council decision has 30 days to appeal to the Circuit Court.