Tree removal permit rules in Prince William County, VA — sometimes called heritage tree, protected tree, or street tree ordinances — list which trees require a permit before you can cut them down.
There is no county permit to remove a healthy tree from an established residential lot. But clear-cutting or removing vegetation inside a Chesapeake Bay Resource Protection Area buffer is prohibited, and trees preserved on an approved development plan cannot be taken down without county sign-off.
For a normal, already-developed residential lot, Prince William County requires no permit to fell a private tree. The controls apply to land under development and to environmentally sensitive land. In a Resource Protection Area (land within 100 feet of a perennial stream or adjacent wetlands), clear-cutting vegetation and filling or grading are not allowed. During new development, tree cover preserved to meet the county's tree-canopy requirement, and trees inside required buffer areas, are protected and monitored through the Design and Construction Standards Manual, Section 800.
Illegally clearing an RPA buffer or removing protected site-plan trees is a Chesapeake Bay and zoning ordinance violation; the county can require restoration/replanting and assess civil penalties.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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See how Prince William County's tree removal & heritage trees rules stack up against other locations.
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