Lehigh County, PA Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)
Tree removal permit rules in Lehigh County, PA, sometimes called heritage tree, protected tree, or street tree ordinances, list which trees require a permit before you can cut them down.
Key Facts
- Trigger for replacement
- tree over 8 inches in caliper removed
- Replacement size
- 3.5 inch minimum caliper
- Replacement source
- county recommended plant list
- Dead/diseased trees
- must be promptly removed, § 492.425
- Applies only in
- municipalities without own SALDO
Summary
Lehigh County's Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance requires subdivisions and land developments on covered sites to be laid out to preserve healthy trees, and any tree over eight inches in caliper that is removed must be replaced with a tree at least three and a half inches in caliper from the county's recommended plant list.
492.42 Existing Vegetation ... 492.422 All subdivisions and land developments shall be laid out in such manner as to preserve the healthy trees on the site. If trees greater than eight (8) inch in caliper are removed, they shall be replaced by trees of three and one-half (3½) inch minimum caliper which appear on the recommended plant list.
Full Breakdown
42, Existing Vegetation, opens with a design mandate: all subdivisions and land developments shall be laid out to preserve the healthy trees on the site. 422 then sets the operative removal-and-replacement standard: if a tree greater than eight inches in caliper is removed, it must be replaced with a tree at least three and one-half inches in minimum caliper drawn from the ordinance's recommended plant list. 4231, capped at one-third of the dripline area if an equivalent share of canopy is removed by a trained arborist through pruning.
4232. 425 requires that diseased or dead trees be promptly removed from the site, which is a removal mandate rather than a restriction. 1 confines the county SALDO to municipalities that have not adopted one, and most local zoning and shade tree ordinances, not this county chapter, control tree removal and permitting on private property in the rest of the county.
Violations & Fines
Failing to replace a removed tree under Section 492.422, or damaging a protected tree's dripline in violation of Section 492.423, is enforced through Section 621's general penalty: a fine of up to $500 per day per violation plus court costs and County legal expenses, with five days after written notice from the LVPC or Lehigh County Solicitor to begin correction and thirty days to complete it, after which each additional day counts as a new offense.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to replace a tree I remove during a Lehigh County subdivision project?
Are trees protected during construction under this ordinance?
Does Lehigh County's tree rule apply on my property in Allentown or another township?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Lehigh County
Compare Lehigh County to another location·View the Pennsylvania landscaping rules overview
See something wrong?
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.