Oyster Bay, NY Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

Town Code Chapter 225 makes it unlawful to remove a regulated tree (a living woody plant with an erect trunk and a DBH of 8 or more inches) without a permit from the Department of Parks, the designated approval authority under § 225-3. Three activities are exempt by right under § 225-4: removing a dead, diseased or severely damaged tree as determined by the Parks Commissioner; emergency removal to protect life or property; and forest-management work on land enrolled under RPTL § 480-a. Applicants file under § 225-5 with the owner's name, tax map designation, a description of the proposed removal, a site plan showing every tree to be cut and preserved, and a mitigation/replanting plan; the application fee is $5 per inch of cumulative DBH removed, not more than $75 per tree and not less than $50 total, and can be waived or reduced for three or fewer trees at the Commissioner's discretion.

Filings are due at least 10 workdays before the planned removal date. Under § 225-6 the approval authority weighs the tree's species (checking the New York State Rare Plant List), condition, necessity of removal, alternatives, drainage and erosion impacts, and can condition a permit on replanting an equivalent species, posting a bond, and following the recommended shade-tree list for street and parking-lot plantings. Permits run six months and can be renewed for a $150 fee filed at least 20 workdays before expiration; the Commissioner can suspend or revoke a permit by stop-work order for noncompliance, and the approved permit must be posted along the street frontage until the work is finished and signed off by the Department of Parks under § 225-11.