Tree removal permit rules in Montgomery County, PA — sometimes called heritage tree, protected tree, or street tree ordinances — list which trees require a permit before you can cut them down.
Montgomery County has no countywide private-tree-removal ordinance. Removing a tree on your own land is generally allowed without a county permit. Trees in the public right-of-way (street/shade trees) are controlled by your municipality's Shade Tree Commission under the PA Shade Tree Act, which holds exclusive authority to remove them.
There is no Montgomery County permit to remove a tree on private property; removal is a municipal or purely private matter. Where a borough or township has adopted the Pennsylvania Shade Tree Act, its Shade Tree Commission has 'exclusive and absolute custody and control of, and power to plant, set out, remove, maintain, protect, and care for, shade-trees' in the public right-of-way. The Act requires public notice before a public tree is removed. Individual municipalities may also adopt tree-conservation or steep-slope/woodland ordinances under the Municipalities Planning Code that limit removal of large or specimen trees during development, so check your specific borough or township code. For a hazardous or dead tree fully on your own lot, no county approval is
No county penalty. Removing a public shade tree without commission approval, or violating a municipal tree-conservation ordinance during development, is enforced by the municipality (fines and required replacement plantings under local code).
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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See how Montgomery County's tree removal & heritage trees rules stack up against other locations.
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