Saint Paul, MN Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

Chapter 67, Article II establishes the TP Tree Preservation Overlay District to limit tree loss on heavily wooded parcels as they develop. Under Sec. 203(a), any application for a building permit that requires removing one or more trees of 12 inches DBH or larger, plus any grading permit, fill permit, lot split, plat approval, or development needing site plan review, must include a tree preservation plan drawn to scale for the disturbance area. The plan has to be certified by a state-registered land surveyor, landscape architect, or forester and submitted to the planning administrator, and it must list every existing tree of 6 inches DBH or larger by location, diameter, and species, plus which trees will be preserved, removed, or replaced.

No grading, clearing, or site-prep work can start until the plan is approved, and no tree can actually come down until the grading or fill permit, plat, or site plan is issued. Sec. 204(b) closes the loophole for removals that aren't tied to a permit: cutting a 12-inch-DBH-or-larger tree outside those triggers is prohibited unless the tree sits on a developed lot and the owner determines it's a nuisance, hazardous, diseased, dying, or dead; the tree is being cleared from a commercial nursery, tree farm, orchard, or forest operation; or the superintendent of parks approves the removal and the applicant replaces the tree under Sec.

208. Before a preservation plan is approved, the applicant must post a bond, letter of credit, cash, or escrow deposit equal to 125 percent of the replacement trees' appraised value under Sec. 209, and that security isn't released until the superintendent of parks inspects post-construction protection. On subdivisions where the plat applicant and the building-permit applicant differ, each files a separate preservation plan and separate security.