Nassau County, NY Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)
Tree removal permit rules in Nassau County, NY, sometimes called heritage tree, protected tree, or street tree ordinances, list which trees require a permit before you can cut them down.
Key Facts
- Jurisdiction
- DPW, county roads only
- Covers
- Trees between property lines on county roads
- Abutting owner duty
- Remove tree if road-dangerous, on notice
- Non-compliance cost
- Assessed on property tax bill
- Private-property trees
- Set by town, city or village
Summary
Trees, hedges and shrubbery within the right-of-way of a Nassau County road fall under the Department of Public Works, not the property owner, and abutting owners can be ordered to remove a tree that endangers the road.
Except in cities and in villages of the first and second class all trees, hedges and shrubbery between the property lines on county roads as defined in this title and county roads constructed pursuant to article six of the highway law shall be under the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Works. The County Legislature may by ordinance regulate the planting of such trees, hedges and shrubbery, the care, pruning or removal and the destruction, alteration or degradation of the health or appearance thereof.
b. Such ordinance may also provide for the care, pruning or removal of trees, hedges and shrubbery located on property abutting such roads by the owners or occupants of such abutting property when any such tree or trees, hedges or shrubbery are dangerous to such roads or to persons or vehicles using such roads and may prohibit or otherwise regulate the destruction, alteration or degradation of the health or appearance of such trees, hedges or shrubbery. Such ordinance may provide for notice to the owners of abutting property to care for, prune or remove such dangerous tree or trees, hedges or shrubbery or to replace trees, hedges and shrubbery that have been unlawfully destroyed, altered or degraded and that upon failure so to do within a period fixed in such ordinance, that the Department of Public Works may cause such tree or trees, 377 January 1, 2026
XII Department of Public Works
Full Breakdown
Nassau County Administrative Code § 12-4.2 puts trees, hedges and shrubbery between the property lines on county roads (outside cities and first- and second-class villages) under the Department of Public Works, which the County Legislature can regulate by ordinance for planting, pruning, removal or damage. DPW can also order an abutting owner to prune or remove a tree that's dangerous to the road, and bill the cost against the property if the owner doesn't act. This covers only county roads: the three towns, the cities of Glen Cove and Long Beach, and the county's incorporated villages each set their own tree rules for private property away from a county road.
Violations & Fines
DPW can perform the pruning or removal itself after notice to the owner goes unheeded, then assess the actual cost against the abutting property and add it to the next year's county tax bill, or have the County Attorney sue to recover it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Nassau County require a permit to remove a tree in my yard?
Can the county make me remove a tree on my own property?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Nassau County
New York rules heatmap·Compare Nassau County to another location·View the New York landscaping rules overview
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