York County does not require a permit to trim a tree on your own property; any tree-trimming rules come from your borough or township. Inside York County Parks, however, county code flatly bans cutting, trimming, or defacing any tree without written permission.
For trees on private property, York County sets no trimming permit. Tree-care and street-tree rules in Pennsylvania are handled by local governments (boroughs, cities, townships) under the Municipalities Planning Code and local shade-tree ordinances, so a permit for pruning a street tree, if any, depends on your municipality. Where the county does have a real, quotable rule is on its own land: the York County Parks and Recreation Rules and Regulations (York County Code Chapter 75) prohibit cutting, trimming, or otherwise injuring trees and shrubs in county parks. Pennsylvania common law still lets a private landowner trim a neighbor's branches back to the property line at their own expense, provided they do not harm the tree's health.
There is no county penalty for trimming a tree on your own private property. In York County Parks, damaging or trimming trees without the Director's written permission violates Chapter 75 and is prosecuted as a summary offense, punishable by fines
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York County, PA
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York County, PA
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York County, PA
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York County, PA
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York County, PA
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York County, PA
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See how York County's tree trimming rules stack up against other locations.
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