Plymouth County issues no tree-removal permits and has no authority to. Permits are required only for public shade trees, granted by each town's tree warden after a public hearing, under MGL c.87 §3.
There is no county tree-removal permit anywhere in Plymouth County, because Massachusetts counties hold no ordinance power. The permit that does exist is a state-mandated one for public shade trees, meaning any tree within a public way or on its boundary. Under MGL chapter 87, section 3, cutting down such a tree requires a written permit from the town tree warden and a duly posted public hearing where residents may object. Every town, from Hanover and Pembroke to Wareham and Plymouth, appoints a tree warden who administers this process. Private-property trees need no permit unless a specific local bylaw or a wetlands resource-area regulation applies to the parcel.
Removing a public shade tree without the tree warden's permit and hearing is punishable by forfeiture of up to five hundred dollars to the town under MGL c.87 §6, plus liability for the tree's appraised value.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Plymouth County, MA
No Plymouth County or state law limits holiday lights, inflatables, or yard displays. Towns rarely regulate seasonal decorations at all, and where a bylaw to...
Plymouth County, MA
No Plymouth County rule governs garage-sale signs; towns handle them through local sign bylaws. On your own lawn a yard-sale sign is generally fine, but a si...
Plymouth County, MA
Towns, not Plymouth County, regulate signs, through zoning bylaws authorized by MGL c.40A. Those bylaws must stay content-neutral: after Reed v. Town of Gilb...
Plymouth County, MA
Rental registration and inspection are local powers, not county ones. The State Sanitary Code under MGL c.111 §127A lets each town's board of health enforce ...
Plymouth County, MA
Massachusetts has no statewide just-cause eviction law, and no Plymouth County town can add one. A landlord ends a tenancy at will with 30 days' written noti...
Plymouth County, MA
Rent control is illegal across every Plymouth County community. Massachusetts voters banned it in 1994 through Question 9, now codified as MGL c.40P §4: no c...
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