Tree removal in Lynnwood, Washington

Permit rules for removing a tree in Lynnwood

Lynnwood’s code is blunt: LMC 17.15.100 makes it unlawful to remove a tree without a permit unless an exemption applies. A significant tree is 6 inches DBH or larger under 17.15.080, but five species never count, whatever their size: black locust, cottonwood, native alder, native willow and Lombardy poplar. If your problem tree is one of those, the permit question mostly goes away.

Exemptions in 17.15.150 cover dead or diseased trees (unless the decline came from neglect), trees posing a danger to life or property, and utility hazards. The city may ask for an arborist report to support a request.

Development & Business Services issues the permit, with Public Works administering the guidelines. No fee is published, and city guidelines say many single-family permits carry no cost.

What tree removal costs in Lynnwood

The modeled range below uses crew-hours priced against the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue labor index, where BLS puts the tree trimmer and pruner mean wage at $33.85 an hour. It is a wage index, not a price; see the methodology.

In Lynnwood the permit itself is often free, so the extra cost to plan for is the arborist report when the city asks for one. Ice-damaged trees with hanging limbs take slower, more careful rigging, which moves a job toward the higher rows.

Modeled estimate, not quotes (method): crew-hours × $210 per crew-hour; ×1.25 within 10 ft of a structure, ×1.3 with no truck access; a crane day adds $1,500–$3,500; stump grinding is separate.

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, SOC 37-3013. Checked 2026-10-02.

Storm records for Snohomish County

February 2025 is the recent reference point: six winter-weather reports in a single episode, the largest in Snohomish County’s NOAA record. Over the full record since 2016 the county has 139 reports and ranks 15 of 39 in Washington, with heavy snow at 68, high wind at 26 and winter weather at 18.

Winter dominates: 82% of reports land between November and February, peaking in February, December and January. Activity has eased from 54 reports in the earlier three-year window to 33 in the latest.

NWS forecast zones covering the county: Cascades of Snohomish and Northern King Counties; Downtown Everett / Marysville Area; Foothills and Valleys of Snohomish and Northern King Counties; Foothills and Valleys of the North Cascades; Lowlands of Western Skagit and Northwestern Snohomish Counties; Shoreline / Lynnwood / South Everett Area.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 2016 to June 2026 · NWS zone-county correlation files (2019 to 2026 versions). Checked 2026-10-02. NOAA Storm Events 2016-2026; zone-based events assigned to every county the NWS zone covers using the zone-county correlation file in force on the event date (2019-04-02 file used for 2016-2018).

How removals are done here

Ice is the hazard to watch. FEMA’s National Risk Index scores Snohomish County 98.0 for ice, Very High, and 94.0 for winter weather, while wind sits at 7.8. A conifer with a snapped top or a broad-leaf tree with split limbs after a freeze is the typical removal, and broken hangers make the climb slower.

Snohomish County PUD maintains its primary lines but not the vegetation around service lines, and any work within 10 feet of a primary conductor must be done by a qualified electrical worker. Read removal near power lines before booking; the PUD outage line is 425-783-1001.

• Crane removal
• Dead tree removal
• Large tree removal
• Near power lines

What to do next

Identify the species first. If it is a black locust, cottonwood, native alder or willow, or a Lombardy poplar, Lynnwood does not treat it as significant. Otherwise measure at 4.5 feet; 6 inches or more means a permit or an exemption under 17.15.150. A tree risk assessment doubles as the arborist report the city may want.

Check contractors in the Washington license lookup. The Snohomish County page has the storm detail, and neighboring Shoreline, 5 miles away, uses a different permit structure.

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