Tree removal permits in Washington

The short answer

Three layers of rules apply. First, your city code: some cities require a permit for any “significant” tree (usually 6 inches in diameter at 4.5 feet), some allow a few removals a year without one, and many have no private-tree permit. Second, critical-area regulations, which every city and county must adopt under the Growth Management Act (RCW 36.70A.060(2)). Third, street-tree rules.

If a tree is leaning toward the house, start with the hazard-tree route. A written tree risk assessment from an ISA TRAQ-qualified arborist is what Seattle, Shoreline and Redmond ask for, and what an adjuster will ask about later.

Permit rules in 40 Washington cities

Rows cover a tree on a developed residential lot outside critical areas. “Not found” means no official page or code section was located at check, not that no rule exists.

For the six cities marked not found, call the planning counter first.

Seattle: SMC 25.11 tiers, registered providers and posted notice

Seattle’s Tree Protection code (SMC Chapter 25.11, rewritten by Council Bill 120534 effective July 30, 2023, and amended again in 2026) sorts trees into four tiers by diameter at standard height (DSH). Tier 1 is heritage trees. Tier 2 is 24 inches and up, plus groves and the species in Director’s Rule 7-2024. Tier 3 is 12 to under 24 inches, Tier 4 is 6 to under 12, and trees under 6 inches are unregulated.

On a developed lot with no construction planned, the quota is two Tier 4 trees per three years in Neighborhood Residential, RSL, Lowrise, Midrise, Neighborhood Commercial, Commercial and Seattle Mixed zones, or three Tier 3–4 trees per year elsewhere. Tier 1 and 2 trees come out only as hazard trees.

For a hazard tree, SDCI’s Tip 331B requires an assessor with three years of experience and a current ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualification, using the ISA Basic Tree Risk Assessment Form. SDCI must approve before the tree comes down except in a true emergency, when you remove first and file afterward. Dead-tree removals carry no fee; hazard removals are billed at half the Land Use hourly rate, with a minimum review fee of $394 quoted in Tip 331B.

Two rules catch homeowners off guard. Since August 26, 2022, any company paid to remove a Tier 1–4 tree, or to cut live branches 4 inches and larger, must be an SDCI-registered Tree Service Provider (SMC 25.11.100), which means $1,000,000 in general liability with the City as additional insured, an ISA Certified Arborist on staff or retainer, TRAQ for hazard assessments, an L&I contractor number and a Seattle business license. The provider must also post a public notice on site at least 3 full business days before reportable work and 6 full business days before removing any tree of 6 inches DSH or more, leaving it up through the job and 5 days after.

Street trees are separate: pruning or removal in the right-of-way needs an SDOT permit under SMC 15.43, with major pruning (branches 2 inches and up) or removal by a registered provider. Illegal cutting on private land goes to Code Compliance at (206) 615-0808; penalties follow Director’s Rule 17-2018, based on the tree’s appraised value.

Spokane, Tacoma and Vancouver

Spokane. The Urban Forestry permit page states that residents do not need a permit for trees on private property. SMC 12.02.960 covers planting, major pruning and removal of street and planting-strip trees, which must be done by an ISA Certified Arborist holding the city’s Commercial Tree License.

Tacoma. No general private-tree permit was found; the city’s tip sheet says permits may be required in or near a critical area under TMC 13.11. Right-of-way trees need a Right-of-Way Tree permit, free except for “conflict trees,” which pay a Canopy Loss Fee of $130 per caliper inch less replanting credits.

Vancouver. The city’s Tree Permits page, still citing VMC 20.770 at check, says a developed single-family lot needs a Level I permit (site disturbance or building) or a Level III permit (nuisance or hazard tree), with no DBH threshold published. The published text of VMC 20.770.030 exempts developed single-family lots under one acre that cannot be subdivided, outside critical areas, so page and code disagree. Ordinance M-4533 then repealed and replaced Chapter 20.770 effective July 31, 2026; the replacement appears to be VMC 20.450 (the application form cites 20.450.035). Ask Urban Forestry (360-487-8332) which section controls; any tree with its trunk in the right-of-way needs a VMC 12.04 permit.

Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish and Shoreline

Bellevue regulates any significant tree (6 inches DBH at 4 feet) or landmark tree (24 inches). Outside a development permit you need a “Tree Removal Only” clearing and grading permit under BCC 23.76.035, and the current code has no exemption for a tree rated poor, very poor or dead. A tree that a TRAQ-qualified tree professional rates hazardous (high or extreme risk) still needs the permit, but it does not count toward the annual allowance below and needs no replacement (BCC 23.76.060.G). Each year a lot may remove without replacement 1 landmark or 2 significant trees (to 10,000 sq ft), 1 or 3 (to 20,000), or 1 or 4 (larger). Only licensed contractors may remove landmark trees.

Kirkland (KZC Chapter 95) uses two tracks. Healthy regulated trees (6 inches and up) within the allowance need only a Tree Removal Notification: 2 trees per 12 months on lots to 10,000 sq ft, 3 to 20,000, 4 above. Anything beyond that, any landmark tree (26 inches and up), any hazard claim and any critical-area tree needs a Tree Removal Permit with an arborist report: $600 plus a 3.5% surcharge, $300 for a landmark tree, and a $305 recording fee for mitigation trees. Removing a healthy tree puts a 12-month hold on new development permits (24 months for a landmark); pruning over 25% of the live canopy can count as removal.

Redmond (RZC 21.72) requires a Tree Removal Permit for any significant tree (6 inches at 4.5 feet), but a developed single-family lot may remove 2 per year (to 10,000 sq ft), 4 (to 20,000), 6 (to 30,000) or 8 (larger) without one. Landmark trees over 30 inches need a Tree Exception. A hazardous tree needs a free Hazard Tree Declaration with a certified arborist’s assessment; other applications have carried a fee since February 1, 2024.

Sammamish (SMC 21.03.060) counts conifers at 8 inches and deciduous trees at 12, and permits 2 removals per year under a quarter acre up to 10 per year over two acres. Shoreline (SMC 20.50.310) requires a permit for a significant tree (6 inches) when the removal is not part of another permit; dead or imminently hazardous trees are exempt with documentation, which the city checklist describes as a tree risk assessment form from an ISA certified arborist; removing a non-imminent hazard tree in a critical area takes a TRAQ arborist’s determination (SMC 20.80.075(G)).

Bellingham’s interim 36-inch landmark rule

Bellingham has no general private-tree permit, but an interim landmark tree ordinance has run since May 20, 2024, extended by Ordinance 2025-08-018 and again on March 9, 2026, through September 2026 or until the council amends it. Any healthy tree 36 inches DBH or larger (black cottonwood excluded), or a tree on the city’s landmark inventory, may be removed only with the Planning and Community Development Director’s approval, and only for construction or use that cannot avoid it, utility or access maintenance, or a hazard. Normal pruning is exempt. Fines run $800 to $5,000 per violation. On June 18, 2026 the Planning Commission voted not to advance a permanent ordinance and asked staff to keep extending the interim rule, so check cob.org for the current status.

Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater

The three Thurston County cities use density or count rules. Olympia (OMC 16.60) exempts developed lots of up to four units under 2 acres as long as 30 tree units per acre remain (220 in the Green Cove Basin); lots of 2 acres and up are exempt within 125 feet of buildings, and hazard trees are exempt. Otherwise a permit applies under OMC 16.60.030(A), and even an exempt removal calls for an affidavit and site plan.

Lacey (LMC 14.32) requires a land clearing permit or a city-issued exemption before removing any tree of 4 inches DBH or more; the exemption covers up to 3 trees in any 60 consecutive months if the minimum count under LMC 14.32.066 is kept. Tumwater (TMC 16.08) requires a land clearing permit except for the exemptions in TMC 16.08.080, which include up to 6 trees per parcel in 3 consecutive calendar years outside heritage and protected areas, trees within 10 feet of a dwelling or driveway on a building-permit plot plan, and dead or hazardous trees verified by the city’s tree protection professional.

Can I cut down a tree on my own property in Washington?

Usually yes, depending on the situation.

• The trunk is under 6 inches. Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Shoreline, Burien and Federal Way do not regulate it. Lacey starts at 4 inches, Bothell above 8, Lakewood at 9, and Sammamish at 8 for conifers and 12 for deciduous trees.
• The tree is dead. Most codes exempt it on paperwork: photos in Seattle, where SDCI’s Tip 242B asks for no risk assessment form or arborist report for a clearly dead tree; an ISA certified arborist’s form in Shoreline; a Hazard Tree Declaration in Redmond; a city determination in Lacey and Tumwater. Bellevue is the exception: a dead tree still needs its clearing and grading permit. See dead tree removal.
• The tree is a hazard but alive. Expect to need a written risk assessment before approval, or an after-the-fact filing in an emergency (Seattle, Issaquah and Burien allow that).
• You are within the annual allowance. Kirkland, Redmond, Bellevue, Renton, Burien, Auburn and Sammamish allow a set number of healthy removals per year by lot size; Lacey and Tumwater count over 60 months and 3 years.
• The tree is in a wetland buffer, on a steep slope or by a stream. Expect a permit in every city.
• The tree is in the planting strip. It is a street tree and needs a separate permit.
• You live outside city limits. County critical-area codes apply.

Whatever the rule, the crew you hire has to be registered with L&I, because RCW 18.27.010 counts “performing tree removal services” as contracting; see how to check a tree service license.

Critical areas and the Growth Management Act

The Growth Management Act defines five critical areas: wetlands, aquifer recharge areas used for drinking water, fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas, frequently flooded areas, and geologically hazardous areas (RCW 36.70A.030(12)). Every county and city must adopt regulations that protect them (RCW 36.70A.060(2)). That is why a city with no tree permit can still require one for a tree on a slope or beside a creek: Tacoma under TMC 13.11, Everett under EMC 19.37 (with 2-for-1 native replanting), Bremerton under BMC 20.14.190 (department approval and 3:1 native replacement for trees over 6 inches), and Marysville under MMC 22E.010.

Buffers reach well past the visible water, and “geologically hazardous area” covers many ordinary Puget Sound bluffs, so check the city or county GIS critical-areas map first.

Street trees

Cities that ignore private trees still regulate the ones between sidewalk and curb, often with sharper penalties. Kent makes cutting a tree between the property line and the curb without a written permit a misdemeanor (KCC 6.10.060(B), 6.10.080). Longview charges a $200 civil penalty plus restitution for unauthorized cutting of a street tree (LMC 12.02.100). Walla Walla requires a permit to plant, prune or remove a street tree, posts a 5-day notice before removals, and limits major work on trees of 6 inches and up to a Licensed Tree Care Specialist; violations can reach $500 per day (WWMC 12.49). Mount Vernon bans topping (MVMC 12.28.060).

Penalties

Penalties come from two directions. City codes set fines and mitigation: Renton’s violation fee runs up to $2,000 per tree, Edmonds fines $1,500 per tree under 12 inches, Bellingham’s landmark rule carries $800 to $5,000 per violation, Lakewood triples the replacement value for malicious cutting, and Seattle appraises the tree under Director’s Rule 17-2018. And if any part of the tree stood on someone else’s land or in the right-of-way, RCW 64.12.030 lets the owner, city or town recover three times the damages; see Washington neighbor tree law.

A hazard removal in a Seattle ECA with a TRAQ report takes longer than a notification in Kirkland, and the tree removal cost in Washington guide covers what the arborist report adds. Start at the Washington tree services hub for the wider picture; if a tree has already hit a structure, see emergency tree service.

Check one tree against your city’s rule: tree permit checker.