Do you need a permit?
No permit required for most private trees
Charleston regulates public trees, not the one in your yard. The permit clause at Section 50-176(a) reaches only a "public tree," and Section 50-173(8) defines that term to mean trees "growing on any street or any public right-of-way or on any other public property." Nothing in the article reaches a tree behind your own lot line. The rule you actually have to satisfy is on the contractor side: Section 18-1163 makes it unlawful to engage in the business of tree service in Charleston without a 20 dollar annual permit from the city collector, so ask whoever you hire to show you their permit identification card.
Size threshold
None for private trees. The article does define what counts as a tree at Section 50-173(11): "Any self-supporting woody plant which has a well defined stem with a diameter of at least two inches at four and one-half feet from the ground," plus "Any ornamental woody plant as designated by the city arborist" and "Any small seedling or sapling planted or protected specifically to become a large tree." Note the measurement convention - two inches diameter at four and one-half feet, which is standard DBH. That definition governs the public tree permit, not private property.
What's protected in Charleston
- Public trees, meaning the street tree and anything on city land. Section 50-176(a): "Except as provided in section 50-186, no person shall commence or proceed with any operation involving a public tree without first obtaining a public tree work permit from the city. Activities covered by this section include, but are not limited to, planting, fertilizing, spraying, protecting, pruning, removing, cutting above ground, cutting below ground, or otherwise disturbing a public tree." Section 50-173(8) defines public trees as "all shade and ornamental trees now or hereafter growing on any street or any public right-of-way or on any other public property," and Section 50-173(5) defines street as running "from property line to property line" - so the strip in front of your house is city ground.
- Public trees again, under a separate criminal section. Section 50-181: "Unless specifically authorized by the city, no person shall damage, cut, carve, transplant or remove any public tree; attach any rope, wire, nails, advertising posters or other contrivance to any public tree, allow any gaseous liquid or solid substance which is harmful to such trees to come in contact with them; or set fire or permit any fire to burn when such fire or heat hereof will injure any portion of said tree."
- Hazardous or neglected trees anywhere in the city, public or private, as a nuisance. Section 50-33(a)(3) declares a nuisance "All trees and other appendages of or to realty kept or maintained, or which are permitted by any person owning or having control to be kept or maintained, in a condition unsafe, dangerous, unhealthy, injurious or annoying to the public." That is a duty to cut, not a restriction on cutting.
How to apply in Charleston
- 1
For a tree entirely on your own property there is nothing to apply for.
- 2
For a tree in the street right-of-way, a park, or on any other city ground, Section 50-176(d): apply at the office of the director of public grounds "not less than 48 hours in advance of the time the work is to be done." Call (304) 348-6458.
- 3
Section 50-176(b): the application is made by the abutting property owner or the owner's agent, on the form the city prescribes. "All work shall be done at the property owner's expense, and the property owner shall be liable for personal injury or property damage caused by such work," and must hold the city harmless.
- 4
Section 50-177 sets the content. For planting, state the number of trees, "the location, grade, size, species, cultivar or variety of each tree, the method of planting." For maintenance, state the number and kinds of trees to be sprayed, fertilized or pruned and the composition of any spray material.
- 5
Section 50-178(b) is the catch on removal: "Except as provided in a permit, no person or property owner shall remove a public tree for the purpose of construction, or for any other reason, without replacing the removed tree or trees," at the owner's cost, to the size, species and placement standards in the permit.
- 6
Notify the director of public grounds within five days of completing the work so it can be inspected.
- 7
If denied, Section 50-176(f) lets you appeal in writing to the Charleston Municipal Beautification Commission, which reviews at its next scheduled meeting.
- 8
If you are hiring anyone, confirm they hold the annual tree service permit. Section 18-1164 requires the permit identification card to be "carried by the person engaging in such tree service within the city" and presented to any official on request.
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Fee
- There is no private-property tree permit and therefore no fee. The contractor permit is 20 dollars a year - Section 18-1163: "No person shall engage in the business of tree service without having first secured an annual permit from the city collector. The fee for such annual permit shall be $20.00." The code sets no dollar fee for the Section 50-176 public tree work permit.
- Penalties
- Section 50-183(a): "Any person, firm or corporation violating or failing to comply with any of the provisions of this article V, chapter 50, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine in the sum of not more than $500.00, or imprisoned for not more than thirty days, or by both fine and imprisonment. In addition to criminal penalties, the city may seek restitution for any destroyed or damaged tree." Subsection (b) adds injunctive relief, "because of the uniqueness of each public tree and the irreparable harm to the public health and general welfare which may be caused by the destruction or damage to a public tree." On the contractor side, Section 18-1162 revokes the tree service permit of anyone convicted of a misdemeanor under that article.
- Ordinance
- Charleston Code of Ordinances chapter 50 (Environment), Article V - Trees, Sections 50-171 through 50-186, adopted by Bill No. 6974 on June 2, 2003 (codifying Sections 28-45 through 28-60 of the prior code). Section 50-172, the purpose section, was amended by Bill No. 7991 on December 18, 2023. The tree service business permit is chapter 18 (Businesses), Article XXIII - Tree Services, Sections 18-1161 through 18-1165, adopted by Bill No. 7571 on April 15, 2013, with the 20 dollar fee set by Bill No. 7576 on May 20, 2013. Zoning is not in the Municode code at all - Chapter 91 Section 91-1 adopts by reference a separate document, the "Zoning Ordinance of the City of Charleston, West Virginia, as passed by Ordinance No. 7167, November 21, 2005," kept on file in the Planning Department and City Clerk's Office. Code current through Bill No. 8069, enacted March 16, 2026 (Supp. No. 56).
Worth knowing
- The contractor permit is the practical answer to "what do I need before I call someone." It costs the company 20 dollars a year, it is issued by the City Collector rather than by any tree office, and Section 18-1161 defines tree service broadly as "cutting, trimming, topping, removal, pruning, land clearing, brush snipping and shrub trimming."
- Cleanup is legally the tree service's job, on a five-day clock. Section 18-1165: "It shall be the responsibility of the person engaging in the business of tree service to remove and dispose of any and all material resulting from such tree service within a reasonable time period not exceeding five days."
- No permit is needed for storm work on a public tree. Section 50-182(a): "No permit shall be required to remove any public tree or part thereof which by reason of damage by fire, windstorm, ice storm or other calamity poses a threat to the public health and safety or which obstructs any public way, or has contributed to loss of utility service."
- You may not pave or pile material over a public tree's roots. Section 50-180 bars depositing "any stone, brick, sand, concrete or other materials which may impede the free passage of water, air and fertilizer to the roots of any tree growing therein" on public property without written permit.
- The tree board is not a standalone body. Section 50-174(a): "There is hereby created a tree board consisting of the members of the Municipal Beautification Commission of the City of Charleston." Section 50-173(14) adds a "consulting horticulturist" under contract with the city on an hourly basis.
- The definition of "remove" at Section 50-173(10) has a three-year tail: "the cutting down or damaging, whether by deliberate or negligent act or any act which causes the tree to die within three years." That matters if you damage a public tree's roots during a driveway or foundation job.
- Public utilities are exempt from the permit and file an annual plan instead. Section 50-186(b) requires a utility maintaining rights-of-way to "provide to the city arborist a general description of such plan or plans" each year, conforming to ANSI tree care standards.
- Charleston cites its general nuisance authority, not a special tree statute. The chapter carries a state law reference to W. Va. Code Sections 8-12-5(13) and (22), the general municipal nuisance powers, and Section 20-1-1 et seq. on natural resources.
What we could not confirm
We would rather tell you what we don't know than guess. Call the office below to confirm these before you cut.
- — Whether the Charleston Zoning Ordinance, which is a separate document adopted by reference under Section 91-1 and kept on file at City Hall rather than published in the code, contains any tree preservation, landscaping or steep-slope provision that would reach a private lot. That document was not read for this entry. Charleston sits in a river valley with steep hillsides, so ask the Planning Department before clearing a hillside lot.
- — Whether the city charges any administrative fee for the Section 50-176 public tree work permit. The code sets none and the city publishes no fee schedule entry for it.
- — The application form for a public tree work permit. Section 50-176(b) refers to "the form prescribed by the city"; no copy was found online.
- — The name of the current director of public grounds acting as city arborist. The Public Works page names Timothy Hartwell as Deputy Director over Public Grounds but does not use the title city arborist.
- — Whether the Urban Tree Specifications and Standards of Practice contemplated by Section 50-173(13) have actually been adopted by city council. No copy was found on charlestonwv.gov.
- — Whether Charleston has a historic district review that reaches tree removal. Charleston has locally recognized historic districts, but no Certificate of Appropriateness requirement touching trees was located in the code.
- — Whether the tree service permit list is published, so a homeowner could check a company before hiring. No list was found.
Sources
- Charleston Code ch. 50, Art. V - Trees (Municode)
- Charleston Code ch. 18, Art. XXIII - Tree Services (Municode)
- Charleston Code ch. 50, Art. II - Nuisances, Sec. 50-33 (Municode)
- Charleston Code ch. 91 - Zoning, Sec. 91-1 (adoption by reference) (Municode)
- City of Charleston - Public Works and Public Grounds Division
- City of Charleston - City Departments directory (phones and addresses)