Do you need a permit?
It depends on the tree
Derry has no tree chapter and no tree removal permit - the word "tree" appears in the town code mainly in landscaping and buffer standards for commercial development. For a tree in an ordinary Derry yard there is nothing to apply for. The exception is the Wetlands Conservation Overlay District in Article X of the zoning ordinance: inside a prime wetland buffer, "Forestry and tree farming within the buffer zone" is a conditional use needing Conservation Commission review and Planning Board approval, and no special exception granted there may "disturb the 75 feet of the prime wetlands buffer zone nearest the prime wetland."
Size threshold
None. Derry sets no diameter or circumference threshold for tree removal anywhere in its code or zoning ordinance.
What's protected in Derry
- Prime wetlands and their buffer zones, under Zoning Article X, Wetlands Conservation Overlay District. Section 165-80A(2)(a) makes "Forestry and tree farming within the buffer zone, using best management practices in order to protect prime wetlands from damage, to prevent sedimentation, and to prevent destruction of wildlife habitats" a conditional use, "provided that any forestry and/or tree farming activities shall first be reviewed and approved by the Conservation Commission. Final approval shall be given by the Planning Board."
- The innermost 75 feet of a prime wetlands buffer. Section 165-80A(4)(a)[7]: "Any special exception granted shall not disturb the 75 feet of the prime wetlands buffer zone nearest the prime wetland."
- Existing vegetative buffers on commercial and industrial sites. Section 165-23D lets the Planning Board "require the maintenance of the existing vegetative buffer in lieu of cutting it down to accommodate new plantings." This applies in industrial districts and the Office/Research and Development District where they abut residential, not to a house lot.
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Penalties
- No tree-specific penalty. Work in the overlay district without the required conditional use permit or special exception is a zoning violation enforced under RSA 676. RSA 231:156 covers a public shade tree.
- Ordinance
- Code of the Town of Derry, New Hampshire, Chapter 165 (Zoning), Article X (Wetlands Conservation Overlay District), Sections 165-75 through 165-80; Article IX establishes a separate Conservation Corridor Overlay District. Section 165-79E dates the article by reference to dwellings that "lawfully existed prior to February 4, 1988." Section 165-23 (Buffer zones) was amended 11-1-2005. Code includes legislation through 11-20-2025.
Worth knowing
- There is a real cost attached to being in the overlay district even before any permit issues. Section 165-79A lets the Planning Board require an environmental impact assessment "when necessary to evaluate an application made under this article. The cost of this assessment shall be borne by the applicant." Section 165-79B lets the Zoning Board of Adjustment hire its own consultants, also at the applicant's expense.
- Existing houses get a carve-out for building, not for cutting. Section 165-79E permits additions and extensions to one- and two-family dwellings inside the Wetlands Conservation Overlay District if the dwelling "lawfully existed prior to February 4, 1988."
- Dredging and filling in a prime wetland are flatly out. Section 165-80A(3): "No dredging or filling shall be permitted in the prime wetlands."
- Derry licenses no tree services. The only licensing chapter that mentions trees at all is Chapter 135, and that chapter is about newspaper vending machines.
- If you are clearing rather than removing a tree, file the RSA 79:10 Notice of Intent to Cut with the Derry assessing officials before the operation starts.
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 Derry has an appointed tree warden under RSA 231:139, and whether the Public Works Director holds that role. Nothing in the code creates the office.
- — Whether the tree in the strip between your sidewalk and the road is a Town tree. Derry's Streets and Sidewalks chapter has no tree section, so the RSA 231:140 test governs and it turns on whether the Town acquired the tree - which only the Town can tell you.
- — The exact boundaries of the Wetlands Conservation Overlay District and the Conservation Corridor Overlay District for a specific address. Section 165-76 sets the boundaries by map; ask Planning.
- — Whether any Derry road is designated scenic under RSA 231:157. If yours is, RSA 231:158 applies to work in the right-of-way.
- — Whether Derry falls inside the RSA 483-B protected shoreland at Beaver Lake or Island Pond. Both are over 10 acres, which would make them public waters, but we did not confirm them against the NHDES consolidated list.