Do you need a permit?
It depends on the tree
East Honolulu (Hawaiʻi Kai, ʻĀina Haina, Niu Valley, Kuliʻouʻou) has no government of its own — it is part of the City and County of Honolulu, so the island-wide rules apply. Two categories are tightly controlled: a tree on the City's Register of Exceptional Trees cannot be removed at all without City Council approval, and the tree in the planting strip between your sidewalk and the curb is a City street tree that needs a Parks and Recreation permit before anyone prunes or removes it. For an ordinary, undesignated tree inside your own yard, the City has not published a clear blanket rule, so confirm your specific tree with the Division of Urban Forestry before you cut.
What's protected in East Honolulu
- Trees on the City and County of Honolulu Register of Exceptional Trees (individually designated by the City Council under ROH Chapter 40, Article 8)
- Street trees — any tree in the "planting strip" between the curb or pavement and your property line, including setback area the City acquired for road widening
How to apply in East Honolulu
- 1
Check whether your tree is on the Register of Exceptional Trees, which is published with ROH Chapter 40, Article 8.
- 2
If you only need to prune it, complete the Application for Exceptional Tree Crown and/or Root Pruning.
- 3
Have a qualified arborist complete the Qualified Arborist Application Form.
- 4
Email signed copies to duf@honolulu.gov, or mail them to the Arborist Advisory Committee at 3902 Pākī Avenue, Honolulu, HI 96815.
- 5
Removal is a different and much harder track: ROH § 40-8.8(a) requires approval from the City Council, not just a department permit.
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Penalties
- Removing or destroying a designated exceptional tree without City Council approval: fine of not more than $1,000 (ROH § 40-8.8(a)). Violating the street tree rules — including pruning, spraying, or removing a planting-strip tree without a permit, or injuring one — is punishable on conviction by a fine not exceeding $500, imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both.
- Ordinance
- Revised Ordinances of Honolulu, Chapter 40, Article 8 — Protective Regulations for Exceptional Trees; Department of Parks and Recreation "Rules and Regulations Relative to Planting and Maintenance of Street Trees"
Worth knowing
- The exceptional-tree ordinance has no diameter or height trigger. Protection comes from individual designation by the City Council, not from a tree's size, so a very large tree may be unregulated while a small rare one is protected.
- ROH § 40-8.8(b) separately makes it unlawful to alter the characteristic shape of an exceptional tree or remove any branch without a permit from the Department of Parks and Recreation. Pruning counts.
- The removal prohibition in § 40-8.8(a) is written "except as provided in § 40-8.9," which is the article's emergency-situation section.
- The City's own guidance is blunt about the difference: "If the tree is on your private property, then you can prune the tree… If the tree is a City tree, you may not prune the tree." Report City tree problems to the Division of Urban Forestry or through Honolulu 311 instead of hiring someone to cut.
- Hawaiʻi state law (HRS § 235-19) allows an individual income tax deduction of up to $3,000 per exceptional tree for money spent maintaining it, claimable in only one year out of every three consecutive years, and capped at what a certified arborist deems reasonably necessary.
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 a permit is required to remove an ordinary, non-designated tree on private property. Several commercial sites state a diameter exemption; no City and County of Honolulu source confirms one, so we are not repeating it.
- — Any permit fee. The City does not publish a fee for exceptional-tree pruning permits or street tree permits.
- — Whether any specific tree in East Honolulu is on the Register of Exceptional Trees. Call the Division of Urban Forestry with your address.
Sources
- City and County of Honolulu — Exceptional Tree Program, Division of Urban Forestry
- Revised Ordinances of Honolulu § 40-8.8 (Regulations) — official code library
- City and County of Honolulu DPR — Rules and Regulations Relative to Planting and Maintenance of Street Trees (PDF)
- City and County of Honolulu — Division of Urban Forestry, Horticulture Services
- Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes § 235-19 — Exceptional trees; tax deduction