Do you need a permit?
It depends on the tree
Ellicott City has no city government despite the name. It is an unincorporated community in Howard County, and Howard County does not require a permit for a homeowner to remove a tree from an ordinary residential lot. The county tree law is a development law: section 16.1202(a) reaches "any person or unit of local government developing land 40,000 square feet or greater in area," and section 16.1202(b)(1)(i) expressly exempts "Development activity on a single lot smaller than 40,000 square feet." The catch specific to Ellicott City is the historic district. Ellicott City is a local historic district, trees are part of a historic property's defined "environmental setting," and work there runs through the Historic Preservation Commission.
Size threshold
None applies to an ordinary homeowner. The only county threshold is the Forest Conservation Act trigger of 40,000 square feet of land being developed, with a further exemption at section 16.1202(b)(2)(i) for "Residential development on an existing single lot of any size" where "The total cutting, clearing or grading of forest resources is less than 20,000 square feet" and the forest is not under a previously approved forest conservation plan.
What's protected in Ellicott City
- Trees that form part of the environmental setting of a historic structure in the Ellicott City Historic District. Section 16.601(b): "Appurtenances and environmental settings mean walkways and driveways (whether paved or not), trees, waterways and rocks, and landscaping that form part of the setting for a historic structure or use on the same lot."
- Street trees between the sidewalk and the road, maintained by the Howard County Bureau of Highways Tree Division and separately governed by the Maryland Roadside Tree Law.
- Forest inside a recorded Forest Conservation Easement. Howard County publishes a Forest Conservation Easements layer on its interactive map.
- Forest on land being developed at 40,000 square feet or more.
- Trees on land under a previously approved forest conservation plan, which lose the single-lot exemption entirely.
How to apply in Ellicott City
- 1
First establish whether your property is inside the Ellicott City Historic District. The county publishes a Historic District Map and the Historic Preservation Commission staff can confirm at 410-313-2350.
- 2
Outside the historic district, on an ordinary lot, with no construction: there is nothing to apply for.
- 3
Inside the historic district, contact Historic Preservation staff at preservation@howardcountymd.gov before doing the work. Certificate of Approval applications are due 22 days before the meeting, and the Commission meets at 7:00 p.m. generally on the first Thursday of each month at 3430 Court House Drive.
- 4
Minor work may be handled administratively: the Executive Secretary can determine an item is a minor alteration, which is posted publicly for five days and, absent objection, needs no Certificate of Approval. "Notwithstanding any provision of this Code, the determination of the Executive Secretary may not be appealed."
- 5
For a street tree, use Howard County's SeeClickFix service request or call the Bureau of Highways Tree Division at 410-313-7450. Tree emergencies should be phoned in, not emailed: "Do not send emergency requests by email or via SeeClickFix, as there might be a delayed response." Off hours, call the police at 410-313-2200 for a blocked roadway.
- 6
If you are developing land of 40,000 square feet or more, file a forest conservation plan with the Department of Planning and Zoning before plan or permit approval. If you are exempt, file a declaration of intent instead.
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Fee
- There is no county fee for a homeowner tree removal because there is no permit. The Historic Preservation Commission charges nothing for its own applications and says so on its page: "There are no fees for this process or any HPC application submissions - we will never request payment from you." Demolition clearance is separately priced: "As of July 1, 2015 fees of $50 for outbuildings and $250 for principal use structures will be due in order to receive the completed clearance form."
- Penalties
- The Forest Conservation subtitle allows the Department to revoke an exemption for properties in violation and require compliance with retention and reforestation requirements, to require "a penalty fee established by fee schedules approved by resolution of the County Council per square foot of forest cut or cleared, but in no case less than the minimum set by state law," and to pursue "other enforcement actions appropriate under title 5, subtitle 16 of the Natural Resources Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland." Work in a historic district without a required Certificate of Approval is enforced under Title 16, Subtitle 6 and through the building and grading permit hold at section 16.603(d), under which the permits office "shall not issue a building permit or a grading permit for work requiring a certificate of approval unless the Commission has issued a certificate of approval."
- Ordinance
- Howard County Code, Title 16, Subtitle 12 — Forest Conservation, sections 16.1200 through 16.1220 (section 16.1202 from C.B. 62, 2019, section 1, amended by C.B. 66, 2021, section 1). Historic districts: Title 16, Subtitle 6 — Historic Preservation Commission, sections 16.600 through 16.607, deriving from C.B. 25, 1973 and amended by C.B. 2, 1981; C.B. 81, 1993; C.B. 71, 2003; C.B. 11, 2014; C.B. 46, 2018; and C.B. 66, 2019. Howard County Code codified through Bill No. 17-2026, adopted February 6, 2026 (Supp. No. 90).
Worth knowing
- Ellicott City is a genuine local historic district, not just a National Register listing. The county: "The Ellicott City and Lawyers Hill Historic Districts are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They are also local historic districts, allowing the county to protect their architectural integrity and preserve their history for future generations."
- The historic-district trigger list at section 16.603(a) names construction, moving, demolition, repair or alteration of a structure, alteration of parking areas, and exterior signs — it does not name tree removal. But section 16.603(c) carves out "Tree clearing and removal" from the certificate requirement only "when carried out in accordance with an approved subdivision plan, site development plan, forest conservation plan, or grading plan." The carve-out implies the Commission otherwise has a say. This is a real ambiguity and worth a phone call before you cut anything visible from the street.
- Ellicott City floods, and its watershed is under active county planning through the Ellicott City Watershed Master Plan and the Ellicott City Safe and Sound programme. Removing mature trees on a steep lot above the Tiber-Hudson watershed is not a neutral act even where no permit is required.
- Ellicott City is not in the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area. Howard County does not appear on the Critical Area Commission's list of Critical Area jurisdictions.
- Unlike Columbia a few miles south, Ellicott City is not part of the Columbia Association covenant system. Individual subdivisions may still have their own HOA covenants, which are private contracts and are not searchable centrally — check your own deed and HOA documents.
- The tree company you hire must hold a Maryland Licensed Tree Expert licence under Natural Resources Article section 5-417(a)(1). DNR runs a free lookup at dnrweb.dnr.state.md.us/forests/tree_expert_search.asp.
- Howard County Recreation and Parks runs an annual native tree giveaway, 6,000 trees in 2026 with up to two per address, with a pickup location at Rockburn Park West in Elkridge.
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 Howard County Historic Preservation Commission in practice requires a Certificate of Approval for tree removal on a private lot in the Ellicott City Historic District. The code makes trees part of the "environmental setting" and exempts tree clearing only when done under an approved plan, but the mandatory-approval list at section 16.603(a) does not name trees. The Ellicott City Historic District Design Guidelines, which would settle this, are published behind a dynamic link we could not retrieve. Call 410-313-2350.
- — Whether Howard County has any tree ordinance reaching private property outside the Forest Conservation subtitle. Title 15 (Natural Resources), Title 18 (Public Works) and Title 19 (Recreation and Parks) contain no tree subtitle, and the county's public tree pages address only right-of-way trees. Absence is weaker evidence than an express exemption.
- — Whether Howard County holds a delegated or blanket Maryland Roadside Tree Permit. The DNR Roadside Tree Program page names only Montgomery County.
- — The current boundaries of the Ellicott City Historic District in a form a homeowner can check without calling. The county publishes a Historic District Map but the link is dynamically generated.
- — Any published turnaround time for a Certificate of Approval beyond the 22-day application deadline and monthly meeting cycle.
Sources
- Howard County Department of Planning and Zoning — Historic Planning
- Howard County — Historic Preservation Commission
- Howard County Code, Title 16 Subtitle 12 — Forest Conservation
- Howard County Code, Title 16 Subtitle 6 — Historic Preservation Commission
- Howard County Bureau of Highways — Tree Maintenance
- Howard County Recreation and Parks — Forestry
- Maryland Natural Resources Article section 5-1602 — Forest Conservation Act applicability
- Maryland DNR — Licensed Tree Expert lookup
- Maryland Critical Area Commission — local planning and zoning contacts