Do you need a permit?
No permit required for most private trees
Erie requires a permit from the City Arborist to plant, maintain, remove or disturb a tree on any street or city-owned property, and the city puts it plainly: permits cover "tree plantings, maintenance, removals, and sampling in a City right-of-way." The ordinance is written around public trees, so a tree standing entirely on your own lot is not covered. The tree lawn between your sidewalk and the curb is, and removing one there costs a $50 administrative fee and requires a notice poster on the tree for a week beforehand.
What's protected in Erie
- Public trees — section 165.02(i) defines them as "all shade and ornamental trees now or hereafter growing on any street or on any public land."
- Trees in the tree lawn, defined at section 165.02(h) as "That part of a street or highway, not covered by sidewalk or other paving, lying between the property line and that portion of the street or highway usually used for vehicular traffic."
- Trees in city parks and public places, and on county, state or federal grounds where the Urban Forest Committee has a cooperative tree-care arrangement.
How to apply in Erie
- 1
Confirm whether the tree is in the right-of-way — the tree lawn strip between the property line and the traveled roadway is city-regulated even though you maintain it.
- 2
Complete the Tree Removal Permit Application. Section 165.07(c)(1) requires you to "illustrate the number and kinds of trees to be removed, their size, locations, health and age condition, reason for removal, the method of removal."
- 3
The City Arborist reviews. Section 165.07(c)(2): where the application is to cut down "a sound, properly placed and positively valued contributing tree, the City Arborist may propose a viable alternative."
- 4
Pay the $50 administrative fee on approval. It may be waived for a hazardous tree.
- 5
Post the notice poster on the tree for at least one week before removal. The city states: "Unless the tree removal is an emergency, notice (with a provided poster) must be posted on the tree for a minimum of one week prior to removal."
- 6
Appeals from an order of the City Arborist go in writing to the Director of Public Works, Property and Parks within seven days of service, under section 165.12(b).
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Fee
- Section 165.07(e): "An administrative fee of $50 shall be collected for every tree removal application as required by Article 165.07(c). (Removal and Replacement Permit) upon the approval of the City Arborist. This fee may be waived in the case of hazardous tree removals as determined by the City Arborist."
- Penalties
- Section 165.19: "(a) Whoever violates Article 165.07(c) (Removal and Replacement Permit) by failing to obtain a permit for tree removal and replacement shall be fined not more than $300 and, in default of payment thereof, imprisoned not more than 30 days. (b) Whoever violates Article 165.10 (Abuse or mutilation of trees or plants) shall be fined not more than $500 for small trees, $750 for medium trees, and $1,000 for large trees."
- Ordinance
- Codified Ordinances of the City of Erie, Part 1 Administrative Code, Title Nine — Commissions, Article 165 — Urban Forest Committee, sections 165.01 through 165.19. Adopted by Ord. 79-2005, passed 12-28-2005. Section 165.07 (permits) and section 165.19 (penalties) amended by Ord. 35-2008, passed 7-2-2008. Code current through legislation of 10-01-2025.
Worth knowing
- The size bands used for penalties are defined at section 165.02: a large tree attains 45 feet or more with a 30-foot spread, medium is 30 to 45 feet with a 20-foot spread, small is under 30 feet with a 10-foot spread.
- Section 165.08 confirms who may work in the strip: "the owners of properties abutting the streets and highways of the City shall be permitted to plant, maintain, and remove trees on the lands abutting their properties between the front property lines of such property and the traveled portion of such streets and highways only in accordance with the terms and provisions of this article" — that is, with a permit.
- The Urban Forest Committee may enter private property to inspect trees for hazards, but only "with the consent of the property owners involved" (section 165.06(j)).
- The Committee meets the first Tuesday of every month at 5:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers, 626 State Street.
- Erie's zoning ordinance requires new development to plant one tree per 30 feet of street frontage at a minimum three-inch caliper, and lets those trees go either in the right-of-way or on private property along the frontage. That is a planting requirement, not a removal restriction.
- If your lot sits on the Lake Erie bluff, ask the Erie County Department of Planning about the Bluff Recession and Setback Act before clearing vegetation — that regime is separate from the city tree ordinance and we have not verified its terms here.
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.
- — No City of Erie source states affirmatively that a tree standing entirely on private property may be removed without a permit. The conclusion above rests on the scope of section 165.07, which requires a permit only for a tree "on any street or municipal owned property," and on the city's own statement that permits cover work "in a City right-of-way."
- — Replacement obligations after an approved removal. Section 165.07(c) is titled "Removal and replacement permit" but the article does not spell out a replacement ratio.
- — Whether Erie requires tree contractors to hold a city license. Article 165 names a City Arborist but sets no contractor licensing requirement we could find.
- — Whether the Pennsylvania Bluff Recession and Setback Act, as administered in Erie County, restricts vegetation removal on private lakefront lots inside the city. We could not confirm this from a state or county primary source.