Tree Removal Permits in Greensboro, NC

Verified against Greensboro city sources · last checked 2026-08-06

Do you need a permit?

No permit required for most private trees

Greensboro does have a Tree Disturbance Permit, and it is triggered at just 4 inches DBH - but the ordinance then exempts exactly the properties most homeowners live on. Land Development Ordinance 30-12-1.3 exempts "single-family detached, two-family attached, or duplex dwellings on their own lots" from both the tree conservation requirements and the tree disturbance permit. So no permit is needed for a tree in a single-family or duplex yard. The street tree out front is a different matter and does need a permit.

Size threshold

The permit threshold, where it applies at all, is "live trees with a diameter at breast height of 4 inches or greater on sites not accompanied by a development plan." Single-family detached, two-family attached and duplex dwellings on their own lots are exempt from it regardless of tree size.

What's protected in Greensboro

Street trees and park trees - "all woody vegetation on land lying between property lines on either side of all streets" and everything in parks, dedicated floodplain, open space and city-owned land
Tree conservation areas on non-exempt sites, protected out to the critical root zone or a 25-foot undisturbed buffer where no tree inventory exists
Trees on non-exempt sites at 4 inches DBH or greater, which need a Tree Disturbance Permit before any cutting or critical-root-zone damage

Fees, penalties, and the ordinance

Penalties: LDO 30-5-5.5 is steep on the sites it reaches. A violation involving tree removal or damage draws a civil penalty of not less than $500 and not more than $50,000 per violation, with no notice of violation required first, plus required reforestation. The scheduled amounts run $800 for a tree 4 to 11.9 inches DBH, $1,600 for 12 to 20.9 inches, $2,400 for 21 to 28.9 inches, and $3,200 for 29 to 35.9 inches, with reforestation of 4 to 16 caliper inches respectively. Violations not involving tree removal are capped at $5,000.
Ordinance: Greensboro Land Development Ordinance (Chapter 30 of the City Code, effective July 1, 2010), Sections 30-4-26.3 Tree Disturbance Permit, 30-12-1 Tree Conservation, and 30-5-5.5 Tree Disturbance Penalties. Public trees: City Code Chapter 19, Article III (Ord. No. 90-143, 11-19-1990; amended Ord. No. 95-55, 5-15-1995 and Ord. No. 20-163, 12-15-2020). Street right-of-way plantings: Sec. 26-24.

Worth knowing

Other exemptions in 30-12-1.3 alongside the single-family and duplex one: multi-family developments of 8 or fewer dwelling units on a single zone lot; property within or surrounded by the CB Central Business district; tree removal disturbing 3,000 square feet or less of critical root zone that is not inconsistent with a previously approved plan; and property under an active forestry management plan written by a North Carolina Registered Forester.
Greensboro is one of the NC cities that actually holds legislative authority to go further. City Charter Sec. 5.66, from S.L. 1979, Ch. 288, lets the Council "adopt ordinances to regulate the removal of trees and other growth from public and private property." The Council has not used it to reach ordinary single-family yards; a public hearing noticed weekly for two successive weeks would be required before it did.
For anything in the street right-of-way, Sec. 26-24 is the operative rule: "Any person desiring to plant, rearrange or remove any planting upon or within any street right-of-way within the city shall, prior to such planting, rearranging or removing, secure a written permit therefor from the city manager."
On private property the city can compel you to act rather than stop you. Sec. 19-44 lets the parks and recreation director order removal of a dead or diseased tree that harbors injurious fungus, insects or pests at the owner's expense within 60 days of notice, and the city may remove it and bill you if you do not.
Anyone pruning, treating or removing street or park trees for hire in Greensboro must first hold an arborist license and bond under Sec. 19-45.2.
If the city plans to remove a tree from city-owned property, owners within 100 feet get 30 days notice and there is a formal appeal to a subcommittee of the parks and recreation commission.

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.

— The Tree Disturbance Permit application fee.
— Whether a larger single-family lot loses the 30-12-1.3 exemption at some acreage. The exemption text sets no size limit, but the city does not address the point directly.
— Whether a specific street tree in front of a given house is in the right-of-way. That boundary is not published parcel by parcel and has to come from the city.

Sources

Who to contact in Greensboro

City of Greensboro Planning Department (tree disturbance permits are administered by the Planning Director); Parks and Recreation handles street and park trees

336-373-2144 (Planning); 336-373-2558 (Parks and Recreation); 336-373-CITY (2489) for the city contact center Official page

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What's protected in Greensboro

Street trees and park trees - "all woody vegetation on land lying between property lines on either side of all streets" and everything in parks, dedicated floodplain, open space and city-owned land

Tree conservation areas on non-exempt sites, protected out to the critical root zone or a 25-foot undisturbed buffer where no tree inventory exists

Trees on non-exempt sites at 4 inches DBH or greater, which need a Tree Disturbance Permit before any cutting or critical-root-zone damage

Fees, penalties, and the ordinance

Penalties

LDO 30-5-5.5 is steep on the sites it reaches. A violation involving tree removal or damage draws a civil penalty of not less than $500 and not more than $50,000 per violation, with no notice of violation required first, plus required reforestation. The scheduled amounts run $800 for a tree 4 to 11.9 inches DBH, $1,600 for 12 to 20.9 inches, $2,400 for 21 to 28.9 inches, and $3,200 for 29 to 35.9 inches, with reforestation of 4 to 16 caliper inches respectively. Violations not involving tree removal are capped at $5,000.

Ordinance

Greensboro Land Development Ordinance (Chapter 30 of the City Code, effective July 1, 2010), Sections 30-4-26.3 Tree Disturbance Permit, 30-12-1 Tree Conservation, and 30-5-5.5 Tree Disturbance Penalties. Public trees: City Code Chapter 19, Article III (Ord. No. 90-143, 11-19-1990; amended Ord. No. 95-55, 5-15-1995 and Ord. No. 20-163, 12-15-2020). Street right-of-way plantings: Sec. 26-24.

Worth knowing

Other exemptions in 30-12-1.3 alongside the single-family and duplex one: multi-family developments of 8 or fewer dwelling units on a single zone lot; property within or surrounded by the CB Central Business district; tree removal disturbing 3,000 square feet or less of critical root zone that is not inconsistent with a previously approved plan; and property under an active forestry management plan written by a North Carolina Registered Forester.
Greensboro is one of the NC cities that actually holds legislative authority to go further. City Charter Sec. 5.66, from S.L. 1979, Ch. 288, lets the Council "adopt ordinances to regulate the removal of trees and other growth from public and private property." The Council has not used it to reach ordinary single-family yards; a public hearing noticed weekly for two successive weeks would be required before it did.
For anything in the street right-of-way, Sec. 26-24 is the operative rule: "Any person desiring to plant, rearrange or remove any planting upon or within any street right-of-way within the city shall, prior to such planting, rearranging or removing, secure a written permit therefor from the city manager."
On private property the city can compel you to act rather than stop you. Sec. 19-44 lets the parks and recreation director order removal of a dead or diseased tree that harbors injurious fungus, insects or pests at the owner's expense within 60 days of notice, and the city may remove it and bill you if you do not.
Anyone pruning, treating or removing street or park trees for hire in Greensboro must first hold an arborist license and bond under Sec. 19-45.2.
If the city plans to remove a tree from city-owned property, owners within 100 feet get 30 days notice and there is a formal appeal to a subcommittee of the parks and recreation commission.

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.

— The Tree Disturbance Permit application fee.
— Whether a larger single-family lot loses the 30-12-1.3 exemption at some acreage. The exemption text sets no size limit, but the city does not address the point directly.
— Whether a specific street tree in front of a given house is in the right-of-way. That boundary is not published parcel by parcel and has to come from the city.