Do you need a permit?
No permit required for most private trees
High Point's tree rules are scoped to city land and to commercial development, and they say so twice over. The Public Tree Protection section states that its requirements "shall apply only to City-owned or controlled land," and the landscaping standards that regulate existing trees on a development site expressly exempt single-family detached dwellings and duplex dwellings. No permit is required to remove a tree in a High Point yard.
Size threshold
No diameter threshold applies to a private-property tree, because neither the public tree section nor the landscaping section reaches an ordinary residential lot. The DBH figures that appear in High Point's ordinance are replacement ratios for unauthorized removal of required landscaping on non-exempt sites: canopy trees up to 8 inches DBH replace at 2:1, between 8 and 23.9 inches at 3:1, and 24 inches or more at 4:1.
What's protected in High Point
- Any tree on City-owned or City-controlled land, which includes land the City leases and land it controls through public rights-of-way and easements for streets, utilities, pedestrian access, greenways, open space or water quality protection
- Required landscape material on non-exempt development sites, which cannot be removed or relocated without approval of a revised landscape plan
How to apply in High Point
- 1
This applies only to trees on City-owned or City-controlled land. There is no application for a tree in your own yard.
- 2
Apply for a Public Tree Certificate under Development Ordinance Section 2.5.12 before planting, pruning or removing a tree on City land.
- 3
The Urban Forestry Committee reviews the application to confirm the work meets the urban forestry program's expectations and the City's adopted Guidelines and Standard Practices for Trees.
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Ordinance
- City of High Point Development Ordinance Section 6.1, Public Tree Protection (Sections 6.1.1 through 6.1.4), and Section 5.5, Landscaping (Section 5.5.2 Applicability, 5.5.3 Exemptions, 5.5.16 Removal or Relocation of Trees and Shrubs). Section 6.1.3 derives from Ord. No. 7266/17-08, Sec. 26, adopted January 17, 2017. Approvals for public tree work run through Section 2.5.12, Public Tree Certificate.
Worth knowing
- Exemptions from the Public Tree Certificate requirement include: public and private utilities working in rights-of-way or dedicated easements on City land; City departments pruning for traffic visibility, pedestrian activity and similar public safety matters; trimming or removal where a tree is an immediate safety hazard to structures, people or vehicles; removal of nuisance or diseased trees likely to spread disease or pests; and emergency removal after severe weather, fire or similar conditions.
- Topping a tree on City land without a Public Tree Certificate is a violation of the Development Ordinance, and is approved only where a tree is severely damaged by storm or natural cause or where other pruning is impractical, such as directly under overhead utility lines.
- The Urban Forestry Committee was created by City Council in 2004 and is charged with implementing the strategy for protection, maintenance, planting and removal of trees on City-owned or controlled property.
- The full list of exemptions from the landscaping standards is single-family detached dwellings, duplex dwellings, and development in the CB and MX districts except for parking areas.
- High Point has held Tree City USA designation for two decades and inventoried more than 4,400 trees on City-owned or controlled property in the Core City with grant funding from the NC Division of Forest Resources.
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 Public Tree Certificate carries a fee.
- — The civil penalty amounts for removing a tree from City land without authorization. The Development Ordinance points to Chapter 9, Enforcement, which was not read for this entry.
- — Whether a specific street tree in front of a given house sits on City-controlled right-of-way. That boundary determines which rules apply and is not published parcel by parcel.