Do you need a permit?
It depends on the tree
Hilo is governed by the County of Hawaiʻi, and the county code does not require a permit to remove an ordinary tree from your own yard as long as your clearing stays under one acre and does not change drainage onto neighboring property. Two things change the answer: clearing more than an acre requires a grubbing permit from Public Works, and a tree the County Council has designated "exceptional" may not be removed at all — the ordinance provides no permit for it, only a fine of up to $1,000 per tree.
Size threshold
Grubbing permit: exempt is "grubbing which does not alter the general and localized drainage pattern with respect to abutting properties and does not exceed a total area of one acre" (Hawaiʻi County Code § 10-3(b)(8)). "Grubbing" is defined at § 10-2(8) as "any act by which vegetation, including trees, timber, shrubbery and plants, is removed, dislodged, uprooted or cleared from the surface of the ground." The exceptional-tree rules have no size trigger at all.
What's protected in Hilo
- Trees designated as "Exceptional Trees of the County of Hawaiʻi" in Hawaiʻi County Code § 14-65, adopted by County Council ordinance
- Trees on land where the total area being cleared exceeds one acre, or where clearing would alter drainage onto abutting property (grubbing permit territory)
How to apply in Hilo
- 1
Work out which rule you are under: an ordinary tree with under an acre of clearing and no drainage change needs neither permit.
- 2
If you are clearing more than one acre, file a grubbing permit application with the County Department of Public Works on its form, describing the land by tax key or street address and giving start and completion dates.
- 3
For a grubbing permit, furnish two sets of plot plans showing the location and the property boundaries.
- 4
If you think the tree may be a designated exceptional tree, contact the Planning Department first — the county directs owners to consult the Arborist Advisory Committee through the Planning Department before doing anything that would damage one.
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Fee
- Grubbing permit: "$5 for grubbing in excess of one acre, plus $2 for each additional five acres or fraction thereof" (Hawaiʻi County Code § 10-11(b)). There is no exceptional-tree permit fee because Chapter 14, Article 10 does not create a permit — it creates a prohibition.
- Penalties
- It is unlawful to "substantially damage, remove or destroy an exceptional tree in the County," and a violator "shall be fined not more than $1,000 per tree or incident" (Hawaiʻi County Code § 14-63). The county may also seek injunctive relief in circuit court against a threatened violation (§ 14-64), and the Planning Department may issue citations (§ 14-62).
- Ordinance
- Hawaiʻi County Code 1983 (2016 Edition, as amended), Chapter 14 Article 10 — Exceptional Trees (§§ 14-56 to 14-65); Chapter 10 — Erosion and Sedimentation Control (grading, grubbing and stockpiling permits)
Worth knowing
- A building or grading permit does not let you take out a protected tree. HCC § 14-62 says flatly that the exceptional tree article "shall not be superseded by any permit issued by any County agency under this code."
- Before issuing a building or grading permit or granting final subdivision approval, the Planning Department and the Public Works building division may ask the Arborist Advisory Committee about trees on the site — and § 14-61 adds that a tree not being designated exceptional does not stop them from requiring it be worked into the development plan.
- Designated exceptional trees in and around Hilo listed in § 14-65 include coconut trees at Waiolama Canal, the Divi-Divi, Indian Banyan and Loulu Palm at Kalākaua Park, a False Kamani on Haili Street, a Chinese Weeping Banyan on Kīlauea Avenue, two groves of monkeypod at Kamehameha Avenue and Pauahi Street, an ʻŌhiʻa Lehua at Rainbow Falls Park, and trees on Waiānuenue Avenue and Lihiwai Street. Some are on private land; ownership does not exempt them.
- Agricultural operations following an approved soil and water conservation district program are excluded from the grubbing rules under HCC § 10-3(b)(5), subject to conditions.
- Hawaiʻi state law (HRS § 235-19) allows an income tax deduction of up to $3,000 per exceptional tree for maintenance spending, once in every three consecutive tax years.
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 there is any lawful route to remove a designated exceptional tree in Hawaiʻi County. Chapter 14, Article 10 contains no permit, waiver, or hardship provision — only the prohibition and the fine — so ask the Planning Department what they expect an owner with a dead or dangerous designated tree to do.
- — A direct phone number for the Department of Public Works grubbing permit desk.
- — Whether trees in the county right-of-way fronting your Hilo property are separately regulated, and by whom.
Sources
- Hawaiʻi County Code Chapter 14 (General Welfare), Article 10 — Exceptional Trees (PDF)
- Hawaiʻi County Code Chapter 10 — Erosion and Sedimentation Control (PDF)
- County of Hawaiʻi — Office of the County Clerk, County Code index
- County of Hawaiʻi — Arborist Advisory Committee
- County of Hawaiʻi Planning Department — Contact Us
- Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes § 235-19 — Exceptional trees; tax deduction