Do you need a permit?
It depends on the tree
Kailua on windward Oʻahu is part of the City and County of Honolulu, so Honolulu's island-wide tree rules apply — there is no separate Kailua ordinance. A tree on the City's Register of Exceptional Trees cannot be removed without City Council approval, and the tree in the planting strip between the curb and your property line is a City street tree needing a Parks and Recreation permit. For an ordinary tree inside your own yard, the City publishes no clear blanket permit rule, so confirm with the Division of Urban Forestry first.
What's protected in Kailua
- Trees on the City and County of Honolulu Register of Exceptional Trees (individually designated by the City Council under ROH Chapter 40, Article 8)
- Street trees — any tree in the "planting strip" between the curb or pavement of a street and the adjacent property line
How to apply in Kailua
- 1
Check whether your tree is on the Register of Exceptional Trees, published with ROH Chapter 40, Article 8.
- 2
To prune an exceptional tree, complete the Application for Exceptional Tree Crown and/or Root Pruning.
- 3
Have a qualified arborist complete the Qualified Arborist Application Form.
- 4
Email signed copies to duf@honolulu.gov, or mail them to the Arborist Advisory Committee at 3902 Pākī Avenue, Honolulu, HI 96815.
- 5
Removal of an exceptional tree takes City Council approval under ROH § 40-8.8(a), not a departmental permit.
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Penalties
- Removing or destroying a designated exceptional tree without City Council approval: fine of not more than $1,000 (ROH § 40-8.8(a)). Pruning, spraying, removing, or injuring a planting-strip street tree without a permit is punishable on conviction by a fine not exceeding $500, imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both.
- Ordinance
- Revised Ordinances of Honolulu, Chapter 40, Article 8 — Protective Regulations for Exceptional Trees; Department of Parks and Recreation "Rules and Regulations Relative to Planting and Maintenance of Street Trees"
Worth knowing
- There are two Kailuas in Hawaiʻi. This page covers Kailua on windward Oʻahu, in the City and County of Honolulu. Kailua-Kona on Hawaiʻi Island is in the County of Hawaiʻi and runs on a completely different ordinance — including a designated Moreton Bay Fig in Kailua Village, North Kona, protected under Hawaiʻi County Code § 14-65.
- Honolulu's exceptional-tree ordinance has no diameter threshold. Protection follows individual City Council designation, not trunk size.
- ROH § 40-8.8(b) makes it unlawful to alter the characteristic shape of an exceptional tree or remove any branch without a Parks and Recreation permit.
- The City may trim, at its own initiative, obstructing or hazardous parts of a private tree that overhang or project into a street.
- 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 a permit is required to remove an ordinary, non-designated tree on private property in Kailua. No City and County of Honolulu source states a general rule or a diameter exemption.
- — Permit fees for exceptional-tree pruning or street tree work.
- — Whether shoreline setback or Special Management Area rules add a separate approval for vegetation removal on beachfront Kailua lots. Ask the Department of Planning and Permitting if your lot is near the shoreline.
Sources
- City and County of Honolulu — Exceptional Tree Program, Division of Urban Forestry
- Revised Ordinances of Honolulu § 40-8.8 (Regulations) — official code library
- City and County of Honolulu DPR — Rules and Regulations Relative to Planting and Maintenance of Street Trees (PDF)
- Hawaiʻi County Code Chapter 14, Article 10 — Exceptional Trees, for the Kailua-Kona comparison (PDF)
- Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes § 235-19 — Exceptional trees; tax deduction