Tree Removal Permits in Lynn, MA

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

Do you need a permit?

Check with the city

No tree ordinance appears in anything Lynn publishes — not in the zoning ordinance, not in the four individual ordinance PDFs on the City Clerk page, not anywhere across the 813 pages of lynnma.gov. But Lynn is the one city here where we cannot close the loop, because the Clerk states outright that the posted code "is not the official Ordinance Code of the City of Lynn." The official text is only available in person. Two things can bite regardless: the tree may legally be a public shade tree, and anything within 100 feet of water is regulated.

What's protected in Lynn

Public shade trees — any tree in or on the boundary of a public way. State law bars cutting one "by any person other than the tree warden or his deputy, even if he be the owner of the fee in the land on which such tree is situated," and presumes a borderline tree is public until proven otherwise.
Any tree within 100 feet of a wetland, marsh, bog, vernal pool, bank, reservoir, lake, pond, river, stream, creek, beach, dune, estuary, ocean or land subject to flooding. Lynn's Wetlands Protection By-Law defines "alter" to include "Destruction of plant life, including cutting of trees," and this DOES reach private yards.
Trees in Lynn parks and Lynn Woods, which fall under the Park Commission rather than the Tree Warden — state law carves parks out of the tree warden's authority.
Trees on development sites subject to zoning section 7.A landscaping. Note the exemption at 7.A.2.b.i: "A single residential structure on a lot containing three or fewer dwelling units" is outside those rules entirely.

Fees, penalties, and the ordinance

Fee: There is no tree permit and no published tree permit fee — Lynn's building and trade permit fee schedule contains no tree entry. In a wetlands case, a Certificate of Compliance carries a $25.00 site inspection fee, a Notice of Intent carries a state filing fee, and "The entire cost of advertising lies with the applicant."
Penalties: Wetlands By-Law section XIII: "Any person who violates any provision of this By-Law... shall be punished by a fine of not more than $300. Each day or portion thereof during which a violation continues, or unauthorized fill or other alteration remains in place, shall constitute a separate offense." The Commission may also order you to restore the property to its original condition. Public shade trees carry M.G.L. c.87 s.6: "forfeiture of not more than five hundred dollars to the use of the city or town."
Ordinance: No Lynn tree ordinance was found. Related: City of Lynn Zoning Ordinance (v. 2025-12-09 as adopted) section 7.A, Landscaping; City of Lynn General Wetlands Protection By-Laws (October 2017), sections II and XIII. State law: M.G.L. c.87 ss.1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and M.G.L. c.131 s.40 with 310 CMR 10.00.

Worth knowing

Lynn is on no commercial code platform — not eCode360, not Municode, not American Legal. Watch out for a specific confusion: the eCode360 client LY3190 is the Town of Lynnfield, a different municipality. Any aggregator quoting a "Lynn tree ordinance" is almost certainly quoting Lynnfield or inventing it.
Lynn hired its first-ever Urban Forestry Fellow in 2024, a USDA-grant-funded position in the Planning Department running through September 2028, whose duties include enforcing "tree-related regulations, permits, and ordinances" and exploring a Tree Commission. Read plainly, Lynn is building urban forestry capacity and does not yet have a Tree Commission — a private-tree ordinance is a plausible near-term change here. Verify before you cut.
Lynn has a Tree Warden, confirmed from the city's own 2024 job posting, but names no one and publishes no direct contact. Reach the role through DPW.
The wetlands by-law is deliberately stricter than state law, adopted under Home Rule authority. In a coastal city with Flax Pond, Sluice Pond, the Saugus River and extensive marsh, that catches a lot of ordinary back yards. Call the Conservation Commission at (781) 586-6827 before cutting near water.
Lynn Woods Reservation is 2,200 acres of city-owned municipal forest, one of the largest municipal parks in the country, with three active reservoirs supplying the city's drinking water. It is Park Commission land and nothing about it applies to a private yard.
A tempting misquote to avoid: the Parks Manual line prohibiting planting of trees and shrubs without written consent sits inside the Community Gardens chapter and governs planting in city garden plots, not removal on private land.
For the official text of any Lynn ordinance, the only certain route is the City Clerk at City Hall, 3 City Hall Square, (781) 598-4000.

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 decisive question. Lynn does not publish its full ordinance code, and the City Clerk states that what is posted "is not the official Ordinance Code of the City of Lynn." Only four individual ordinance PDFs are online. Whether the unpublished code contains a tree chapter can only be settled at the Clerk's office in person. Do not assume you are exempt.
— The name, direct phone and email of Lynn's Tree Warden.
— Whether Lynn has designated any scenic roads under M.G.L. c.40 s.15C, which would add a tree-cutting consent requirement along those rights-of-way. No designation appears on lynnma.gov.
— The dollar amount of the Conservation Commission Notice of Intent filing fee.
— Whether a tree ordinance or Tree Commission has been adopted since the Urban Forestry Fellow was hired in 2024. No City Council ordinance archive is published online.
— Any diameter or DBH threshold. The caliper figures in the zoning ordinance are planting minimums for new development, not removal thresholds, and should not be read as such.

Sources

Who to contact in Lynn

Department of Public Works, City of Lynn (holds the Tree Warden function)

(781) 268-8000 mdonovan@lynnma.gov Official page

250 Commercial Street, Lynn, MA 01905

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What's protected in Lynn

Public shade trees — any tree in or on the boundary of a public way. State law bars cutting one "by any person other than the tree warden or his deputy, even if he be the owner of the fee in the land on which such tree is situated," and presumes a borderline tree is public until proven otherwise.

Any tree within 100 feet of a wetland, marsh, bog, vernal pool, bank, reservoir, lake, pond, river, stream, creek, beach, dune, estuary, ocean or land subject to flooding. Lynn's Wetlands Protection By-Law defines "alter" to include "Destruction of plant life, including cutting of trees," and this DOES reach private yards.

Trees in Lynn parks and Lynn Woods, which fall under the Park Commission rather than the Tree Warden — state law carves parks out of the tree warden's authority.

Trees on development sites subject to zoning section 7.A landscaping. Note the exemption at 7.A.2.b.i: "A single residential structure on a lot containing three or fewer dwelling units" is outside those rules entirely.

Fees, penalties, and the ordinance

Fee

There is no tree permit and no published tree permit fee — Lynn's building and trade permit fee schedule contains no tree entry. In a wetlands case, a Certificate of Compliance carries a $25.00 site inspection fee, a Notice of Intent carries a state filing fee, and "The entire cost of advertising lies with the applicant."

Penalties

Wetlands By-Law section XIII: "Any person who violates any provision of this By-Law... shall be punished by a fine of not more than $300. Each day or portion thereof during which a violation continues, or unauthorized fill or other alteration remains in place, shall constitute a separate offense." The Commission may also order you to restore the property to its original condition. Public shade trees carry M.G.L. c.87 s.6: "forfeiture of not more than five hundred dollars to the use of the city or town."

Ordinance

No Lynn tree ordinance was found. Related: City of Lynn Zoning Ordinance (v. 2025-12-09 as adopted) section 7.A, Landscaping; City of Lynn General Wetlands Protection By-Laws (October 2017), sections II and XIII. State law: M.G.L. c.87 ss.1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and M.G.L. c.131 s.40 with 310 CMR 10.00.

Worth knowing

Lynn is on no commercial code platform — not eCode360, not Municode, not American Legal. Watch out for a specific confusion: the eCode360 client LY3190 is the Town of Lynnfield, a different municipality. Any aggregator quoting a "Lynn tree ordinance" is almost certainly quoting Lynnfield or inventing it.
Lynn hired its first-ever Urban Forestry Fellow in 2024, a USDA-grant-funded position in the Planning Department running through September 2028, whose duties include enforcing "tree-related regulations, permits, and ordinances" and exploring a Tree Commission. Read plainly, Lynn is building urban forestry capacity and does not yet have a Tree Commission — a private-tree ordinance is a plausible near-term change here. Verify before you cut.
Lynn has a Tree Warden, confirmed from the city's own 2024 job posting, but names no one and publishes no direct contact. Reach the role through DPW.
The wetlands by-law is deliberately stricter than state law, adopted under Home Rule authority. In a coastal city with Flax Pond, Sluice Pond, the Saugus River and extensive marsh, that catches a lot of ordinary back yards. Call the Conservation Commission at (781) 586-6827 before cutting near water.
Lynn Woods Reservation is 2,200 acres of city-owned municipal forest, one of the largest municipal parks in the country, with three active reservoirs supplying the city's drinking water. It is Park Commission land and nothing about it applies to a private yard.
A tempting misquote to avoid: the Parks Manual line prohibiting planting of trees and shrubs without written consent sits inside the Community Gardens chapter and governs planting in city garden plots, not removal on private land.
For the official text of any Lynn ordinance, the only certain route is the City Clerk at City Hall, 3 City Hall Square, (781) 598-4000.

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 decisive question. Lynn does not publish its full ordinance code, and the City Clerk states that what is posted "is not the official Ordinance Code of the City of Lynn." Only four individual ordinance PDFs are online. Whether the unpublished code contains a tree chapter can only be settled at the Clerk's office in person. Do not assume you are exempt.
— The name, direct phone and email of Lynn's Tree Warden.
— Whether Lynn has designated any scenic roads under M.G.L. c.40 s.15C, which would add a tree-cutting consent requirement along those rights-of-way. No designation appears on lynnma.gov.
— The dollar amount of the Conservation Commission Notice of Intent filing fee.
— Whether a tree ordinance or Tree Commission has been adopted since the Urban Forestry Fellow was hired in 2024. No City Council ordinance archive is published online.
— Any diameter or DBH threshold. The caliper figures in the zoning ordinance are planting minimums for new development, not removal thresholds, and should not be read as such.