Tree Removal Permits in Maple Grove, MN

Verified against Maple Grove city sources · last checked 2026-08-07

Do you need a permit?

It depends on the tree

Maple Grove draws a map, and the map decides. The city has no citywide tree-removal permit. What it has is the T Tree Preservation District, an overlay laid on top of ordinary zoning and adopted as a council map with 769 separate polygons across the city. If your tree is outside a T-zone and outside a lake shore or bluff impact zone, you can remove it with no permit, no replacement and no size threshold. If it is inside one, a tree eight inches DBH or larger has to be replaced one for one, and the city's own license form says removal needs the City Forester's approval. Either way, whoever you hire must hold a Maple Grove tree care license. You do not need one to cut your own tree.

Size threshold

Eight inches DBH, measured Maple Grove's way. Sec. 36-3 defines a tree, for the preservation division, as "any self-supporting woody perennial plant which has a trunk diameter of eight inches or more DBH," and defines DBH as "the diameter in inches of a tree measured at 4 1/2 feet above the existing grade." Note the measurement is from existing grade, not from a nominal ground level. A different and much smaller threshold governs who may do the work: Sec. 14-22 defines tree care as work on "trees, limbs, branches, stumps or roots which are two inches or more in diameter at the point of cutting or contact" — measured at the cut, not at breast height.

What's protected in Maple Grove

Any tree eight inches DBH or larger inside a mapped T Tree Preservation District. Sec. 36-715(a) applies the overlay "to and superimposed upon any residential, commercial, or industrial district," and under the joint application "the more restrictive requirements shall apply."
Landmark trees, which the city may designate "because of any unique physical characteristic or growth process, or some historical or cultural significance," with the list kept in the city clerk's office (Sec. 36-715(b))
Any tree eight inches DBH or larger in a shore impact zone or bluff impact zone of a regulated lake or creek (Sec. 36-688(c)(1)b.2). Sec. 36-688(c)(1)b.1 adds that "intensive vegetation clearing within the shore and bluff impact zones and on steep slopes is not allowed."
Street, boulevard and right-of-way trees, where Sec. 20-328(a) lets the city decide "what trees and shrubbery situated on any street, avenue, or other public property shall be trimmed and cared for, the kind of work to be done, and what unsound trees shall be removed," with the cost assessable to the abutting lot
Park trees, which under Sec. 22-36 no person may "cut, injure or deface" without the park board's specific permission

Fees, penalties, and the ordinance

Fee: The 2026 Fee Schedule (Ordinance 25-17, Appendix A) lists a forest management review plan at $50, a tree treatment and removal annual license at $50, and a tree conservation fee "charged on per caliper inch removed" at $131 per DBH inch. There is no homeowner tree removal permit fee, which is consistent with there being no such permit type.
Penalties: Sec. 36-712(a) makes a violation of the preservation division a misdemeanor "each day or portion thereof that the violation continues," and Sec. 36-712(b) adds that unauthorized removal of a tree eight inches DBH or larger "may be subject to a charge that is twice the tree conservation fee per DBH inch removed." But homeowners are routed away from that: Sec. 36-712(d) provides that "except for extreme cases as determined by the director of community and economic development, existing single-family detached properties shall be excluded from this section and be subject to the provisions in section 36-721 for any unauthorized removal" — meaning the consequence is the one-for-one replacement, not the doubled fee. Violating the shade tree article is a separate misdemeanor under Sec. 14-23, with abatement costs personally chargeable and assessable against the parcel.
Ordinance: Maple Grove Code of Ordinances Chapter 36 (Zoning), Article VII, Division 6 — T Tree Preservation District, Secs. 36-711 through 36-722 (Ord. No. 21-09, adopted July 19, 2021, a comprehensive rewrite of the division). Shoreland vegetation at Sec. 36-688(c)(1) (Ord. No. 19-04, March 18, 2019). Tree care licensing and shade tree disease at Chapter 14, Article II, Secs. 14-21 through 14-35, principally Sec. 14-29 (Ord. No. 17-03, February 6, 2017, amended by Ord. No. 18-04, March 5, 2018). Fees under Ordinance 25-17, Appendix A. The code is codified through Ordinance No. 26-05, enacted May 18, 2026 (Supp. No. 5).

Worth knowing

The homeowner rule is short: "For single-family detached homes, after a certificate of occupancy has been granted, additional removal of trees eight inches in diameter at breast height (DBH) shall require the replacement of one tree for each tree removed" (Sec. 36-721(b)). Sec. 36-716(a) confirms the routing: "Existing single-family detached lots are considered to be in the post-development stage and are subject to the requirements of section 36-721."
A contradiction worth knowing about before you call. The ordinance names no approval step for an existing single-family lot, only a replacement duty. But the city's own 2026 tree removal and treatment license form says: "Any tree located in a T Tree Preservation District (or T-zone) that is greater than 8 inches in diameter at breast height is protected and requires approval from the City Forester to remove. Protected trees that are removed without permission from the city must be replaced and civil penalties may apply." The form also says "greater than 8 inches" where the ordinance says eight inches or more, so a tree measuring exactly eight inches sits between the two texts. Call 763-494-6040 first.
This is the contractor-side pattern in its clearest form. Sec. 14-29(a): "No person shall engage in tree care, without being licensed under this article, except that residents or owners of a subject property and persons holding refuse collector's licenses... shall be excluded from the provisions of this article if they are engaged solely in the removal or hauling away of trees or parts thereof." You are free to cut your own tree. Hiring an unlicensed cutter is the unlawful act, and under Sec. 14-29(d) a licensee must also be registered with the state commissioner of agriculture under Minn. Stat. Sec. 18G.07.
Maple Grove imposes no seasonal oak wilt pruning ban. We swept the code for oak wilt, pruning, April, July and dormant season; the only hits are Sec. 14-27(a)(3) declaring oak wilt infected oaks a public nuisance and a shoreland provision allowing limited pruning for a lake view. The city instead links homeowners to the Minnesota DNR oak wilt guidance.
Several removals are exempt from the preservation division outright under Sec. 36-722: trees "deemed to be diseased, dying, or dead," as determined by a certified arborist, landscape architect or other natural resource professional; any tree "which has become or threatens to become a danger to human life or property"; and utility removals where a tree endangers the utility's facilities. Sec. 36-713 adds an emergency waiver after a tornado, windstorm, flood or freeze.
A duty running the other way: Sec. 20-229(15) makes it a nuisance "to permit or suffer to remain upon one's private property a tree which is dead, diseased or otherwise not maintaining foliage on more than 50 percent thereof in the growing season," and Sec. 14-27 declares Dutch elm infected elms, oak wilt infected oaks and emerald ash borer harbouring trees, stumps and ash firewood public nuisances "whether such tree or shrub shall be on public or private property."
The shoreland rules reach the shorelands of Cook, Goose, Mud, Pike, Cedar Island, Fish, Rice, Edward, Weaver and Eagle lakes plus Elm Creek and Rush Creek. Shoreland means 1,000 feet from a lake or 300 feet from a river or stream. The code states the shore impact zone only as a formula — land between the ordinary high water level and a line parallel to it at half the structure setback — so we are not computing a figure.
Replacement stock uses a split convention: deciduous replacements must be "at least 2 1/2 inches DBH" and coniferous "at least five feet in height," with conifers counted "at a ratio of one inch DBH for every two feet in height" (Sec. 36-719).
The city publishes a licensed tree trimming contractor list, and license paperwork goes to City of Maple Grove, Attn: City Forester, 12800 Arbor Lakes Parkway, Maple Grove, MN 55369. The $50 license renews annually by February 1 and needs a Minnesota insurance certificate with a 30-day cancellation notice plus stickers on the vehicles used.
There is no document anywhere in the code called a tree removal permit. The only tree applications are the forest management plan under Sec. 36-717 and the development-side tree preservation plan under Sec. 36-718.

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 your specific address is inside a T-zone. The city publishes a Protected Tree Areas map, but it is a raster image with no parcel lookup, and the parcel-level GIS service is secured. Call 763-494-6040.
— The landmark tree list. Sec. 36-715(b) keeps it in the city clerk's office and it is not published online.
— Whether the T-zone map has changed since the published version dated October 26, 2020. Sec. 36-715(c) allows annual review and the zoning map carries a later date.
— Whether the city actually issues any written approval document for a T-zone homeowner removal. The license form says approval is needed; no approval form, fee or process is published.
— Whether the City Forester position is currently filled. Sec. 14-24 makes the appointment discretionary and no named forester appears in the staff directory.

Sources

Who to contact in Maple Grove

Community and Economic Development Department, City of Maple Grove

Forestry and tree preservation line: 763-494-6040. This is the number printed on the city's tree license form directly beneath "Attn: City Forester," and it is also the directory number for Community and Economic Development, the Arbor Committee and the Planning Commission. Call it to ask whether your address is in a T-zone. Building Inspections permit line, unrelated to trees: 763-494-6060. Public Works, whose director hears shade tree nuisance abatement appeals: 763-494-6370. City main: 763-494-6000. There is no separately staffed City Forester extension — the forester is a council appointee, not a standing department, and "City Forester" is an addressee at the Community and Economic Development counter. communitydevelopment@maplegrovemn.gov Official page

12800 Arbor Lakes Parkway N, Maple Grove, MN 55369

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Size threshold

What's protected in Maple Grove

Any tree eight inches DBH or larger inside a mapped T Tree Preservation District. Sec. 36-715(a) applies the overlay "to and superimposed upon any residential, commercial, or industrial district," and under the joint application "the more restrictive requirements shall apply."

Landmark trees, which the city may designate "because of any unique physical characteristic or growth process, or some historical or cultural significance," with the list kept in the city clerk's office (Sec. 36-715(b))

Any tree eight inches DBH or larger in a shore impact zone or bluff impact zone of a regulated lake or creek (Sec. 36-688(c)(1)b.2). Sec. 36-688(c)(1)b.1 adds that "intensive vegetation clearing within the shore and bluff impact zones and on steep slopes is not allowed."

Street, boulevard and right-of-way trees, where Sec. 20-328(a) lets the city decide "what trees and shrubbery situated on any street, avenue, or other public property shall be trimmed and cared for, the kind of work to be done, and what unsound trees shall be removed," with the cost assessable to the abutting lot

Park trees, which under Sec. 22-36 no person may "cut, injure or deface" without the park board's specific permission

Fees, penalties, and the ordinance

Fee

The 2026 Fee Schedule (Ordinance 25-17, Appendix A) lists a forest management review plan at $50, a tree treatment and removal annual license at $50, and a tree conservation fee "charged on per caliper inch removed" at $131 per DBH inch. There is no homeowner tree removal permit fee, which is consistent with there being no such permit type.

Penalties

Sec. 36-712(a) makes a violation of the preservation division a misdemeanor "each day or portion thereof that the violation continues," and Sec. 36-712(b) adds that unauthorized removal of a tree eight inches DBH or larger "may be subject to a charge that is twice the tree conservation fee per DBH inch removed." But homeowners are routed away from that: Sec. 36-712(d) provides that "except for extreme cases as determined by the director of community and economic development, existing single-family detached properties shall be excluded from this section and be subject to the provisions in section 36-721 for any unauthorized removal" — meaning the consequence is the one-for-one replacement, not the doubled fee. Violating the shade tree article is a separate misdemeanor under Sec. 14-23, with abatement costs personally chargeable and assessable against the parcel.

Ordinance

Maple Grove Code of Ordinances Chapter 36 (Zoning), Article VII, Division 6 — T Tree Preservation District, Secs. 36-711 through 36-722 (Ord. No. 21-09, adopted July 19, 2021, a comprehensive rewrite of the division). Shoreland vegetation at Sec. 36-688(c)(1) (Ord. No. 19-04, March 18, 2019). Tree care licensing and shade tree disease at Chapter 14, Article II, Secs. 14-21 through 14-35, principally Sec. 14-29 (Ord. No. 17-03, February 6, 2017, amended by Ord. No. 18-04, March 5, 2018). Fees under Ordinance 25-17, Appendix A. The code is codified through Ordinance No. 26-05, enacted May 18, 2026 (Supp. No. 5).

Worth knowing

The homeowner rule is short: "For single-family detached homes, after a certificate of occupancy has been granted, additional removal of trees eight inches in diameter at breast height (DBH) shall require the replacement of one tree for each tree removed" (Sec. 36-721(b)). Sec. 36-716(a) confirms the routing: "Existing single-family detached lots are considered to be in the post-development stage and are subject to the requirements of section 36-721."
A contradiction worth knowing about before you call. The ordinance names no approval step for an existing single-family lot, only a replacement duty. But the city's own 2026 tree removal and treatment license form says: "Any tree located in a T Tree Preservation District (or T-zone) that is greater than 8 inches in diameter at breast height is protected and requires approval from the City Forester to remove. Protected trees that are removed without permission from the city must be replaced and civil penalties may apply." The form also says "greater than 8 inches" where the ordinance says eight inches or more, so a tree measuring exactly eight inches sits between the two texts. Call 763-494-6040 first.
This is the contractor-side pattern in its clearest form. Sec. 14-29(a): "No person shall engage in tree care, without being licensed under this article, except that residents or owners of a subject property and persons holding refuse collector's licenses... shall be excluded from the provisions of this article if they are engaged solely in the removal or hauling away of trees or parts thereof." You are free to cut your own tree. Hiring an unlicensed cutter is the unlawful act, and under Sec. 14-29(d) a licensee must also be registered with the state commissioner of agriculture under Minn. Stat. Sec. 18G.07.
Maple Grove imposes no seasonal oak wilt pruning ban. We swept the code for oak wilt, pruning, April, July and dormant season; the only hits are Sec. 14-27(a)(3) declaring oak wilt infected oaks a public nuisance and a shoreland provision allowing limited pruning for a lake view. The city instead links homeowners to the Minnesota DNR oak wilt guidance.
Several removals are exempt from the preservation division outright under Sec. 36-722: trees "deemed to be diseased, dying, or dead," as determined by a certified arborist, landscape architect or other natural resource professional; any tree "which has become or threatens to become a danger to human life or property"; and utility removals where a tree endangers the utility's facilities. Sec. 36-713 adds an emergency waiver after a tornado, windstorm, flood or freeze.
A duty running the other way: Sec. 20-229(15) makes it a nuisance "to permit or suffer to remain upon one's private property a tree which is dead, diseased or otherwise not maintaining foliage on more than 50 percent thereof in the growing season," and Sec. 14-27 declares Dutch elm infected elms, oak wilt infected oaks and emerald ash borer harbouring trees, stumps and ash firewood public nuisances "whether such tree or shrub shall be on public or private property."
The shoreland rules reach the shorelands of Cook, Goose, Mud, Pike, Cedar Island, Fish, Rice, Edward, Weaver and Eagle lakes plus Elm Creek and Rush Creek. Shoreland means 1,000 feet from a lake or 300 feet from a river or stream. The code states the shore impact zone only as a formula — land between the ordinary high water level and a line parallel to it at half the structure setback — so we are not computing a figure.
Replacement stock uses a split convention: deciduous replacements must be "at least 2 1/2 inches DBH" and coniferous "at least five feet in height," with conifers counted "at a ratio of one inch DBH for every two feet in height" (Sec. 36-719).
The city publishes a licensed tree trimming contractor list, and license paperwork goes to City of Maple Grove, Attn: City Forester, 12800 Arbor Lakes Parkway, Maple Grove, MN 55369. The $50 license renews annually by February 1 and needs a Minnesota insurance certificate with a 30-day cancellation notice plus stickers on the vehicles used.
There is no document anywhere in the code called a tree removal permit. The only tree applications are the forest management plan under Sec. 36-717 and the development-side tree preservation plan under Sec. 36-718.

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 your specific address is inside a T-zone. The city publishes a Protected Tree Areas map, but it is a raster image with no parcel lookup, and the parcel-level GIS service is secured. Call 763-494-6040.
— The landmark tree list. Sec. 36-715(b) keeps it in the city clerk's office and it is not published online.
— Whether the T-zone map has changed since the published version dated October 26, 2020. Sec. 36-715(c) allows annual review and the zoning map carries a later date.
— Whether the city actually issues any written approval document for a T-zone homeowner removal. The license form says approval is needed; no approval form, fee or process is published.
— Whether the City Forester position is currently filled. Sec. 14-24 makes the appointment discretionary and no named forester appears in the staff directory.