Do you need a permit?
It depends on the tree
Mililani Town is a community in the City and County of Honolulu, not a separate city, so Honolulu's island-wide rules apply. A City Council-designated exceptional tree cannot be removed without Council approval or pruned without a Parks and Recreation permit, and the tree in the planting strip between the curb and your property line is a City street tree that needs a permit. The City publishes no clear blanket rule for ordinary trees inside a private yard — and in a master-planned community your association's covenants may restrict removal separately from anything the county requires.
What's protected in Mililani Town
- 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 Mililani Town
- 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
Removing an exceptional tree requires City Council approval under ROH § 40-8.8(a).
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
- County rules are not the only rules. If your property is subject to a community association's covenants or design guidelines, those can restrict tree removal on their own terms; the county ordinance does not override private covenants. Check your association documents before you schedule work.
- Honolulu's exceptional-tree ordinance has no diameter threshold — designation is individual and made by the City Council.
- 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.
- 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 Mililani Town. 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.
- — The contents of any private community-association tree or landscape covenants that apply in Mililani Town — we verify government sources only.
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 Revised Statutes § 235-19 — Exceptional trees; tax deduction