Do you need a permit?
Yes — a permit is required
Mount Vernon is one of the few New York cities that regulates ordinary private-property trees head-on. You do not need a permit for a tree under 10 inches DBH, an infested tree, or a documented emergency removal. Anything else on private property needs a written permit from the Department of Public Works at $50 per tree, and the city wants at least 20 business days' notice to inspect first.
Size threshold
§ 252-4B(1): removals on private property by a private property owner do not require a permit if "the tree is less than 10 inches DBH." A "significant tree" is protected when it has reached maturity — "measuring 10 inches in diameter (31 inches circumference) or greater, at breast height (DBH), measured at 4.5 feet above natural grade level" — or 75% of maturity, or is an endangered/threatened, heritage or memorial tree.
What's protected in Mount Vernon
- Significant trees — 10 inches DBH or greater, or 75% of maturity
- Endangered or threatened trees on the New York protected native species list (6 NYCRR 193.3) or the Westchester County list of endangered plants
- Heritage trees — individual trees of unique value judged by age, rarity, size, aesthetic, botanical, ecological, cultural or historic value — and memorial trees
- Public trees — any tree growing in any public place, property or right-of-way
- Any tree on a lot under Planning Board subdivision, site plan or special use permit review, or Architectural Review Board certificate of appropriateness review
How to apply in Mount Vernon
- 1
Check the exemptions in § 252-4B(1) first: a tree under 10 inches DBH, a tree that must come out under an actual emergency supported by documentation to protect life or property including adjoining properties, or an infested tree. The code adds: "While a tree permit is not required, other permits may apply."
- 2
Apply to the Department of Public Works. The application must give the City at least 20 business days' advance notice to conduct an inspection.
- 3
Include your name and address, the property address, the total number of trees to be removed, the DBH of each, how many qualify as significant, endangered/threatened, heritage or memorial trees, and the purpose of the removal.
- 4
Include a sketch you draw and/or still photographs showing the property dimensions, the location of all trees, and the DBH and location of the trees to be removed.
- 5
Attach proof of approval of any additional permits the removal requires.
- 6
Show that you have retained a licensed contractor. No one may fell, cut, trim or remove any tree for hire in the City whose branches or trunk are two inches or more thick at the point of severance without a license.
- 7
Pay $50 per tree, unless the City Tree Surgeon finds the tree diseased, infested or dangerous.
- 8
The City Tree Surgeon inspects and gives a recommendation to the approving authority within 20 business days. The Building Department and DPW, with advice from the Mount Vernon Tree Advisory Board, grant, deny or grant with conditions. You are notified in writing and/or email either way.
- 9
If replacement is required, plant the new tree — minimum three inches DBH, from the Commissioner of Public Works' official list — within six months, or pay the fee-in-lieu.
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Fee
- $50 per tree. § 252-5A: "The permit fee for each tree to be removed is to be $50. There will be no fee charged where the tree has been determined by the City Tree Surgeon to be diseased, infested or dangerous."
- Penalties
- § 252-16B: a fine of not more than $1,000 per tree for the first tree. For a second and subsequent offense within a one-year period, a fine of not more than $2,000 per tree. All fines go to the Mount Vernon Tree Fund Escrow Account. The violator must also repair or replace in kind every tree harmed or removed, or pay the fee-in-lieu, and any replacement that fails to survive two years must be replaced again at the violator's expense. No building permit or certificate of occupancy may issue for new construction on the property until the chapter is satisfied, and any associated site plan approval, special use permit, subdivision approval, building permit or certificate of appropriateness is suspended or revoked until the violation is cured.
- Ordinance
- Code of the City of Mount Vernon, Chapter 252 — Trees (adopted 11-13-1957; amended in its entirety 12-14-2022, approved 12-15-2022)
Worth knowing
- Fee-in-lieu of on-site replacement is $500 per tree not replaced, payable at the time the permit is issued.
- Permitted removal hours are 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on weekdays. A separate permit is required for weekend removal.
- Stumps must be ground down to six inches below ground level and covered flush with the surface. If removal damages a sidewalk, structure or surrounding area, the contractor is liable for all associated costs.
- Mount Vernon defines clear-cutting as removing more than two trees on any City lot, public or private. The code says the practice "is strongly prohibited by the City and will only be considered where extenuating circumstances are determined to be present."
- If your project is in Planning Board subdivision/site plan/special use review or ARB certificate of appropriateness review, the landscape plan filed with that application replaces the separate tree removal permit application.
- An "ordinary homeowner" — the owner of an owner-occupied residence — may apply for relief from the replacement requirements on economic hardship grounds.
- Appeals go to the Department of Public Works within 10 business days of the determination; a decision follows within 60 calendar days.
- The Tree Advisory Board sits under Public Works / Bureau of Parks and meets the third Thursday of each month at 4:00 p.m.
- The Buildings Department's direct line is 914-665-2483. The city's staff directory lists no direct number for Public Works, so 914-665-2300 is the City Hall main line.
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.
- — A direct phone number for the Department of Public Works or the City Tree Surgeon — the city's staff directory does not list one.