Do you need a permit?
No permit required for most private trees
Norwalk rewrote its entire tree chapter on October 28, 2025, and the new chapter still stops at the property line for ordinary trees. Section 112-8A: "No Person shall Remove a City Tree, City Shrub or Required Tree without a permit from the Tree Warden." An oak standing wholly in your back yard is none of those, at any diameter. Two things do catch homeowners. If any part of the trunk base sits in the right-of-way, the Tree Warden may treat it as a "Streetscape Tree" and therefore a City Tree. And if the tree is within 100 feet of a wetland or watercourse, "clearing" is a regulated activity needing an Inland Wetland permit.
Size threshold
No size threshold triggers a private-property permit, because no private-property permit exists. Norwalk states its measurement convention explicitly: "DBH (DIAMETER AT BREAST HEIGHT) — The diameter of a Tree at 54 inches above grade as determined using the United States Forest Service method." That is diameter, not circumference, at 54 inches. Two size figures appear and neither reaches a private yard: a "TREE" is defined as a woody plant "with a DBH of at least two inches," and section 112-8D requires that "The permit for the Removal of any City Tree or Required Tree with a DBH of six inches or more shall be posted by the Tree Warden, or their designee, on the affected Tree(s) at least 10 days prior to such Removal."
What's protected in Norwalk
- City Trees and City Shrubs — "Any Tree in a Public Place," where a Public Place is "Any space owned and/or controlled by the City, including, but not limited to, the Right-of-Way, property operated or controlled by the Norwalk Board of Education or the Norwalk Housing Authority and any space in a City park."
- Streetscape Trees — "Any Tree or Shrub on public and/or private property with a base that originates, in whole or in part, in the Right-Of-Way and, in the sole and absolute judgment and/or discretion of the Tree Warden, serves as part of the Tree line of a street."
- Required Trees — "Any Tree required to be planted or maintained as part of an approval by any Land Use Regulatory Authority or under the terms of any deed, easement, agreement or other document relating to the sale, lease or other disposition of any property owned by the City."
- Legacy Trees (section 112-5) — "Any Tree as determined by the Legacy Tree Program ... to be of unique and intrinsic value to the general public because of its size, age, historic association, ecological importance or aesthetic value." Replacement runs at 4 times DBH or 4 times assessed value under section 112-10D.
- Anything within 100 feet of a wetland or watercourse. Norwalk's Inland Wetlands regulations make regulated any "clearing, grubbing, filling, grading, paving, excavating, construction, depositing or removal of material ... within one hundred (100) feet from the boundary of any wetland" or watercourse, or on slopes over 20 percent within 100 feet of either. "REMOVE" expressly "includes ... clear cut," and clear cutting is defined as removing "all species of trees down to a two-inch diameter at breast height."
- Work inside the drip line of a City Tree or Required Tree, which must follow ANSI A300 standards under section 112-9.
How to apply in Norwalk
- 1
This applies only to a City Tree, City Shrub or Required Tree. There is no application for an ordinary tree in your own yard.
- 2
Submit a written application to the Tree Warden under section 112-8B.
- 3
Include "written proof that the applicant has notified property owners of land that abuts or is directly across the street from the affected Tree(s) ... and the appropriate Land Use Regulatory Authority ... by a written notice delivered within three business days of the date of said application."
- 4
Include a Replanting Plan meeting section 112-10.
- 5
The Tree Warden inspects the site and decides in writing within 30 days. A permit for a tree 6 inches DBH or more is then posted on the tree for at least 10 days before removal.
- 6
To appeal, file a written appeal with the Tree Warden under section 112-15. The Warden must hold a public hearing and decide within three business days; further appeal goes to Superior Court, Stamford/Norwalk Judicial District, within 10 days.
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Fee
- No fee, because no permit is required for a private-property tree. For a City Tree or Required Tree, section 112-8B provides that "Each application shall be subject to a fee established in accordance with section 90-4, Approval of rates and fees," which delegates the amount to a published DPW fee schedule.
- Penalties
- Section 112-7D: "a fine up to $250 per City Tree, City Shrub or Required Tree, per violation." Section 112-8E adds mandatory replacement under section 112-10. Section 112-9B sets "$250 per day, per City Tree or Required Tree affected" for construction-standard violations, and section 112-9C adds a five-year bond at assessed value. Section 112-13C: "if the Tree Warden determines that any violation of this Chapter was willful, the Person responsible shall be liable for a civil penalty of up to three times the Assessed Value of each affected Tree or Shrub," with the City's legal fees added by 112-13E and each day a separate offense under 112-13F. State law adds C.G.S. 23-65(b), allowing "damages of up to five times the cost of restoration or statutory damages of up to five thousand dollars."
- Ordinance
- Code of the City of Norwalk, Chapter 112, Trees, sections 112-1 through 112-15. The code's own history note reads: "Adopted by the City of Norwalk Common Council 6-11-2002; amended in its entirety 10-28-2025." eCode360 customer ID NO0086, current published version dated May 26, 2026. Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Regulations adopted 2-12-1974, amended 6-25-2024, effective 7-1-2024. State law: C.G.S. 23-58, 23-59, 23-60, 23-65.
Worth knowing
- The chapter is brand new in substance. The October 2025 rewrite created an Urban Forestry Commission (section 112-4, five members with initial terms expiring 7/1/2027, 7/1/2028 and 7/1/2029), a Legacy Tree Program, a Tree Master Plan and a Norwalk Tree Account. Expect implementation details to keep moving.
- The Tree Warden's reach onto private land is expressly limited. Section 112-3B: "The Tree Warden shall have full power and authority over all Trees and Shrubs located within Public Places and, to the extent provided herein, on private property."
- The chapter's "Urban Forest" definition does sweep in private trees — "including those located on public and private property" — but that is descriptive language for planning, not a permit duty.
- The chapter assumes a licensed professional will do the work. "PRUNING — To cut off or Remove dead or living parts or branches of a Tree or Shrub performed by an arborist licensed in the State of Connecticut."
- Wetlands are the real private-land constraint here, and the upland review area is a full 100 feet. Ordinary yard care is carved out: "Uses incidental to the enjoyment or maintenance of residential property, such property defined as equal to or smaller than one acre and containing a residence ... shall include maintenance of existing structures and landscaping."
- Coastal site plan review is unlikely to catch a tree cut. Zoning section 118-1110 exempts "Construction, addition or alteration of a detached single-family dwelling" (with exceptions near tidal wetlands, coastal bluffs, beaches and dunes) and "Activities conducted for the specific purpose of conserving or preserving soil, vegetation, water, fish, shellfish, wildlife and other coastal land and water resources." Standalone tree removal is not a listed trigger.
- Norwalk zoning has no private tree preservation rule. Its landscape provisions are section 118-1000 (setbacks and buffer strips in business and industrial zones) and section 118-1250 (buffer strips and internal landscaping for off-street parking). Single-family lots are untouched.
- Norwalk imposes no local tree-contractor license. The CT DEEP arborist license under C.G.S. 23-61b applies instead.
- Chapter 114, Water Use for Tree Spraying (adopted 11-14-1972), is a public-health rule about drawing water from streams to refill spray tanks. It is not a removal rule.
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 Tree Warden's name and a direct phone line. Section 112-3A says only "The Mayor shall designate a Tree Warden," and no Tree Warden page or directory entry exists on norwalkct.gov. The DPW general number is the only verified contact.
- — The dollar amount of the Chapter 112 tree permit fee. Section 90-4 delegates it to a DPW fee schedule that could not be located.
- — The numbered ordinance behind the 10-28-2025 rewrite. eCode360 gives only the adoption date.
- — Whether a tree on private land can be designated a Legacy Tree over the owner's objection. Section 112-5A(2) lets any resident nominate a tree and the chapter states no consent requirement.
- — The contents of the Legacy Tree Registry and whether the Urban Forestry Commission has actually been seated.
- — No published tree-permit application form or step-by-step page exists on norwalkct.gov; the process above is read from the ordinance text.
Sources
- Norwalk Code Chapter 112 — Trees (amended in its entirety 10-28-2025)
- Code of the City of Norwalk — index
- Norwalk Code section 90-4 — approval of rates and fees
- Norwalk Zoning section 118-1110 — Coastal Zone
- Norwalk Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Regulations (effective 7-1-2024)
- City of Norwalk — Inland Wetland Agency
- City of Norwalk — Department of Public Works
- City of Norwalk — Conservation Office
- C.G.S. Chapter 451 — sections 23-58, 23-59, 23-60, 23-61a, 23-65
- CT DEEP — Commercial Arborist License