Do you need a permit?
It depends on the tree
Portland is the strictest city in Oregon on private trees and the only one of these ten with no lot-size escape hatch. A private tree 12 inches or more in diameter, measured 4.5 feet above the ground, needs a removal permit — on any lot, at any time, whether or not you are building anything. Under 12 inches and outside an overlay, no permit. Inside an environmental, greenway, river, scenic or plan-district overlay the threshold drops to 6 inches and sometimes to every tree of any size. Street trees always need a permit. Most tree permit fees were eliminated on July 1, 2025.
Size threshold
Portland City Code 11.40.020.C: "Private trees. Private trees 12 or more inches in diameter are regulated by this Chapter unless otherwise specified in Portland City Code Title 33." Diameter is defined at 11.80.020.B.14: "Diameter refers to the cross-sectional size expressed in inches of a tree measured 4.5 feet above the ground." The city states it plainly on its own decision chart: "A removal permit is needed for trees 12 inches diameter at 4.5 feet tall and larger." In the overlay zones listed in Table 40-1, the Title 11 threshold for private trees drops to 6 inches, and Title 33 separately regulates everything below that.
What's protected in Portland
- Private trees 12 inches diameter and larger, citywide, with no exemption for ordinary residential lots.
- Private trees 6 inches and larger in the environmental conservation and protection ("c" and "p"), greenway ("n" "q" "g" "i" "r"), Pleasant Valley Natural Resources ("v"), river environmental ("e") and scenic resource ("s") overlay zones, and in the Cascade Station, Columbia South Shore, Johnson Creek Basin, Portland International Airport, Rocky Butte and South Auditorium plan districts. Table 40-1 note [1]: "If a site is in more than one overlay zone or Plan District, the regulations for both areas apply."
- Street trees of any size. Table 40-1 lists "Street all" for every overlay, and the city states "A permit is required to remove any street tree."
- City trees three inches in diameter or larger (11.40.020.B).
- Heritage Trees, which are exempted from Chapter 11.40 only because Chapter 11.20 governs them instead. The city states: "All heritage tree work requires a permit."
- Trees required to be preserved by a condition of a land use review, a tree plan, or a required stormwater facility. 11.80.020.B defines a Protected tree as "a tree that must be retained and protected because of a condition of approval on a land use review, a tree plan, or because it is a Heritage Tree."
- Trees in a parking lot, which the city routes to the Bureau of Development Services rather than Urban Forestry.
How to apply in Portland
- 1
Confirm the tree is on private property and not a street tree. The city treats a tree straddling the private property line and the street as a street tree, and on unimproved paved streets a tree within 15 feet of the edge of pavement may be a street tree.
- 2
Work the city's six-step chart in order. 1) Does the property have an active development permit, or will it be developed soon? If yes, a BDS permit is required — call 503-823-7300.
- 3
2) Is the tree a Heritage Tree? Check the Heritage Tree Database. If yes, an Urban Forestry permit is required.
- 4
3) Does a land use review govern the tree's preservation? If yes, a BDS permit is required.
- 5
4) Is the tree in overlay zone c, e, g, h, i, n, p, q, r, s or v, or in the Cascade Station, Columbia South Shore, Johnson Creek Basin, Portland International Airport, Rocky Butte or South Auditorium plan district? If yes, a BDS or Urban Forestry permit is likely required — call 503-823-TREE with your address.
- 6
5) Is the tree 12 inches DBH or greater? If yes, an Urban Forestry permit is required.
- 7
6) Is the tree in a parking lot? If yes, a BDS permit is required. If no to all six, no permit is required.
- 8
Apply online through DevHub. Removal of up to four healthy trees per site per calendar year under 20 inches is a Type A permit with tree-for-tree replacement and no public notice; 20 inches and larger is a Type B with inch-for-inch replacement. Table 40-3 note [2]: "No public notice or opportunity for public appeal is required for removal of one healthy tree > 20" diameter per lot per year in any residential zone."
- 9
For an emergency, 11.40.020.D allows the hazardous portion to come down first, but "Any person who prunes or removes a tree under the provisions of this Subsection must, within seven days of such action, apply for a Type A tree permit," with photographs or other documentation proving the emergency.
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Fee
- Most tree permits are now free. The city states: "Starting July 1, 2025, most Urban Forestry tree permit fees will be eliminated or significantly reduced. Permits are still required, but in most cases, there will no longer be a cost to apply. This change is made possible by funding from the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF)." Permits with no fee beginning July 1, 2025: Tree Removal and Replanting; Street Tree Pruning (with inspection); Tree Chemical Treatment; Street Tree Attachment; Ornamental Tree Lighting on Street Trees; Administrative Reviews and Appeals. One reduced fee: Replanting Waiver, cut from $100 to $50. "These updates apply to applications received on or after July 1, 2025."
- Penalties
- Portland City Code 11.70.090.B.1: the City Administrator may "require payment of a civil penalty up to $1,000 per day. Each tree constitutes a separate violation, and each day that the person fails to obtain a permit or remains in noncompliance with a permit or tree plan may also constitute a separate violation." The Code Hearings Officer may separately order up to $1,000 per day. The city may also refuse land use and development permit applications until the violation is resolved, delay intake of further tree permits, require replacement up to inch-for-inch, and disqualify an arborist, builder, landscaper, contractor or tree service from City contracts and from the city's list of local tree care providers for two years.
- Ordinance
- Portland City Code Title 11, Trees — Chapter 11.40 (Tree Permit Requirements, No Associated Development), Chapter 11.50 (Trees in Development Situations), Chapter 11.70 (Enforcement) and Chapter 11.80 (Definitions and Measurements). Title 11 was added by Ordinance 184522 and amended by Ordinances 185448, 185654 and 186053, effective January 1, 2015. Sections 11.40.020, 11.40.030, 11.40.050 and 11.40.060 were most recently amended by Ordinance 191988, effective January 3, 2025. The most recent Title 11 change on the city's books is Ordinance 192095, effective October 24, 2025.
Worth knowing
- How the city proves an unpermitted removal is worth knowing. 11.70.060.B: "If any tree is removed without a tree removal permit, a violation will be determined by measuring the circumference of the stump at the ground to establish the diameter size of the tree. For purposes of this Subsection, the diameter size of the tree is the circumference divided by 3.14." And 11.70.060.C: if the stump is gone, the city may use aerial imagery, and "when the associated canopy measures 1,600 square feet at the edge of the dripline, this may be considered prima facie evidence of a violation."
- Storm losses are not violations. 11.70.060.E: "Tree removal, topping, or other injury caused by natural causes or weather will not be deemed a violation of this Title, provided there is no other clear evidence to suggest that the tree was deliberately removed or injured."
- Topping counts as removal. 11.70.050.E: "It is unlawful for any person to top or excessively prune any tree. Trees must be allowed to grow in their natural form. A tree that has been topped or excessively pruned may be considered 'removed' for the purposes of establishing penalties and any replacement requirements."
- Pruning a private tree needs no permit unless the tree is a native tree in the c, p or v overlay zones. Outside those overlays, Table 40-3 states plainly that no permit is required for "pruning trees outside of the environmental protection (p), environmental conservation (c), or Pleasant Valley Natural Resource (v) overlay zones."
- Dead, dying and dangerous trees, nuisance species on the Portland Plant List, and trees whose trunk base sits wholly or partly within 10 horizontal feet of a building or attached structure are all Type A permits — still a permit, but no public notice and only tree-for-tree replacement.
- There is a documented cross-reference error in the code. Table 40-3 tells you that no permit is needed for "removal of trees smaller than the sizes regulated by this Chapter (see Subsection 11.40.020 B.)" — but 11.40.020.B is the City tree provision. Private trees are subsection C. The 12-inch figure is in C.
- Trees outside city limits, including the County Urban Pocket Areas in unincorporated Multnomah County, are exempt from Chapter 11.40 (11.40.030.B) but are still subject to most of the Chapter 11.70 enforcement provisions.
- The city responds to any tree that has fallen and is blocking the right-of-way, including private trees. Call 503-823-TREE and press 1.
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 dollar amounts on the current Title 11 Trees Fee Schedule. The city states most fees were eliminated July 1, 2025 and names the one reduced fee, but the fee schedule page itself did not return content, so the residual charges — the monthly enforcement penalty, the Tree Planting and Preservation Fund payment-in-lieu rate, and the restoration fee for City and street trees — could not be read.
- — Whether a given address sits in a regulated overlay zone or plan district. This is parcel-specific and is the single biggest reason to call 503-823-TREE before cutting; the city directs residents to the Overlay Zone Map and PortlandMaps for this.
- — A street address for Urban Forestry. The city publishes the phone and email but the contact page for the program returned 404.
Sources
- Portland City Code 11.40 — Tree Permit Requirements (No Associated Development), including Table 40-1 and Table 40-3
- Portland City Code 11.70 — Enforcement, including the $1,000 per day civil penalty and the stump-measurement rule
- Portland City Code 11.80 — Definitions and Measurements (diameter measured 4.5 feet above the ground)
- Portland City Code Title 11 — Trees, chapter index and ordinance history
- City of Portland — Do I Need a Permit to Remove Trees on Private Property? (the six-step chart)
- City of Portland — Do I Need a Tree Permit? (July 1, 2025 fee elimination; street tree vs private tree)
- City of Portland — Tree Permits and Regulations (Urban Forestry contact)