Do you need a permit?
It depends on the tree
Renton lets you take out up to two significant trees a year without a permit, but a landmark tree always needs one. Significant starts at 6 inches DBH; landmark starts at 24 inches. The permit is called a Routine Vegetation Management Permit (RVMP).
Size threshold
Significant tree: "a tree with a DBH of at least six inches (6"), except alder or cottonwood trees, which qualify as significant trees with a DBH of eight inches (8") or greater." Landmark tree: "a tree with a diameter at chest height (DBH) of twenty-four inches (24") or greater, except for Big Leaf Maples, Black Cottonwoods, and Red Alder trees, which qualify as landmark trees with a DBH of thirty inches (30") or greater."
What's protected in Renton
- Landmark trees — a permit is always required to remove one
- Protected trees as defined by the code
- Trees within 10 feet of a parking lot with 10 or more spaces
- The last two remaining significant trees on a property (unless high-risk)
- Vegetation on vacant property, which requires an RVMP for any vegetation management
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Ordinance
- Renton Municipal Code 4-4-130 — Tree Retention and Land Clearing Regulations
Worth knowing
- An RVMP is required for: removal of a landmark tree, removal of more than two significant trees in a calendar year, and vegetation management on vacant property.
- You may remove up to two significant trees per year without a permit, but only if there is no active development permit, the trees are not protected or landmark trees, they are not within 10 feet of a parking lot with 10+ spaces, and they are not the only two remaining significant trees on the site (unless high-risk).
- Separately, up to three high-risk trees may be removed in a one-year period without an RVMP, provided no landmark trees are included.
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 RVMP fee.
- — A direct phone number for the tree permit desk — rentonwa.gov blocks automated access.
- — Replacement-tree requirements after an approved removal.
- — Penalties for removing a landmark tree without a permit.