Do you need a permit?
No permit required for most private trees
No permit, at any size, for a tree standing on your own lot when you are not building anything. Roanoke's tree chapter is drawn tightly around city property: Chapter 33 makes it unlawful to cut, trim, prune or remove a tree without a permit only "in the public streets or ways or in any of the public grounds or property of the city." The zoning ordinance's landscaping and tree-canopy rules exist, but they switch on only when a development plan is filed. Two things still catch homeowners — the tree on the strip out front, and any tree that was required by an approved plan.
Size threshold
None for removal on private property. The only diameter figure in Roanoke's tree rules is a development-stage preservation duty, and note that it is measured as caliper rather than DBH: Sec. 36.2-643(a)(1) asks owners to preserve "trees of six (6) inch caliper or larger; ornamental trees of any size; trees within required yards, along property boundaries, or within twenty (20) feet of streams or lakes."
What's protected in Roanoke
- Any tree or shrub in the public streets or ways, or on any public grounds or property of the city (Sec. 33-2(a))
- Trees required by, or preserved for credit under, an approved development or landscaping plan
- Trees at a site with an active development plan, where Sec. 36.2-643 preservation duties apply
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Fee
- For the city-property permit, Sec. 33-2(a) says each application "shall be accompanied by a fee in such amount as is prescribed by the city council," and Sec. 33-2(b) adds security "in a sum not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) to guarantee satisfactory completion of the work." The code states the fee only by reference to the council schedule, so we are not quoting a dollar figure.
- Penalties
- Cutting, trimming, pruning or removing a tree on city property without the city manager's permit is a Class 3 misdemeanor (Sec. 33-2(f)). Planting a tree or shrub on a public right-of-way or other city property without authority is a Class 4 misdemeanor (Sec. 33-1), as is stripping flowers, fruits or nuts from a plant on public property (Sec. 33-4). Removing a tree that a development plan required is a zoning violation, and the Zoning Administrator has authority to require replacement of trees destroyed during site development (Sec. 36.2-643(a)(2)).
- Ordinance
- Roanoke City Code Chapter 33 — Vegetation and Trash, Article I (Secs. 33-1 through 33-5, from Code 1956, Tit. VIII, Ch. 6); Chapter 36.2 — Zoning, Article 6, landscaping and screening at Secs. 36.2-640 through 36.2-649 (Ord. No. 41817, July 20, 2020; tree canopy at Sec. 36.2-644 amended by Ord. No. 43049, September 16, 2024). Code of the City of Roanoke codified through Ordinance No. 43355, enacted February 17, 2026 (Supp. No. 94).
Worth knowing
- The scope clause is the answer. Sec. 33-2(a): "It shall be unlawful for any person other than a duly authorized employee or agent of the city, to cut, trim, prune or remove any tree or shrub in the public streets or ways or in any of the public grounds or property of the city, without first obtaining a permit so to do from the city manager." Private property is simply not in it.
- The zoning landscaping division switches on only with a development plan: "The provisions of this division shall apply to any construction or other development requiring a basic development plan or a comprehensive development plan pursuant to Sections 36.2-552 and 36.2-553" (Sec. 36.2-641(a)).
- And a development plan is only filed with a zoning permit application. Sec. 36.2-552(a) requires a basic development plan for "construction of, reconstruction of, relocation of, or addition to a one (1) or two (2) dwelling building or permitted accessory structure and including associated grading and clearing." Taking down a tree with nothing else going on does not trigger a zoning permit, so nothing in the division reaches it.
- Even when you do build, small residential work is carved out of the canopy rules: "Construction of an addition to or accessory structure associated with an existing one (1) or two (2) dwelling building, provided that no required trees are removed as part of the project, shall be exempt from the requirements of this section" (Sec. 36.2-644(b)(1)(B)). Note the proviso — remove a required tree and the exemption evaporates.
- Preserving a big tree during development pays: an existing approved tree of at least 6-inch caliper earns canopy credit for two trees, 9-inch for three, and 12-inch for four (Sec. 36.2-643(a)(3)).
- One power most residents do not know about: the city manager may spray and treat any infected tree or shrub in the city "whether on public or private property," after giving the owner reasonable notice, and interfering with that work is a Class 4 misdemeanor (Sec. 33-5).
- A permit for work on city trees runs at most one year, may cover more than one location, and bars the use of climbing irons or spurs on any live tree (Sec. 33-2(c), (d)).
- Roanoke is not a Tidewater locality, so the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act overlay that drives the tree rules in Norfolk, Hampton and Virginia Beach does not apply here.
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 amount of the Sec. 33-2 permit fee, which the code leaves to the city council's schedule.
- — Whether Roanoke separately restricts removal within the erosion and sediment control or stormwater chapters on a steeply sloped lot. We did not read Chapters 11.6 and 11.7 in full.
- — A direct phone line for the city arborist. Parks and Recreation at 540-853-2236 is the number the city publishes.