Do you need a permit?
It depends on the tree
Rockville has a Significant Tree Removal Permit, charges $10 a tree for it, and publishes the application — but section 10.5-32(a) takes single-family lots straight back out: "This section does not apply to the removal of any significant tree located on a single-family residential lot that is not otherwise subject to the provisions of this chapter." So if you live in a detached house in Rockville and are not building anything, the permit is not yours to file. It matters for townhouse and condo common areas, for lots already carrying a Forest Conservation Plan, and for anyone doing construction. One thing everyone gets wrong: the strip between your sidewalk and the curb is a city tree under a state blanket permit, and the city says outright that residents may not touch it.
Size threshold
A "significant tree" under section 10.5-5 is "a champion tree, a specimen tree, or a tree located within a forest with a diameter of twenty-four (24) inches or more, a tree located outside of a forest with a diameter of twelve (12) inches or more, or a tree located within twenty-five feet of the limits of disturbance with a diameter of six (6) inches or more." A "specimen tree" is "a tree with a diameter equal to or greater than thirty (30) inches or that is seventy-five (75) percent of the diameter of the state champion tree of that species." IMPORTANT: the city's own summary of the amendments adopted January 12, 2026 states that "landscape trees (i.e., trees not located in a forest) are now deemed significant once they reach 6 inches in diameter at 4.5 feet above ground level (whereas the former minimum standard was 12 inches)." The 12-inch figure in the codified text above is out of date. Use 6 inches.
What's protected in Rockville
- Significant trees on private property that is NOT a single-family residential lot. Section 10.5-32(b): "It is unlawful for any person to remove any significant tree on private property, including trees located within utility easements, not otherwise covered by a Forest Conservation Plan, without first receiving a permit from the City Forester."
- Champion trees — "the largest tree of its species within the United States, the State, county, or municipality."
- Specimen trees — 30 inches diameter or more, or 75 percent of the state champion of that species.
- Any tree within 25 feet of the limits of disturbance at 6 inches diameter or more, which is what catches construction, driveway and trenching work.
- Trees inside a recorded Forest Conservation Easement. Rockville publishes an interactive Forest Conservation Easements Map so you can check your own lot.
- Street and park trees. The city: "It is unlawful for residents to prune, remove, plant, or conduct any other activity in the right-of-way or in city parks and woodlands."
- Forest on a tract of 40,000 square feet or more, or any single-lot construction disturbing 20,000 square feet or more of forest, which triggers a Forest Stand Delineation and Forest Conservation Plan under section 10.5-11.
How to apply in Rockville
- 1
First work out whether you are exempt. Section 10.5-32(a) removes single-family residential lots from the private-property permit entirely, "except that the portion of a public right-of-way abutting a single dwelling unit residential lot is subject to section 10.5-31."
- 2
Check the city's interactive Forest Conservation Easements Map. A recorded easement overrides the single-family exemption because the lot is then "otherwise subject to the provisions of this chapter."
- 3
If a permit is needed, file the Significant Tree Removal Permit Application published on the Forest and Tree Preservation page and pay $10 per tree, capped at $50.
- 4
The City Forester "shall issue a permit" if the tree is dead or dying or in danger of falling; is diseased, insect infested or injured and cannot reasonably be restored; constitutes a hazard to persons or threatens injury to property including other trees; or must come out to maintain a utility.
- 5
If none of those conditions applies, section 10.5-32(d) allows a permit "only upon the condition that the tree removed be replaced in accordance with the tree replacement rates set forth in subsection 10.5-22(a)(1), or that payment be made to the City's Forest Conservation fund in lieu of significant tree replacement."
- 6
If you are developing rather than just removing, the sequence is: Natural Resource Inventory / Forest Stand Delineation (30 day review), then Forest Conservation Plan (45 day review), then legal documents, then the Forestry Permit, then a five-year post-construction warranty and maintenance period.
- 7
For a street tree or a park tree, do not do the work. Use the city's Report a Damaged or Fallen Tree form or call 240-314-8700.
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Fee
- From the FY27 Forestry Application Fee Schedule "As adopted by the Mayor and Council, effective 7/1/2026": Significant Tree Removal Permit application, "$10 per tree - maximum fee of $50." Forestry Permit Fee, "Single Family Residential Lots: $250." Forest Stand Delineation for a single residential lot under five acres, $320.00. Forest Conservation Plan for single residential lots being subdivided up to seven lots, $365.00 per lot. Resubmittal fee for third and subsequent submissions, $525.00. Non-compliant re-inspections from the third onward, $270.00.
- Penalties
- Section 10.5-34(a): "Pursuant to Section 6-1612 of the Natural Resources Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, a fine in the amount of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) may be imposed for each violation of this chapter, including any violation of an approved Forest Conservation Plan which fine may be recovered in a civil action brought by the City. Each day a violation continues is a separate violation." The city may also issue a stop-work order, forfeit posted security, "Order corrective action to restore or reforest an area," revoke a covered permit, and "Assess an administrative penalty in the amount of thirty cents ($0.30) per square foot of the area found to be in non-compliance with required forest conservation." Touching a roadside tree without authority is separately enforceable by the DNR Forest Service.
- Ordinance
- Rockville City Code, Chapter 10.5 — Forest and Tree Preservation, sections 10.5-1 through 10.5-35, known as the Forest and Tree Preservation Ordinance (FTPO). Ord. No. 12-07, adopted July 16, 2007, amended Chapter 10.5 in its entirety; the chapter derives from Ord. No. 21-92, adopted December 14, 1992. Section 10.5-32 was further amended by Ord. No. 10-09, section 4, 3-23-09. The Mayor and Council adopted a further round of FTPO amendments on January 12, 2026, effective immediately. Municode currency: codified through Ordinance No. 16-25, adopted November 10, 2025 (Supp. No. 16) — which is BEFORE the January 2026 amendments.
Worth knowing
- The ordinance changed on January 12, 2026 and the codified text online has not caught up. The single most consequential change: significant status for a landscape tree dropped from 12 inches to 6 inches diameter at 4.5 feet. The city also added a lot tree requirement at section 10.5-11(b)(1)(d), mandating "the planting or preservation of three lot trees for the construction of a new single dwelling unit or the demolition, repair, or renovation of more than 50 percent of the floor area of an existing single dwelling unit," extended public notice for removal of priority retention forest from 20 to 30 days, allowed off-site planting as mitigation, and required that Forest Conservation Plan plantings be "a minimum of 80% native tree species."
- Rockville holds an annual blanket roadside tree permit rather than pulling one tree at a time: "As a public agency, the City of Rockville follows the regulations of the Roadside Tree Blanket Permit, issued to the city annually by the DNR." That is why the city, and only the city, works on street trees.
- The city is blunt about the consequence: "Performing any tree care on a roadside tree without a permit can result in fines or other enforcement actions by the DNR Forest Service."
- The city removes street trees sparingly: "only trees that are dead, diseased, severely damaged, or pose a risk to public safety will be removed."
- Utility easements are expressly inside the private-property rule at section 10.5-32(b), so an easement across your back yard does not put a significant tree beyond the ordinance where the ordinance applies.
- Rockville is not in the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area. Montgomery County does not appear on the Critical Area Commission's list of Critical Area jurisdictions, so the tidal buffer rules do not reach here.
- The tree company you hire must hold a Maryland Licensed Tree Expert licence under Natural Resources Article section 5-417(a)(1). The city publishes a "Find a Tree Contractor" link and DNR runs a free lookup at dnrweb.dnr.state.md.us/forests/tree_expert_search.asp.
- Appeals of a City Forester decision go to the Board of Appeals under section 10.5-35, and from there to the Circuit Court for Montgomery County.
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.
- — Whether the January 12, 2026 amendments changed section 10.5-32 itself — the single-family residential exemption. The city's Summary Guide does not list a change to 10.5-32, but it warns that it "is not an exhaustive list of amendments made to the FTPO, nor does it use the precise language of the FTPO." The amended full text was not published in a form we could read. Call the City Forester at 240-314-8705 before relying on the exemption.
- — The full amended text of Chapter 10.5 as of January 12, 2026. Municode is codified only through November 10, 2025, so the version we quote is the pre-amendment text except where the city's own Summary Guide corrects it.
- — Whether "single-family residential lot" in section 10.5-32(a) is the same thing as the defined term "single dwelling unit residential lot" in section 10.5-5, which expressly includes townhouses and semi-detached dwellings on separate lots but excludes homeowner association common areas. The ordinance uses two different phrasings and defines only one of them.
- — How long a Significant Tree Removal Permit takes to issue, and how long it remains valid.
- — Whether an emergency or storm-damaged tree can be taken before the permit issues. The ordinance lists dead, dying and hazardous trees as grounds for issuing a permit but sets out no after-the-fact route.
Sources
- City of Rockville — Forest and Tree Preservation
- City of Rockville — Street and Park Tree Management
- Summary Guide: 2026 Amendments to the Forest and Tree Preservation Ordinance (PDF)
- FY27 Forestry Application Fee Schedule, effective 7/1/2026 (PDF)
- Rockville FTPO Process Basics (PDF)
- Rockville City Code, Chapter 10.5 — Forest and Tree Preservation
- Maryland Natural Resources Article section 5-406 — Roadside Tree Law
- Maryland DNR — Licensed Tree Expert lookup
- Maryland Critical Area Commission — local planning and zoning contacts