Tree Removal Permits in Stamford, CT

Verified against Stamford city sources · last checked 2026-08-06

Do you need a permit?

No permit required for most private trees

Stamford has never adopted a private tree ordinance, and its public-tree authority is written so that it cannot reach your yard. Code section 227-1 gives the Landscape Specialist control of trees "that are within the limits of any public roads or grounds," and section 227-1.1(C) applies the permit requirement to anyone who wants a tree cut "within the limits of any public road or grounds." A full sweep of the adopted Code turns up no tree preservation, removal permit, replacement or clear-cutting provision for private land at any diameter. Two things still bite: the Environmental Protection Board regulates clearing near wetlands and watercourses, and the tree you mow around out front may be in the city right-of-way.

Size threshold

None exists for a removal permit. Three size figures appear in Stamford documents and none of them is a permit trigger — and the conventions differ, so do not conflate them. Inland Wetlands regulations, section 2: "Clear Cutting means the harvest of timber in a fashion which removes substantially all trees two inches or greater in diameter at breast height (dbh)." Inland Wetlands section 6 requires application site plans to show "trees greater than 6 inches dbh within the proposed limit of disturbance." Zoning Regulations section 2 requires an existing-conditions survey showing "trees of 8-inch caliper or more" — caliper, not DBH — while the section 7 subdivision survey says "significant trees of eight (8) inches in diameter (dbh) or greater."

What's protected in Stamford

Trees and shrubs within the limits of any public road or grounds. Section 227-1.1(A): "Any person ... that removes, prunes, injures or defaces any tree or shrub ... within the limits of any public road or grounds without the written permission of the Landscape Specialist ... shall be fined not more than ninety dollars ($90.00) for each offense and shall be liable for the cost of replacement."
Trees in wetlands, watercourses and upland review areas. The Environmental Protection Board regulations make "any clearing, grubbing, filling, grading, paving, excavating, constructing, depositing, or removing of material" a regulated activity within 50 feet of a wetland or watercourse outside a public water supply watershed, 75 feet of a wetland inside one, and 100 feet of a watercourse inside one. "Remove" is defined to include "cut."
Trees in 100-year floodplains and FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas, and in recorded open space or conservation easement areas — listed by the EPB as areas where its regulations apply.
Street trees required by Zoning section 9.G as a condition of development, which carry a 3-season warranty and a $1,000 cash deposit or bond per tree released only when the tree is "deemed in good health by the City of Stamford Tree Warden."
NOT protected: heritage, specimen or landmark trees on private land. Zoning section 2 is hortatory only — "Site Development shall seek to preserve existing specimen trees ... the premature demolition and site clearance of prospective Development sites is specifically discouraged" — with no permit and no enforcement mechanism attached.

Fees, penalties, and the ordinance

Fee: No fee, because no permit applies to an ordinary private-property tree. If an Environmental Protection Board permit is triggered: base application fee $200.00 plus the $60.00 State Land Use fee; EPB site plan review $200.00; a "Permitted Operations and Uses" ruling is $0.00; a public hearing is $1,000.00; and an application filed as a result of a violation is charged double.
Penalties: Section 227-1.1(A): a fine "not more than ninety dollars ($90.00) for each offense" plus "the cost of replacement of such tree or shrub." Subsection (G): "Each tree or shrub removed, pruned, injured or defaced shall constitute a separate violation." Subsection (H) makes it enforceable by civil citation under section 97-10B. State law adds C.G.S. 23-65(b), under which a court may order restoration and award "damages of up to five times the cost of restoration or statutory damages of up to five thousand dollars," and C.G.S. 52-560, which awards "three times the reasonable value" of a tree cut on someone else's land.
Ordinance: Stamford Code of Ordinances Chapter 227, Trees and Shrubs. History: Articles I and II adopted 4-7-1997 as part of Ord. No. 814; Article III adopted 11-16-1983 by Ord. No. 521. Article I amended 5-7-2001 by Ord. No. 956; section 227-1.1 amended 7-6-1999 by Ord. No. 893 and 1-5-2004 by Ord. No. 1020. Code codified through Ordinance No. 1324, enacted November 5, 2025 (Supplement No. 72, Update 2). Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Regulations adopted by the Environmental Protection Board October 17, 2024 after Board of Representatives approval October 7, 2024, originally adopted May 5, 1975. Zoning Regulations as adopted November 30, 1951 with amendments through May 31, 2026.

Worth knowing

Stamford says the gap out loud. The city created an Urban Forestry Working Group whose charge includes proposing "disincentives for removal of mature trees" — which is an admission that none exist yet.
The city calls the same officer three things. Chapter 227-1 vests authority in the "Landscape Specialist of the City of Stamford Office of Operations"; Zoning section 9.G.2 and C.G.S. Chapter 451 call the officer the "Tree Warden"; the city website calls the unit the "Forestry Division."
Coastal Area Management review under Zoning section 9.A is triggered by "Buildings, Uses and Structures" within the coastal boundary. Tree removal by itself does not trigger coastal site plan review.
The wetlands regulations carve out ordinary yard care: section 4.3(d) exempts "Uses that are incidental for the enjoyment and maintenance of residential property ... includ[ing] maintenance of existing structures and landscaping, but shall not include removal or deposition of significant amounts of material from or onto a wetland or watercourse."
Stamford does not license tree contractors. The state does. C.G.S. 23-61b(a): "No person shall advertise, solicit or contract to do arboriculture within this state at any time without a license ... except that any person may improve or protect any tree on such person's own premises."
Overgrowth runs the other way. Code section 214-27 forbids an owner to "set out, maintain or allow to grow ... any hedge, grass, tree, shrub or other vegetation ... so as to be a sight line obstruction to motorist or to interfere with the free use of the sidewalk" (amended 8-3-2015 by Ord. No. 1198).
Chapter 227 Article II is a duty on the city, not on you: the Landscape Specialist must review city capital projects affecting trees "growing on public or private property within fifteen (15) feet" of the project limits.
Chapter 227 Article III regulates tree-spraying vehicles that draw water from Stamford waterbodies, requiring annual Health Department certification.
The Landscape Specialist has a shot clock. Section 227-1.1(C) requires a written decision within 35 days, and if none issues "said application shall be deemed approved."

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 name of Stamford's current Tree Warden or Landscape Specialist, and any direct dial for the Forestry Division. Neither appears in the staff directory or on the Forestry Division page; the only published number is Citizen Services 203-977-4140.
— Whether a particular parcel sits inside a public water supply watershed, which is what moves the wetlands upland review area from 50 feet to 75 or 100 feet. That is address-specific and has to come from the EPB wetland map.
— Stamford's Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Regulations (Zoning section 9.C) were not read in full.
— No page on stamfordct.gov states affirmatively that no permit is required to remove a private tree. This entry is an exhaustive-absence finding across all 97 top-level nodes of the adopted Code plus the Zoning Regulations and the wetlands regulations.
— Municode's full-text search API returned HTTP 500 for the Stamford product, so the absence finding rests on a full-corpus sweep of the retrieved code text rather than on Municode's own search index.

Sources

Who to contact in Stamford

Forestry Division, Parks and Recreation Services, Office of Operations, City of Stamford (street and public trees). Environmental Protection Board (wetlands, watercourses, floodplain and conservation easements).

Citizen Services 203-977-4140. Parks and Recreation Services 203-977-5214. Environmental Protection Board 203-977-4028 (Executive Director Robert Clausi 203-977-4965). StamfordLandUse@StamfordCT.gov (Land Use Bureau, for EPB questions) Official page

Stamford Government Center, 888 Washington Boulevard, Stamford, CT 06901. EPB is on the 7th floor, open Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with walk-in permitting help every other Wednesday 9:30 a.m. to noon.

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Size threshold

What's protected in Stamford

Trees and shrubs within the limits of any public road or grounds. Section 227-1.1(A): "Any person ... that removes, prunes, injures or defaces any tree or shrub ... within the limits of any public road or grounds without the written permission of the Landscape Specialist ... shall be fined not more than ninety dollars ($90.00) for each offense and shall be liable for the cost of replacement."

Trees in wetlands, watercourses and upland review areas. The Environmental Protection Board regulations make "any clearing, grubbing, filling, grading, paving, excavating, constructing, depositing, or removing of material" a regulated activity within 50 feet of a wetland or watercourse outside a public water supply watershed, 75 feet of a wetland inside one, and 100 feet of a watercourse inside one. "Remove" is defined to include "cut."

Trees in 100-year floodplains and FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas, and in recorded open space or conservation easement areas — listed by the EPB as areas where its regulations apply.

Street trees required by Zoning section 9.G as a condition of development, which carry a 3-season warranty and a $1,000 cash deposit or bond per tree released only when the tree is "deemed in good health by the City of Stamford Tree Warden."

NOT protected: heritage, specimen or landmark trees on private land. Zoning section 2 is hortatory only — "Site Development shall seek to preserve existing specimen trees ... the premature demolition and site clearance of prospective Development sites is specifically discouraged" — with no permit and no enforcement mechanism attached.

Fees, penalties, and the ordinance

Fee

No fee, because no permit applies to an ordinary private-property tree. If an Environmental Protection Board permit is triggered: base application fee $200.00 plus the $60.00 State Land Use fee; EPB site plan review $200.00; a "Permitted Operations and Uses" ruling is $0.00; a public hearing is $1,000.00; and an application filed as a result of a violation is charged double.

Penalties

Section 227-1.1(A): a fine "not more than ninety dollars ($90.00) for each offense" plus "the cost of replacement of such tree or shrub." Subsection (G): "Each tree or shrub removed, pruned, injured or defaced shall constitute a separate violation." Subsection (H) makes it enforceable by civil citation under section 97-10B. State law adds C.G.S. 23-65(b), under which a court may order restoration and award "damages of up to five times the cost of restoration or statutory damages of up to five thousand dollars," and C.G.S. 52-560, which awards "three times the reasonable value" of a tree cut on someone else's land.

Ordinance

Stamford Code of Ordinances Chapter 227, Trees and Shrubs. History: Articles I and II adopted 4-7-1997 as part of Ord. No. 814; Article III adopted 11-16-1983 by Ord. No. 521. Article I amended 5-7-2001 by Ord. No. 956; section 227-1.1 amended 7-6-1999 by Ord. No. 893 and 1-5-2004 by Ord. No. 1020. Code codified through Ordinance No. 1324, enacted November 5, 2025 (Supplement No. 72, Update 2). Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Regulations adopted by the Environmental Protection Board October 17, 2024 after Board of Representatives approval October 7, 2024, originally adopted May 5, 1975. Zoning Regulations as adopted November 30, 1951 with amendments through May 31, 2026.

Worth knowing

Stamford says the gap out loud. The city created an Urban Forestry Working Group whose charge includes proposing "disincentives for removal of mature trees" — which is an admission that none exist yet.
The city calls the same officer three things. Chapter 227-1 vests authority in the "Landscape Specialist of the City of Stamford Office of Operations"; Zoning section 9.G.2 and C.G.S. Chapter 451 call the officer the "Tree Warden"; the city website calls the unit the "Forestry Division."
Coastal Area Management review under Zoning section 9.A is triggered by "Buildings, Uses and Structures" within the coastal boundary. Tree removal by itself does not trigger coastal site plan review.
The wetlands regulations carve out ordinary yard care: section 4.3(d) exempts "Uses that are incidental for the enjoyment and maintenance of residential property ... includ[ing] maintenance of existing structures and landscaping, but shall not include removal or deposition of significant amounts of material from or onto a wetland or watercourse."
Stamford does not license tree contractors. The state does. C.G.S. 23-61b(a): "No person shall advertise, solicit or contract to do arboriculture within this state at any time without a license ... except that any person may improve or protect any tree on such person's own premises."
Overgrowth runs the other way. Code section 214-27 forbids an owner to "set out, maintain or allow to grow ... any hedge, grass, tree, shrub or other vegetation ... so as to be a sight line obstruction to motorist or to interfere with the free use of the sidewalk" (amended 8-3-2015 by Ord. No. 1198).
Chapter 227 Article II is a duty on the city, not on you: the Landscape Specialist must review city capital projects affecting trees "growing on public or private property within fifteen (15) feet" of the project limits.
Chapter 227 Article III regulates tree-spraying vehicles that draw water from Stamford waterbodies, requiring annual Health Department certification.
The Landscape Specialist has a shot clock. Section 227-1.1(C) requires a written decision within 35 days, and if none issues "said application shall be deemed approved."

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 name of Stamford's current Tree Warden or Landscape Specialist, and any direct dial for the Forestry Division. Neither appears in the staff directory or on the Forestry Division page; the only published number is Citizen Services 203-977-4140.
— Whether a particular parcel sits inside a public water supply watershed, which is what moves the wetlands upland review area from 50 feet to 75 or 100 feet. That is address-specific and has to come from the EPB wetland map.
— Stamford's Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Regulations (Zoning section 9.C) were not read in full.
— No page on stamfordct.gov states affirmatively that no permit is required to remove a private tree. This entry is an exhaustive-absence finding across all 97 top-level nodes of the adopted Code plus the Zoning Regulations and the wetlands regulations.
— Municode's full-text search API returned HTTP 500 for the Stamford product, so the absence finding rests on a full-corpus sweep of the retrieved code text rather than on Municode's own search index.