Do you need a permit?
It depends on the tree
Waipahu is an unincorporated community in the City and County of Honolulu, so Honolulu's island-wide rules are the only local tree rules. A tree the City Council has designated "exceptional" cannot be removed without Council approval, and any tree in the planting strip between the curb and your property line belongs to the City and needs a Parks and Recreation permit before it is pruned or removed. For an ordinary tree in your own yard, the City has published no clear blanket permit rule — call the Division of Urban Forestry with your address.
What's protected in Waipahu
- Trees on the City and County of Honolulu Register of Exceptional Trees (individually designated by the City Council under ROH Chapter 40, Article 8)
- Street trees — any tree in the "planting strip" between the curb or pavement of a street and the adjacent property line
How to apply in Waipahu
- 1
Check whether your tree is on the Register of Exceptional Trees, published with ROH Chapter 40, Article 8.
- 2
To prune an exceptional tree, complete the Application for Exceptional Tree Crown and/or Root Pruning.
- 3
Have a qualified arborist complete the Qualified Arborist Application Form.
- 4
Email signed copies to duf@honolulu.gov, or mail them to the Arborist Advisory Committee at 3902 Pākī Avenue, Honolulu, HI 96815.
- 5
To remove an exceptional tree, you need City Council approval under ROH § 40-8.8(a).
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Penalties
- Removing or destroying a designated exceptional tree without City Council approval: fine of not more than $1,000 (ROH § 40-8.8(a)). Pruning, spraying, removing, or injuring a planting-strip street tree without a permit is punishable on conviction by a fine not exceeding $500, imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both.
- Ordinance
- Revised Ordinances of Honolulu, Chapter 40, Article 8 — Protective Regulations for Exceptional Trees; Department of Parks and Recreation "Rules and Regulations Relative to Planting and Maintenance of Street Trees"
Worth knowing
- The ordinance contains no diameter or height trigger — a tree is regulated because the City Council individually designated it, not because it is big.
- ROH § 40-8.8(b) makes it unlawful to alter the characteristic shape of an exceptional tree or remove any branch without a Parks and Recreation permit, so pruning is covered as well as removal.
- The street tree rules cover more than cutting: it is also unlawful to injure a street tree by paving or filling around it so as to cut off air or water from the roots, by piling materials against it, or by fastening wire or cable to it.
- Hawaiʻi state law (HRS § 235-19) allows an income tax deduction of up to $3,000 per exceptional tree for maintenance spending, once in every three consecutive tax years.
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 a permit is required to remove an ordinary, non-designated tree on private property in Waipahu. No City and County of Honolulu source states a general rule or a diameter exemption.
- — Permit fees for exceptional-tree pruning or street tree work.
- — Whether any tree at a given Waipahu address is on the Register of Exceptional Trees.
Sources
- City and County of Honolulu — Exceptional Tree Program, Division of Urban Forestry
- Revised Ordinances of Honolulu § 40-8.8 (Regulations) — official code library
- City and County of Honolulu DPR — Rules and Regulations Relative to Planting and Maintenance of Street Trees (PDF)
- Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes § 235-19 — Exceptional trees; tax deduction