HomeGuidesTree removal permits in Beaverton
The honest answer is: it depends on where the tree stands and whose rules cover that spot. Other tree companies' pages contradict each other on this, so this guide sticks to what the city code and the development code say, and tells you who makes the final call.
By Harry Fauver, founder of Tree Service Beaverton. Updated September 2026.
Pick a tag on the plan to see how each kind of tree is treated.
Every permit question comes down to two things. First, where does the tree stand: in the public right-of-way, in your yard, or in a protected part of your yard? Second, whose rules apply: the City of Beaverton's, Washington County's, or another city's? The drawing shows the five situations we run into most often on a single Beaverton block.
It stands in the public right-of-way. The adjoining owner maintains it, but nobody may remove it without a city permit, and a permitted removal normally comes with a replacement from the city's approved list. Cutting 20 percent or more of its crown, trunk or roots counts as removal too.
A tree you or a previous owner planted, outside any protected area, is generally yours to manage. Removing one needs no permit in most cases. The development code does track healthy trees 10 inches across and larger as community trees, so removing several in one year can bring a review.
When a subdivision was approved, the builder was often required to keep a stand of native trees. Those trees are protected as a significant grove or as a condition of approval, even though they now stand in private back yards. Removing one goes through the city, and sometimes the homeowners association as well.
Creeks and wetlands have regulated buffers. Inside the city they are significant natural resource areas, and across urban Washington County Clean Water Services regulates vegetated corridors. Trees inside the buffer are protected on private land too, and that usually includes dead ones.
Trees planted under an approved landscape plan are protected landscape trees. That covers nearly every tree at an apartment complex, a shopping center or an office park, and most HOA common-area trees. A manager's or a board's approval doesn't replace the city's.
Beaverton's city code is clear about trees in the right-of-way. No one may plant or remove a tree there except as the code allows. The owner of the adjoining property is responsible for maintaining it. And a permit to remove one obligates the owner to replace it with a species the city approves.
Three details catch people out:
There is an emergency provision. If a right-of-way tree has to come down at once to avoid imminent injury or damage, the code treats that as a defense to removing it without a permit. Photograph the tree first, and tell the city afterward. See our street trees guide for pruning, clearances and replacement.
Beaverton's development code protects specific categories of tree, not every tree over a certain size. If your tree is not in one of these groups, removing it generally needs no permit.
Pruning is regulated too. On protected trees, removing more than 10 percent of the canopy is major pruning, which needs approval.
When we look at a removal, we do these checks before the job is scheduled, and the written estimate says what we found.
The post office decides your mailing address. It doesn't decide your tree rules.
Street trees need a permit to remove and are normally replaced. Backyard trees are regulated only in the protected categories above. Street trees must clear 8 feet over sidewalks, 12 feet over streets and 14 feet over arterials.
No city code applies. The county generally leaves trees on a developed home lot to the owner. The exceptions are mapped Significant Natural Resource areas and the vegetated corridors along creeks that Clean Water Services regulates. Roadside work that affects traffic needs a county right-of-way permit. Homeowners associations often add rules of their own.
Hillsboro's code centers on the right-of-way. A free Tree Care Permit is required before planting, removing or replacing a street tree, and before major pruning: branches or roots 2 inches across or more, or over 20 percent of the crown. Clearance is 8 feet over sidewalks and 15 feet over streets.
Tigard names six kinds of tree that need a removal permit: street trees, median trees, heritage trees, trees planted with the Urban Forestry Fund, trees required by a development approval, and native trees on sensitive lands such as steep slopes, floodplains, stream corridors and wetlands. Other trees on a single-family lot need none.
If your street is on the Portland side of the county line, the rules are much stricter. Portland generally requires a permit to remove a private tree a foot or more across, and for all street trees. Raleigh Hills, Garden Home and West Slope residents near the line should confirm which side they are on.
Each of our service area pages says which of these applies there.
A dead or failing tree is handled differently from a healthy one, but it isn't automatically exempt. For a street tree, the city still wants a permit unless the danger is immediate. For a protected tree, the usual route is a short written assessment of the tree's condition, photographs, and a call to Planning, which can often approve the removal quickly. Inside creek buffers, the city may ask that a safe length of trunk be left standing for wildlife.
If a tree is an immediate threat to people or a building, deal with the danger first. Take dated photos before and after, keep the invoice, and notify the city once things are safe. That record is what shows the removal was necessary.
The city can require replacement trees, often several for each one removed, along with penalties. For trees that belonged to a neighbor or an association, Oregon's timber trespass law adds double or triple damages. Checking first takes one phone call, which is why we won't book a removal until the tree's status is settled.
Usually not, if it is an ordinary yard tree. You do need approval for street trees, trees in significant groves or natural resource areas, landscape and mitigation trees, and designated significant or historic trees. Ask the Planning Division if unsure.
If it stands between the sidewalk and the curb, it is one. On streets without a planting strip, the right-of-way often extends several feet behind the sidewalk or the pavement, so a tree near the street may be one too. The city can confirm the line.
Not automatically. A dead street tree still needs a permit unless it is an immediate danger, and dead trees inside creek buffers are usually protected as habitat. For an ordinary dead yard tree, no permit is needed.
No. Those communities are unincorporated Washington County, even with a Beaverton or Portland mailing address. The county's rules apply there, which focus on natural resource areas, creek corridors and work in the road right-of-way.
We check the tree's status before booking, tell you which approval applies, and supply the written assessment and photos the city or an association asks for. For street trees, the permit and the replacement are settled before the work is scheduled.
Tell us about the tree and we'll call to set up a site walk. For emergency service, skip the form and call.
