Portland eliminates most fees under maligned Portland tree code starting in July

Portland Parks & Recreation is eliminating or reducing most tree permit fees starting in July – part of an effort to fix

the intensely negative public perception

of the city’s tree code and the Urban Forestry staff carrying it out.

The fee overhaul comes thanks to $400,000 in funding via the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund, a climate fund seeded by a 1% tax on large retailers in the city. That money will substitute for the loss in permit fee revenues and allow Urban Forestry to continue the tree code compliance program.

Homeowners have long complained that the permit fees are too costly and discourage tree care and planting, especially for lower-income Portlanders.

Urban Forestry officials said the fee elimination is meant to ease that financial burden while ensuring that trees aren’t haphazardly removed. The approved removals are still to be followed by new tree plantings, maintaining the city’s tree canopy.

Portland has experienced a

canopy decline in recent years

, likely due to housing development and extreme weather.

Permits are still required. Property owners must still apply before removing or pruning most trees — but the fees will be waived in most cases.

Beginning next month, residents will no longer need to pay a permit fee for tree removal and replanting, street tree pruning, applying chemicals and administrative reviews and appeals. Fees for permits to attach objects such as cables to street trees and to install ornamental tree lighting on street trees also won’t involve any fees. Replanting waiver application fees will be reduced from $100 to $50.

The civil penalty and restoration fines – which residents must pay in cases of serious violations of tree removal or pruning rules – will remain.

“We heard you. Permit fees have been a burden for many,” City Forester Jenn Cairo said in a statement. “With this new funding, we can remove those costs, making it easier for people to protect trees, improve safety, and contribute to a greener, healthier Portland.”

In response to numerous complaints about

overzealous, uneven

and

rigid enforcement

, the city also plans to launch a revision of the tree code, known as Title 11, early next year and to assume maintenance of street trees and some private property trees in the coming years, also thanks to funding from the clean energy fund.

Portland code requires property owners to get a permit to cut trees larger than 12 inches in diameter on their own property and to maintain trees on public rights of way between the sidewalk and the curb abutting their homes. Homeowners also must secure permits to prune, plant or remove any street trees and must pay for and plant a replacement tree for each tree removed.

For more details on Portland tree permit requirements, visit portland.gov/trees or call (503) 823-TREE.

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— Gosia Wozniacka covers environmental justice, climate change, the clean energy transition and other environmental issues. Reach her at gwozniacka@oregonian.com or 971-421-3154.

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