Tree Removal Permit in Beaverton, OR
Permit Summary
Do You Need a Tree Removal Permit?
Exemptions
Outside Cooper Mountain, no Tree Plan is required to remove up to four Community Trees or 10% of on-site Community Trees, whichever is greater, in a calendar year; a property of one-half acre or less developed with a detached dwelling or middle housing may remove any number of Community Trees. Other §40.90.10 exemptions include certain nuisance species, minor pruning, City-required removal of professionally identified hazardous/dead/diseased trees, and documented emergencies. In Cooper Mountain, §40.91.10 exempts trees under 6 inches DBH (with a development-plan exception), qualifying nuisance and agricultural trees, and certain trees on developed lots under 3,500 square feet outside the protected Resource Overlay. These are exemptions from specified Planning tree applications, not blanket waivers of street-tree, landscape, Resource Overlay, or other approvals.
Protected Trees & Removal Eligibility
Protected Tree Rules
Outside Cooper Mountain, Beaverton identifies Protected Trees as Significant Individual Trees, Historic Trees and trees within designated Significant Groves or Significant Natural Resource Areas (SNRAs). Removal of a Significant Individual Tree generally requires Tree Plan Two; removal of a Historic Tree requires Tree Plan Three, with Planning Commission review. Tree removal within Significant Groves, SNRAs and other sensitive areas is regulated by the share of non-exempt surveyed-tree total DBH proposed for removal. Community Trees have a separate count-based rule; Landscape Trees included in approved landscape plans follow Design Review and §60.60. Cooper Mountain uses separate tree-preservation, canopy and Resource Overlay requirements under §§40.91, 60.37 and 60.61.
When Removal Is Allowed
Tree Plan Two applicants must demonstrate applicable findings, such as accepted arboricultural practices, necessity for physical development with no reasonable alternative, property damage or conflicts, public-utility/roadway needs, or protection of the health and safety of remaining trees and protected groves. Tree Plan Three applies to Historic Trees or larger percentage removals from protected resources and has heightened findings and Planning Commission review. Outside Cooper Mountain, Type 2 generally covers up to 75% of non-exempt surveyed-tree DBH in residential/commercial/industrial protected areas or 85% in multiple-use zones; proposals above those respective percentages are Type 3. Cooper Mountain Tree Removal One is a Type 1 standards review for qualifying dead/hazardous trees or the specified limited annual removals; Tree Removal Two is Type 2 for larger removals or an approved in-lieu replanting option.
Replacement Requirements
Replacement Rules
In Cooper Mountain, approved Tree Removal One or Two work generally requires one replacement tree for each 6 inches of removed DBH under §60.61.40; Tree Removal One replacement must be completed within one year and does not allow fee-in-lieu. Tree Removal Two can use a full or partial in-lieu fee if a Certified Arborist demonstrates that the required planting is not feasible or practical and the City approves the option. Tree removal associated with initial development is governed by separate canopy and preservation standards. Elsewhere in Beaverton, Community Tree removal alone does not ordinarily trigger a replacement ratio, but protected Significant Grove/SNRA removal over mitigation thresholds, approved Landscape Trees and street trees can require replacement/mitigation. Beaverton Code §5.05.102 ordinarily requires a removed street tree to be replaced with a City-approved tree unless the City waives replacement.
Arborist & Professional Requirements
Professional Requirements
A certified arborist or the City Arborist must identify a hazardous, dead or diseased tree for the ordinary §40.90.10 City-required-removal exemption. Cooper Mountain Tree Removal One applications to remove dead or hazardous trees require a report by an arborist holding International Society of Arboriculture Tree Risk Assessment Qualification (ISA TRAQ) demonstrating the condition; retroactive imminent-hazard removals also require that evidence. Cooper Mountain Tree Removal Two in-lieu requests require a Certified Arborist report showing why required on-site planting is not feasible or practical. Other protected-tree, Tree Plan Three and development proposals may require qualified professional studies, inventories or reports under the applicable application criteria.
Public Notice Requirements
Notice Rules
Type 1 tree applications are administrative and ordinarily have no predecision public notice. Type 2 land-use applications have notice/participation procedures, and Type 3 Tree Plan applications are subject to Planning Commission public-hearing procedures; an associated development application can require a neighborhood review meeting. For Cooper Mountain Tree Removal Two, the City's published adopted-code guide describes notice of decision within 20 days to owners within 300 feet and applicable neighborhood/county community-organization representatives within 300 feet; Cooper Mountain Tree Removal One has no general public notice. The applicable Chapter 50 review procedure controls the actual notice requirements.
Emergency Tree Removal
Outside Cooper Mountain, §40.90.10 allows emergency pruning or removal before a City Arborist's determination without a Tree Plan if after-the-fact evidence justifies the emergency; the ordinary hazardous/dead/diseased-tree exemption also requires a certified arborist or City Arborist determination and City-required removal. In Cooper Mountain, a tree posing an imminent public health, safety or welfare threat may be removed first when an ISA TRAQ-qualified arborist documents the threat, but the owner must then obtain retroactive Cooper Mountain Tree Removal One approval and prove the condition existed before removal. Street trees are separately regulated by City Code and should not be treated as automatically exempt from City authorization.
Development & Special Areas
Development-Related Rules
Tree removal within a development, redevelopment, land division or site-work proposal must be coordinated with the relevant Tree Plan/Design Review and other land-use approvals; tree surveys, retained-tree protection and mitigation may be conditions. Section 60.60.20 regulates protection of retained trees during construction. In the Cooper Mountain Community Plan area, §§40.91 and 60.61 require dedicated Cooper Mountain Tree Plan applications for initial development and modifications before final occupancy/inspection, with tree-preservation and canopy standards in addition to ordinary non-development removal rules. Existing approved landscape or tree-preservation plans can restrict removal even where a basic Community Tree count exemption might otherwise apply.
Special Zone Rules
Trees in designated Significant Groves, Significant Natural Resource Areas and Clean Water Services sensitive areas face additional protected-resource review and total-DBH limits under §§40.90 and 60.60. The Cooper Mountain Community Plan area instead uses §§40.91 and 60.61; trees within its Resource Overlay are additionally governed by §60.37, which can require separate Resource Overlay development approval, protected habitat preservation and mitigation. Landscape Trees in approved site plans require Design Review compliance. Street and right-of-way trees follow Beaverton Municipal Code §5.05.102 and potentially site-development requirements, regardless of private-land Tree Plan exemptions.
What You Need Before Applying
Requirements
Identify whether trees are Community, Protected, Landscape, or street/right-of-way trees; confirm whether the property is in the Cooper Mountain Community Plan area or a natural-resource overlay. When a regulated removal is proposed, the owner or authorized agent must submit the applicable Planning land-use application through the Beaverton Electronic Permitting System, pay required fees, demonstrate the relevant Development Code approval criteria, and obtain approval before cutting. Street trees require separate City authorization under Beaverton Code 5.05.102; landscape-plan trees may need Design Review approval.
Required Documents
A completed land-use application and fee; owner/authorized-agent details, property address and lot/zoning data; an existing-conditions/site plan showing trees to be removed or retained, species, DBH, tree locations and applicable natural-resource boundaries; a written explanation addressing the applicable Tree Plan or Cooper Mountain Tree Removal approval criteria; and proposed protection and replacement/mitigation planting. Type 2/3 or development proposals may need pre-application materials, tree survey and supporting plans, service-provider review and public-notice materials. Certified-arborist/ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualification (TRAQ) documentation is required for Cooper Mountain dead or hazardous tree claims; other professional reports may be required by scope.