Permit Requirements

Tree Removal permits across Texas

Where each city draws the line on tree removal work. Sort any column — useful if you build across several towns and need to know where the rules change.

Cities compared 28
Always need one 0
Depends on size 1
Where the line falls Fee
Houston 2,390,125 Unconfirmed For a corridor tree or green corridor tree, you pay a fee f…
San Antonio 1,526,656 Unconfirmed
Austin 993,588 Unconfirmed
El Paso 681,723 Unconfirmed
Corpus Christi 317,317 Unconfirmed
Plano 293,286 Unconfirmed
Laredo 261,260 Unconfirmed
McKinney 227,526 Unconfirmed
Grand Prairie 207,331 Unconfirmed
Amarillo 203,729 Unconfirmed
Brownsville 191,967 Unconfirmed
Denton 165,998 Unconfirmed
Killeen 160,616 Unconfirmed
Mesquite 150,140 Unconfirmed
Pasadena 149,617 Unconfirmed
Waco 146,608 Unconfirmed
Midland 143,687 Unconfirmed
Lewisville 135,983 Unconfirmed Fees are set by the city fee schedule (Sec. 2-201).
Round Rock 135,359 Unconfirmed
Abilene 130,501 Unconfirmed
Pearland 129,620 Unconfirmed
College Station 128,023 Unconfirmed
League City 118,456 Depends You need a tree disposition permit to remove a protected …
Richardson 118,221 Unconfirmed
New Braunfels 116,477 Unconfirmed The zoning fee schedule (Sec. 144-7.1) lists a tree removal…
Conroe 114,581 Unconfirmed
Allen 113,746 Unconfirmed
Sugar Land 109,851 Unconfirmed

“Unconfirmed” means the city's code doesn't state the rule plainly enough to publish. Those city pages link straight to the ordinance section instead.

Why neighboring cities disagree

Every city starts from a model code and then edits it. One town raises the shed cutoff, the next lowers the fence height, a third exempts the structure where its neighbor only exempts repairs to it. None of that is visible from a national article — you have to read each ordinance, which is what these pages do.

This is a reference, not legal advice. Confirm with the building department in the city you're building in. How we build these pages.