Tree rules in Austin: permits, protected trees and fees
What Austin Development Services pages say about regulated trees: the 8, 19, 24 and 30 inch levels, the Tree Ordinance Review Application, dead, diseased and hazard trees, the 25 percent canopy limit and critical root zone limits.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 8, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.
This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It restates three Austin Development Services pages, on the City Arborist, on trees on residential property and on dead, diseased and imminent hazard trees, as read on October 8, 2026. The City Arborist Program administers the City's tree ordinance, and the pages point to Section 3 of the Environmental Criteria Manual for the preservation requirements. The wider list of cities is on the guide to tree permits in the largest US cities.
Levels of protection
| Trunk diameter | What the City Arborist page says |
|---|---|
| 8 inches and larger | A survey is required on commercial and multifamily site plan submittals. On commercial and multifamily property, the dead and hazard tree page says any tree of 8 inches or more is regulated |
| 19 inches and larger | A Protected tree, all species. A tree permit is required for removal or impacts, on residential and public land. Section 25-8-621 of the City Code is cited for exceptions |
| 24 inches and larger | May be a Heritage tree, for listed species: all oaks, pecan, bald cypress, Eastern black walnut and a few less common species. A variance is required for removal or impacts beyond code requirements. Removal is prohibited except as Section 25-8-641 allows |
| 30 inches and larger | Heritage trees whose proposed variances must go through a public process |
Diameter is taken 4.5 feet above ground. The residential page gives the method: measure the circumference with a flexible tape and divide by 3.14; from the high side on a slope; above or below any swelling; and for a multi-stemmed tree add the largest stem to half of each other stem, so stems of 18 and 16 inches count as 26 inches. It says trees under 19 inches are not regulated on residential property. On one- and two-unit residential property the hazard page says a tree of 19 inches or more needs a permit to remove.
Permits and the application
The City Arborist page says that when residential development involves a regulated tree, tree review runs together with the building plan review and the tree permit comes with the residential building permit. A Tree Ordinance Review Application (TORA) is needed to remove a regulated tree, to prune 25 percent or more of the canopy, or to start an activity that may disturb the critical root zone. The same page says that if a tree is regulated at 19 inches or more, no more than 25 percent of the canopy may be removed without a permit, and that the ordinance applies in Austin's full and limited purpose jurisdictions and not in the extraterritorial jurisdiction.
The residential page describes the critical root zone limits: no impacts in the inner quarter, no cut or fill greater than 4 inches in the inner half, and 50 percent of the ground in the full zone preserved without impact. For a standalone TORA, the page lists types of work such as a code violation, a dead, diseased or imminent hazard tree, a tree impacted by a project that needs no building permit, and utility repair or replacement. The review may take up to 10 business days. The portal shows a fee amount that is payable only after a completeness check, and the page says applications that qualify automatically have the fee waived; none of the three pages prints a dollar amount. It also describes a paid on-site pre-plan consultation with a City Arborist.
Dead, diseased and hazard trees
The hazard page says the City regulates removal of certain-sized trees even if they are dead, diseased or an imminent danger to people or property, and that a TORA must be approved before a regulated tree is removed. It asks for the species and diameter of each tree, a close-up of the defect and an image of the whole tree from root to crown. The City Arborist page says staff do not make site visits or tree assessments outside permit review, and points owners to a private arborist.