Richmond tree rules

Richmond's current permit costs and replacement ratios

• Richmond's revised Tree Protection Bylaw bulletin adds several practical details that are easy to miss if you only know the 20 cm threshold: environmentally sensitive areas can capture smaller trees, fees change with the number of trees, permits must be posted in advance, and replacement ratios differ between ordinary lots and new development.

• Richmond's bulletin says trees are approved for removal when they are dead, dying, hazardous or have an unresolvable conflict with buildings or utilities.
• It also states that contraventions can carry fines of up to $50,000 per tree, which makes the permit and 72-hour posting requirement worth treating as part of the job rather than paperwork after the fact.

Scope and protected trees

• Richmond's Tree Protection Bylaw 8057 generally prohibits cutting or removing a private tree 20 cm or larger DBH, measured 1.4 m above ground, without a permit.
• A municipal bulletin also warns that a smaller tree in an environmentally sensitive area can require review.
• For a tree exactly at 20 cm, use the current Tree-01 bulletin’s inclusive wording. The overview page’s ‘larger than 20’ phrasing is inconsistent with that bulletin.
• Public boulevard trees are not converted into private trees by the location of their branches.
• A site plan and ownership check are essential when the trunk sits near a ditch, road allowance or neighbouring lot.

Applications and timing

• Richmond provides a non-development tree removal application and separate development-related assessment materials.
• The applicant identifies each tree, location, species, diameter and reason, and the City reviews health and proposed replacements.
• Its non-development form describes approval for trees that are dead, dying, high-risk or otherwise meet a permitted reason; wanting more sunlight alone is not a permit decision.
• The public guidance does not promise a single number of processing days for all tree and development applications.
• Plan time for arborist documentation and City review before engaging the crew.
• A development deposit or protection fence may apply to retained boulevard trees.

Enforcement and exceptions

• Unauthorized cutting can bring bylaw enforcement and replacement or damage costs.
• The municipal overview is not a reliable source for a claimed fixed maximum fine, so the current bylaw text controls the penalty.
• An example is clearing a 25 cm tree on a non-development residential lot before the permit is issued, or assuming an under-20 cm tree in a sensitive area is automatically exempt.
• Richmond's source does not state one separate heritage-tree diameter; a covenanted or environmentally sensitive site needs its own property-specific check.

What the arborist inventory covers

• Richmond's tree assessment bulletin asks an arborist inventory to identify species and DBH of regulated trees, usually to the nearest centimetre.
• The difference between a dead tree, a tree interfering with a permitted building and a healthy tree simply disliked by an owner changes the justification staff review.
• A narrow side yard also raises neighbour and public-boulevard questions.
• Record the trunk centre and property line instead of deciding ownership by where branches hang.

Species and multi-stem trees

• Richmond's Tree Protection Bylaw 8057 starts at a trunk 20 cm or larger for an ordinary private tree, but the application is a tree-by-tree assessment.
• A retained replacement tree, development condition or environmentally sensitive property can have another protection basis, so a building site should inventory both trees proposed for removal and trees meant to remain.
• A survey is useful when a trunk sits against a fence or within the road allowance.
• Richmond's arborist bulletin asks for species and DBH in the inventory; that is more reliable than identifying a tree from a real-estate photo or estimating its size after a stump has been ground away.

Evidence and replacement

• The reason for removal also changes the file.
• Staff can assess an arborist's evidence that a tree is dead, a tree obstructing an approved building footprint, or a healthy tree the owner simply wants gone differently.
• Construction access, excavation and grade changes can injure a retained tree even without a removal proposal.
• The replacement obligation and security, where imposed, should be budgeted before ordering paving or a new fence.
• A contractor cutting the wrong trunk is not protected by a permit for another one; mark each approved tree in the field and keep the issued permission with the crew.
• Richmond does not advertise one fixed decision time for all these permit classes in the cited material.