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§ 5-406. Permit required for cutting down or trimming roadside trees

West's Annotated Code of MarylandNatural ResourcesEffective: October 1, 2009

West's Annotated Code of Maryland
Natural Resources
Title 5. Forests and Parks (Refs & Annos)
Subtitle 4. Trees and Forest Nurseries (Refs & Annos)
Part I. Roadside Trees
Effective: October 1, 2009
MD Code, Natural Resources, § 5-406
§ 5-406. Permit required for cutting down or trimming roadside trees
Application for permit
(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, any person who desires to cut down or trim any roadside tree shall apply to the Department for a permit.
Exceptions to permit requirement
(b)(1) A person may remove a tree or its branches without first obtaining a permit from the Department if the tree is unrooted or its branches broken so as to contact telephone, telegraph, electric power, or other wires carrying electric current, or if the tree or its branches endanger persons or property.
(2) A tree may be cut down and removed by an abutting landowner for the landowner's own use without first obtaining a permit if the tree is standing within the right-of-way of a public road which has not been surfaced with either stone, shell, gravel, concrete, brick, asphalt, or other improved surface.
Permit required to cut down, trim, or mutilate roadside tree
(c) A person may not cut down, trim, mutilate, or in any manner injure any roadside tree, except as authorized by this section, without a permit from the Department.
Permit from Department required before a building permit can be issued
(d) A county or municipality may not issue a building permit to an applicant for any clearing, construction, or development that will result in the trimming, cutting, removal, or injury of a roadside tree until the applicant first obtains a permit from the Department in accordance with this section.
Penalties for violations
(e) A person who trims, cuts, removes, or injures a roadside tree in violation of a regulation adopted under § 5-402 of this subtitle or a permit issued under this section or who fails to obtain a permit as required by this section is liable for the imposition of a penalty:
(1) Not exceeding $2,000 for a first offense; and
(2) Not exceeding $5,000 for a second or subsequent offense.

Credits

Added by Acts 1973, 1st Sp. Sess., c. 4, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1974. Amended by Acts 2009, c. 289, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2009.
Formerly Art. 66C, § 365.
MD Code, Natural Resources, § 5-406, MD NAT RES § 5-406
Current through legislation effective through April 9, 2023, from the 2024 Regular Session of the General Assembly. Some statute sections may be more current, see credits for details.
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