Remove a dangerous tree in unincorporated New Hanover County is a specimen problem when the trunk is a live oak, a pond cypress, or a bald cypress at 36 inches DBH. The county tree and landscaping manual says a specimen tree cannot be removed without a variance. With the variance, mitigation is still required. Without a permit, the penalty is twice the mitigation fee.[1]
- Specimen means 36 inches, and only for live oak, pond cypress, and bald cypress.
- FY25-26 mitigation is $200 per caliper inch. The inspection is $45.
- Wilmington can require a permit at 4 inches. Do not use the county number inside the city.
The rule on this ground
The manual sorts regulated trees into three bands. Documented trees start at 4 inches for dogwood and American holly, 8 inches for longleaf pine, pond cypress, bald cypress, and hardwoods, and 12 inches for other conifers. Significant trees step up: 8 inches for dogwood, magnolia, native flowering trees, and American holly; 18 inches for longleaf, pond cypress, bald cypress, and hardwoods; 24 inches for other conifers. Specimen trees are the 36-inch live oak, pond cypress, and bald cypress. Documented and significant trees need a removal permit. Specimen trees need the variance.[1]
The application that goes with UDO section 10.3.9 says the $45 application fee is invoiced and paid through COAST, and that paying mitigation into the tree fund can add fees. The FY25-26 fee schedule is the dollar source: tree inspection $45 USD, tree mitigation $200 per caliper inch.[2] A 36-inch specimen is not “36 times $200” until the variance is granted and the mitigation inches are calculated on the county worksheet. The manual’s worksheet labels the fee-in-lieu line with that $200 rate. It also says a specimen cut with no permit is twice the mitigation fee. Use the worksheet. Do not invent a second rate.
Wilmington’s public page is a different ordinance. A permit is required for any tree in the public right-of-way and for any tree of 4 inches DBH or greater on all non-residential lots, on residential lots greater than one acre, inside a conservation resource setback or protective buffer, and inside a local historic district no matter how small the lot is. A historic-district removal also needs a certificate of appropriateness. Land Development Code section 18-316(C), as the city summarizes it, allows protected trees to come out only when essential site components cannot go elsewhere. Cost, and the wish to fit a nonessential improvement, are not valid reasons. The city tells you to call before you cut. It does not, on that page, publish the county’s $200 inch-fee.[3]
If you skip it
A specimen removed with no permit is priced at twice the mitigation fee. That is the consequence the manual prints. A documented or significant tree removed with no permit still sits in the permit requirement; the manual does not give those classes the same “two times” sentence it gives specimens, so this page will not paste the specimen penalty onto an 8-inch hardwood. Inside Wilmington, the city says cutting without a permit has consequences and points you to mitigation questions by email to zoning staff. It does not print a dollar table on the page we read. Brunswick County is not filled in from a draft landscaping amendment.
Helen owns a house on a one-acre-plus lot inside Wilmington. A live oak at 28 inches is leaning over the porch after a tropical-storm wind. She is under the city’s 4-inch rule, not the county’s 36-inch variance, because she is inside the city. If the same 28-inch oak stood on an unincorporated New Hanover lot, it would be a significant hardwood-class tree under the 18-inch band if it were a regulated hardwood, and it would not yet be a specimen. Live oak becomes a specimen at 36 inches, not at 28. The species and the line on the map both matter. A 40-inch live oak on an unincorporated lot is the variance case.
Who signs, who pays, how long
| Case | Who signs | Published money or gap |
|---|---|---|
| County documented or significant tree | Tree removal permit through the county | $45 application fee. Mitigation may be replanting or the tree fund. |
| County specimen, 36 inches | Board of Adjustment variance, then mitigation | $200 per caliper inch on the worksheet. Double if there is no permit. |
| Wilmington, 4-inch trigger or right-of-way | City tree permit; historic districts also need a COA | Dollar fee not printed on the city tree-removal page we read. |
| Crew, crane, haul-off | The company that calls you | No county schedule. Verify. Do not add $200 times DBH and call it the invoice. |
Why Fayetteville is not this page
| Species point | New Hanover | Fayetteville |
|---|---|---|
| Longleaf pine | Documented at 8 inches, significant at 18 inches | Not in the southern-yellow-pine exemption. A healthy 30-inch tree on a development site is a specimen. |
| Other southern yellow pine | Other conifers are documented at 12 inches and significant at 24 | Exempt from preservation credit regardless of size |
| Published removal payment | $200 per caliper inch mitigation | $50 per caliper inch into the city tree fund, development specimens only |
The neighbor page is Sandhills longleaf pines. A sentence about a 36-inch live oak variance is false the moment you move it to Fayetteville.
Checklist for this query
- Decide city or county before you measure. Wilmington and New Hanover do not share a threshold.
- Measure DBH at 4.5 feet. Mark live oak, pond cypress, and bald cypress that reach 36 inches for a variance.
- Sort everything else into documented or significant using the species bands, not a single number.
- If the lot is in a Wilmington historic district, plan on both a tree permit and a certificate of appropriateness.
- Bring the mitigation worksheet if you expect to pay the tree fund. The rate on it is $200 per inch for the county.
Fee or timeline the document prints
$45 for the inspection or application, and $200 per caliper inch for mitigation, both in the FY25-26 schedule. Twice the mitigation fee if a specimen is cut with no permit. The manual and the fee page do not print how many days the Board of Adjustment takes. Crew time is unpublished. Brunswick’s adopted hazardous-tree fee was not in the documents used here.
Questions people type before they hire
When does a live oak in New Hanover need a variance?
The county tree manual calls live oak, pond cypress, and bald cypress at 36 inches DBH specimen trees. They cannot be removed without a variance. Removal with a variance still requires mitigation. Removal without a permit is twice the mitigation fee.
What is the published fee?
The FY25-26 fee schedule lists tree inspection at $45 USD and tree mitigation at $200 per caliper inch. The permit application says the $45 application fee is invoiced through COAST, and that more may be due if you pay mitigation into the tree fund. That is not a price for the crew.
I am inside Wilmington city limits. Is the county manual enough?
No. Wilmington requires a permit for any tree in the public right-of-way, and for any tree of 4 inches DBH or more on non-residential lots, on residential lots larger than one acre, inside a conservation resource setback or protective buffer, and inside a local historic district regardless of lot size. A historic-district tree also needs a certificate of appropriateness. The city page does not print the county’s $200-per-inch figure.
Does Brunswick County use the 36-inch live oak rule?
Not in the documents this page relies on. A 2024 Brunswick landscaping amendment we found was marked draft. This URL exists because New Hanover’s specimen rule and Wilmington’s 4-inch permit are already two different laws. Do not stretch either one across the county line.
Related: Counties and Sandhills longleaf pines.
References
- New Hanover County. “Tree & Landscaping Manual,” prepared for UDO sections 5.3 and 5.4. Documented, significant, and specimen thresholds, and the double mitigation penalty. Accessed 12 Oct 2026. nhcgov.com manual.
- New Hanover County. “FY25-26 Fee Schedule,” Tree Inspection $45 and Tree Mitigation $200 per caliper inch. Accessed 12 Oct 2026. fee schedule.
- City of Wilmington. “Remove a tree,” 4-inch DBH permit triggers, right-of-way, historic-district certificate of appropriateness, and LDC 18-316(C). Accessed 12 Oct 2026. wilmingtonnc.gov.
- New Hanover County. Tree removal permit application, $45 fee invoiced through COAST, citing UDO section 10.3.9. Accessed 12 Oct 2026. applications page.