Starting on September 1, 2009, if a resident has a distinctive tree (50 centimetres or greater) on their property and they want to remove it, what should they do?
A9: Once it has been determined, by measuring the diameter, that the tree is a distinctive tree, the following steps are required in order to get a distinctive tree permit: Phone the City of Ottawa Call Centre at 311 or visit a City of Ottawa Client Service Centre and indicate that you are looking to obtain a distinctive tree permit. Your contact information will be recorded and a request for service will be sent out to a Forestry Inspector. A Forestry Inspector will contact you and arrange a site visit to assess the tree. In the mean time, it is the resident’s responsibility to hire an arborist to prepare a short report that indicates the tree’s condition (dead, dying, diseased, hazardous, etc.). The arborist report must be available for the Forestry Inspector at the time of the site visit. Following the site visit, the resident will be notified if the permit is granted and will be provided to the resident. If a permit is granted, it must be posted in a prominent location that is visi
