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Strong RootsStrong Roots, Keep it Local!(201) 960-8275Doug@canyoncutters.com
Douglas LivaUT-4717A- John HillUT-383707A
- Jesse GardnerUT-380938A
- Robert ValenciaUT-391234A
Douglas LivaUT-4717AJohn HillUT-383707AJesse GardnerUT-380938ARobert ValenciaUT-391234ALoading
Strong Roots, Keep it Local
Park City is where most of our work happens, and it is also the most regulated place we work. The city adopted its own wildfire code six years before the state required one, it defines protected vegetation at a diameter most mature trees exceed, and it attaches a posted security to construction that disturbs it. None of that makes tree work harder; it makes doing it without knowing the rules expensive. The other thing that shapes the work here is who owns the property. More than 70% of homes in Park City are vacant or second homes, and something over 40% of housing units operate as short-term rentals, which means a large share of the people we work for are not in the state when we are on site. That changes the job: the walkthrough gets photographed, the assessment goes in writing, and decisions get made over email rather than in the driveway.
Own WUI code since June 2020, ahead of the state by six years
Park City adopted an amended version of Utah's Wildland-Urban Interface code in June 2020. It lives in Municipal Code 11-21-1, and landscape plus home-hardening plans are reviewed as part of the building permit. Compliance is triggered by new construction, additions, and — the one that catches people — remodels valued over $50,000, a threshold a kitchen and bath project clears easily. Separately, the Land Management Code defines Significant Vegetation as trees six inches in diameter or greater measured four and a half feet up, groves of smaller trees, and clumps of oak or maple covering fifty square feet at the drip line. Where it is present, Limits of Disturbance lines go on the plat, all construction has to stay inside that line, and a security is posted to ensure compliance. Removed Significant Vegetation generally has to be replaced in kind. A 2023 ordinance resolves the obvious conflict: preservation is prioritised, but protected vegetation may be removed or replaced where needed to comply with Firewise and defensible-space requirements.
Verify before you spend money: Park City Building Department — 435-615-5101. Boundaries, thresholds and fees are set by the state and by individual jurisdictions, and several were actively being amended when this page was written.
Park City spans a wide elevation band and the species change with it. The residential base around 6,500 to 7,500 feet is aspen, Gambel oak and mixed conifer, with Douglas-fir on the north-facing slopes. Above roughly 7,500 feet — Deer Valley, Empire Pass, the upper resort terrain — it shifts to aspen groves, lodgepole pine, Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir. That matters because the management is different: lodgepole and spruce stands need age-class diversification and beetle monitoring, while the oak brush lower down resprouts after cutting and needs a recurring plan rather than a one-time clearing.
Access decides the method and therefore the price on a large share of Park City jobs, more than the size of the tree does. A lot of these driveways are too steep or too narrow for a bucket truck, which pushes the work to climbing and rigging — slower, more skilled, and more expensive than dropping the same tree in an open yard. Old Town is its own category: narrow streets, tight lots, almost no staging room, parked cars on both sides, and often no way to drop anything in one piece, so material gets dismantled in sections and carried out. Empire Pass and the upper Deer Valley lots add altitude and grade to the same problem, and winter closes some of them to equipment entirely. We quote the method rather than just the tree, because on these properties the method is most of the cost, and a quote that does not say how the work will be done is not really a quote.
Have us clear hazardous areas of dead fall and dead standing, along with creating fire breaks, to protect you and your home from wildfire.
Learn moreTired of that risky or unsightly tree? Let us remove it, stump and all.
Learn moreRemove trees, rocks & other debris to shape & form exceptional ski access.
Learn moreAvoid dangerous weakened branches or get that perfect tree shape with professional pruning.
Learn morePark City, Utah
Tell us about your Park City property — we'll set up a free on-site visit and put the assessment in writing.
ISA Certified Arborist · Licensed & insured · Free, no-obligation estimates