Aurora, CO Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)
Tree removal permit rules in Aurora, CO, sometimes called heritage tree, protected tree, or street tree ordinances, list which trees require a permit before you can cut them down.
Key Facts
- Replacement ratio
- 1 inch DBH per inch removed
- Deadline
- replace within 6 months of notice
- Trigger
- required trees lost within 2 years
- Black Forest Area
- 1-to-1 replacement ratio, UDO-set
- Administered by
- City Forester, Forestry Division
Summary
Aurora's Unified Development Ordinance requires UDO-required trees lost to damage or disease within two years of installation to be replaced within six months at a one-inch-DBH-per-inch ratio, and requires City Forester sign-off before removing preserved existing trees on development sites.
Trees required to be installed by this UDO that are lost to damage or disease within two years after installation shall be replaced by the property owner within six months at a ratio of one inch of Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) for each inch of DBH removed.
d. Shrubbery or other plantings that die within 18 months of installation shall be replaced in kind within six months.
e. In the Black Forest Area, appropriate measures shall be taken to protect trees from construction activities. If any of the trees required to be retained or replanted as part of the tree protection plan dies within a period of three years after completion of construction, the property owner shall replace the trees within six months of the issuance to the owner of a notice to replace.
f. Branches of maturing street trees encroaching above a walkway, sidewalk, alley, and public right-of-way shall be pruned to a height of not less than eight feet. Pruning shall conform to forestry division standards.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 2026-30, passed June 22, 2026).
Full Breakdown
On Aurora development sites, trees required by an approved landscape or site plan are protected: if one dies or is damaged within two years of installation, the property owner must replace it within six months at a ratio of one inch of Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) for every inch removed (UDO § 146-4.11.1.B.1.c). Separately, removing an existing tree in connection with development is unlawful unless it follows the City's adopted Policy of Existing Trees, administered by the City Forester in the Parks, Recreation and Open Space Department's Forestry Division (UDO § 146-4.7.7.A). Within the city's Black Forest Area specifically, the UDO itself sets a codified one-to-one mitigation ratio for removed trees. This is UDO development-standards law, current through Ordinance 2026-03 (Feb. 23, 2026), not a routine backyard tree-removal permit.
Violations & Fines
Removing a required or protected tree without City Forester approval, or failing to replace a required tree within six months of a notice to replace, is a UDO violation subject to code enforcement; within the Black Forest Area, violating an approved tree protection plan is expressly named a UDO violation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need city approval to remove a tree required by my Aurora site plan?
What replacement ratio applies if a required landscape tree dies?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Aurora
Compare Aurora to another location·View the Colorado landscaping rules overview
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Tree Removal & Heritage Trees in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Arapahoe County handle tree removal & heritage trees.