Baytown, TX Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

Sec. I, Existing Landscaping and Vegetation, requires every development to make 'every effort' to incorporate existing, healthy, mature trees and shrubs into its landscape design. A healthy existing tree or plant may be removed only if the owner or developer satisfactorily demonstrates to the Planning Director that site development constraints necessitate the removal, and an evaluation of the existing landscaping proposed for removal must be submitted as part of that showing. New development is then routed to Sec. 5 and 6 inches. To keep that credit, Sec.

1 requires a protective barrier around each preserved tree's critical root zone during construction, keeps at least 75 percent of the area under the drip line in a permanent landscaped condition absent Planning Director-approved special provisions, and bars storing soil or materials where it would suffocate root systems. If a credited tree dies or is removed at any time after credit is granted, Sec. 2 requires the owner to replace it within 90 days with the same number of trees the original credit represented (a 14-inch-caliper tree, for example, must be replaced with three new trees of an equivalent species).

This is a development-standard tree preservation program tied to site plans and plats, not a blanket permit requirement for a homeowner cutting down a tree on an existing residential lot.