Beaumont, CA Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

Section 12.12.130 of the Beaumont Municipal Code applies to any person, firm, corporation, public district, public agency or political subdivision and to any tree planted in the right-of-way of a City street. The City Engineer issues the permit without fee if satisfied that the removal or trimming is in the public interest or is necessary for the improvement of the right-of-way or the construction of improvements on adjacent land. Conditions can include work only by a qualified tree surgeon or tree trimmer actually engaged in that business, and a bond, insurance or other security to protect person and property.

A removal permit can be conditioned on relocating the tree or replacing it with one or more trees of a kind specified in the permit. Public utilities maintaining overhead power or communication lines under a franchise are exempt from the trimming limits where a tree would interfere with the installation. A second permit requirement sits in the landscaping chapter: § 17.06.110(C) says no person shall plant, trim, or remove any tree or shrub on any public street or right-of-way without approval of a permit by the Planning Department, and § 17.06.110(B) makes the owner of a property fronting a public street bear the cost of replacing any street tree that dies.

Section 17.06.110(D) also prohibits cutting, breaking, defacing or damaging a tree in a planting strip or parkway. Trees on private lots are handled differently: under §§ 12.20.010 and 12.20.020, the City Street Superintendent can order a dead, dangerous or obstructing tree cut down, but except in a manifest public danger a tree on private property cannot be wholly cut down without ten days' written notice to the owner or occupant, who has seven days to file a written objection and get a hearing.