Arapahoe County, CO Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

b, which applies to unincorporated land undergoing a new Specific Development Plan, Administrative Site Plan, Use by Special Review, Location and Extent review, Preliminary Plat or Final Plat. Before any of those applications is submitted, a certified or registered forester, arborist or Colorado-licensed landscape architect must survey every existing tree in the area proposed for disturbance and record its location, species, size and condition in a tree preservation plan. Once that clock starts, no tree of 2-inch caliper or larger may come down in the six months preceding submission unless a certified arborist documents that the tree poses a risk of harm and removal is necessary for safety.

If the County later finds evidence that trees were removed in that six-month window without a documented safety justification, the property owner or applicant must replant 200 percent of the caliper that was removed: a direct financial and design penalty aimed at stopping developers from clear-cutting a site ahead of formal review to avoid the preservation plan altogether. The Planning Division Manager can waive the requirement to add trees where doing so is not feasible, but must issue a written letter of confirmation memorializing the waiver.

The code itself flags that this section applies more heavily in the urban and suburban parts of the county than on the eastern plains, where large-lot agricultural parcels are common.