Santa Clara County, CA Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

Removing trees in unincorporated Santa Clara County is regulated by the Tree Preservation and Removal Ordinance, Division C16 of the County Ordinance Code. Division C16 requires an Administrative Permit (Tree Removal Permit) and mitigation measures to remove any protected tree on private or public property in designated areas, including but not limited to Hillsides (parcels three acres or less), the Design Review (-d) combining district, and trees in the Historic Preservation (-h1) zoning district for New Almaden. The County's site-plan guidelines define which trees must be inventoried: in urban districts (R1, R1E, R2, R3, RHS and similar), trees with a trunk 37.7 inches or greater in circumference (12 inches or more in diameter) measured at 4.5 feet above ground; in rural districts, trees 15.7 inches or greater in circumference (5 inches or more in diameter). For County-owned or leased land, protected trees include those over 37.7 inches in circumference or exceeding 20 feet in height. All healthy native trees 12 inches in diameter or more proposed for removal must be replaced, oaks must be replaced with oaks, and replacement ratios run from 3 fifteen-gallon (or 2 box) trees for a small tree up to 5 fifteen-gallon (or 4 box) trees for trees larger than 24 inches. The County notes no fee is assessed for the administrative tree-removal permit. Separately, California Public Resources Code section 21083.4 requires counties to evaluate oak woodland impacts under CEQA.