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

Municipal Code Sec. 040 makes a permit mandatory for anyone proposing to cut, remove, encroach upon, or relocate a protected indigenous tree, except for routine pruning under Sec. 030 or the exemptions in Sec. 060 (true emergencies, utility line clearance, licensed-nursery stock, work already covered by an approved development plan, city employees, fire-hazard abatement, or superseding state or federal law). Sec. 070 requires the applicant to submit, at the property owner's or developer's expense, a report from a qualified tree expert identifying every protected tree on the property and within 20 feet, its species, trunk diameter measured 54 inches above grade, canopy dripline, health condition, and the reason for the proposed removal, relocation, or encroachment, plus photographs and any replacement-tree plan.

The director of public works decides whether to approve, conditionally approve, or deny the application under Sec. 080, weighing whether the tree blocks reasonable development of the property or has declined beyond economical restoration. Sec. 100 lets the city council set the permit fee, capped at the cost of administering the permit, and the director will not accept an application until that fee is paid in full. A denied or conditioned applicant can appeal to the building and fire board of appeals under Sec. 090 by filing a written appeal with the city clerk within 15 calendar days of the director's decision notice; filing an appeal automatically stays the director's decision, and the board must open the hearing within 60 days and rule within 15 days of the hearing's close.