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

The ordinance, codified at Irvine Municipal Code §§ 5-7-401 through 5-7-417, opens with the City Council's finding that Irvine's public landscapes hold more than 30,000 trees, about one-fifth of the city's total urban forest, worth an estimated $25,000,000, with the full urban forest resource valued above $100,000,000 (Sec. 5-7-402). Its stated purpose (Sec. 5-7-403) is to protect and enhance that resource through sustainable landscaping policy and professional management. Jurisdiction (Sec. 5-7-407) reaches public trees in street rights-of-way, public trees in and around parks and other public facilities, trees in common areas along village edges and arterial-street landscape or parking-lot setbacks, private trees on nonresidential property to the extent Zoning Ordinance ratios apply, and any 'significant tree' as defined in Sec.

5-7-404, a category that expressly includes every tree in a Eucalyptus globulus windbreak remnant. The Director of Public Works, acting as City Arborist, administers the chapter under an Urban Forestry Guideline Manual kept on file with the City Clerk (Sec. 5-7-405); where the manual and the ordinance conflict, the ordinance governs. Sec. 5-7-409 bars 'topping', heading, dehorning, pollarding or hatracking cuts, unless a removal permit has issued or an emergency threatens persons or property. Removal itself requires a separate permit under Sec. 5-7-410, and violators of either the topping ban or the removal-permit requirement face a misdemeanor charge with a fine no less than the tree's assessed value (Sec.

5-7-411). City Arborist decisions may be appealed under the Zoning Code (Sec. 5-7-413), and the Arborist must report annually to the City Council on how well the chapter is meeting its goals (Sec. 5-7-414).