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

This tree-removal permit only exists inside the Scenic Preservation Overlay Zone ("P"), which section 24.09.010 establishes over recognized scenic areas whose character could be permanently damaged by development. Within that overlay, section 24.09.020(A) requires Planning Commission approval before any building-site improvement, whether by construction, excavation, or filling, alters the land surface in a way that removes trees, alters watercourses, or creates an earth bank over three feet high. Subsection (B) directs the Commission to retain natural topography, vegetation, and scenic features wherever feasible, and to require building foundations and structures to fit the natural terrain with minimal grading.

Section 24.09.030 also increases minimum lot width and depth for any earth cut or fill slope steeper than four-to-one adjacent to a lot line, tying lot-size requirements to how much grading a project needs. Section 24.09.040 adds the paperwork: a landscaping plan filed with the building permit application must show the location, size, and type of every tree proposed for removal, plus the location, size, and type of each replacement tree, and specimen trees must be replaced with healthy trees of specimen size unless the Planning Commission relieves that requirement upon justification.

Outside the mapped Scenic Preservation Overlay boundaries, which cover only designated scenic areas near Mount Helix and similar hillside terrain, the general zoning code prints no equivalent citywide tree-removal permit.