Laredo, TX Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

5(1) designates any tree standing on public land within Laredo's city limits as a protected tree once its trunk reaches an eight-inch caliper, regardless of species. No person or corporation may remove or cause the removal of a protected tree without first getting Tree Board approval. When a project needs Building Services Department site plan approval, the plan must show the location of existing protected trees so the Tree Board can review it and issue its order within 14 days of receiving the plans; the Board's approval of public agency projects also counts as approval to remove any protected tree the plans show.

Outside that process, the Tree Board will approve removal only when the tree is diseased, severely damaged, dead, or a hazard; when its location blocks reasonable access or lawful use of the property; or, for public facility work, when it blocks a necessary traffic lane or a utility or drainage line that cannot feasibly be rerouted. Removal approved under any of these grounds can carry a replacement condition set by the Board. Replacement trees must have a minimum caliper of three inches, must use species listed in Appendix F-1 of the Land Development Code, and, if relocation on the same property is impractical, may go on other public land, non-profit property, public parks, or rights-of-way with Board approval.

6 separately bars damaging, mutilating, or burning a protected tree, or exposing it to harmful substances, without Tree Board authorization, and requires utility companies to submit pruning schedules to the Board before work begins. A property owner or applicant denied removal may appeal the Tree Board's decision to the City Council within 30 days.