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

030(E), the 'Trees' design standards within the city's Landscape and Water Efficiency Requirements chapter, governs how projects handle existing trees during development. Item 8 is the removal-replacement standard: any project that necessitates removing an existing tree with a four-inch or greater trunk diameter, measured by caliper, must replace it at a three-to-one ratio using minimum 24-inch box trees of the same species, unless the city approves a reduced one-to-one replacement using a larger, minimum 36-inch box tree instead. The same subsection first directs that existing mature trees which cannot be preserved in place should be transplanted elsewhere on the site 'unless transplantation is infeasible due to the type or condition of the trees,' making removal and replanting a fallback rather than a first option.

Item 1 separately requires trees to be sited to maximize shading of paved areas, outdoor seating, and south- and west-facing windows, so replacement stock is not simply dropped anywhere on the lot. 020, so the ratio reaches commercial, industrial and multifamily projects as well as single-family subdivisions subject to landscape plan review. 030(F) requires all retained and replacement trees to be pruned, fertilized and irrigated to maintain health, prohibits topping outright, and requires diseased or dead trees to be replaced in kind with a minimum 24-inch box tree.