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

040. 030 to include Joshua trees and California junipers, from any parcel except as the chapter allows. Subsection (B) requires a native desert vegetation removal permit from the City's Landscape Architect, or in lieu thereof the Director of Public Works' designee, before any removal, and reserves the work itself to a desert native plant specialist except for one narrow self-help case in subsection (C): a project proponent may remove a detached dead western Joshua tree or limb without paying mitigation fees if it has fallen within 30 feet of a structure, leans against a structure, or is an imminent safety hazard.

For any project proposing to remove or relocate a western Joshua tree, subsection (D) requires a pre-permit census of every western Joshua tree on the site, classified by size, under four meters or four meters and up, documented with photographs and a site map and submitted before the participating agency grants take authorization. Subsections (E) and (F) require avoidance first, then minimization: no ground disturbance deeper than 12 inches within 10 feet of a western Joshua tree, and relocated trees placed at least 25 feet from any structure and 10 feet from another western Joshua tree.

Only after avoidance and relocation are shown infeasible may a proponent remove a tree under subsection (G). Subsection (H) then requires mitigation fees paid into the Western Joshua Tree Mitigation Fund, and subsection (I) requires any project outside those categories to obtain an Incidental Take Permit (2081) from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.