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

A review of the Imperial County Title 9 Land Use Ordinance found no chapter that protects native, heritage, or street trees or that requires a permit to remove a tree on private property, unlike tree-protection ordinances in coastal and foothill California counties. For most owners in the unincorporated desert, removing a tree on your own parcel is not a county-permitted activity. The main exception is landscaping installed as a condition of approval for industrial, commercial, institutional, multi-family, or subdivision development: Division 3, Chapter 2 sets minimum landscaped-area percentages and tree-spacing standards (for example, trees along certain property lines and a minimum five-gallon planting size), and §90302.08 requires that all required landscaping be maintained to meet the intent of the chapter and state law. Removing required trees from such a project without replacement can put it out of compliance with its approved landscape plan. Homeowner-provided landscaping for single-family residences and duplexes is expressly excluded from the design-standard landscaping requirements (§90302.09). Trees that become a dry fire menace or a noxious or dangerous condition may also be ordered removed under the Division 18 weed-and-vegetation abatement process.