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

060, Tree Preservation, is Vacaville's tree removal ordinance. It protects any tree, public or private, native or nonnative, that measures six inches or more in diameter at breast height (dbh); anything at or above that size cannot be cut down, removed, or destroyed without a permit. On private property, the property owner or an authorized representative applies to the Director of Community Development, who may require a certified arborist or licensed landscape architect's report before deciding. The Director weighs eight criteria: whether the project could be redesigned around the tree, the tree's condition (health, disease, hazard risk, proximity to structures, utility conflicts), whether it's a native species (given higher preservation priority than introduced species), the number of existing trees on site, sound forestry practice, the tree's size and canopy, its visibility from the public right-of-way, and any proposed replacement planting.

Public-property removals go through a parallel process before the Director of Public Works. Five categories are exempt from the permit entirely: commercial fruit, almond, or grafted English walnut trees; nursery or tree-farm stock; emergency hazard removals; utility line-clearance pruning; and routine maintenance pruning that doesn't threaten the tree's survival. Removed protected trees must be replaced at ratios that scale with size and species, from 1:1 for a small nonnative tree up to 8:1 for a native tree over 36 inches dbh, and replacements are monitored for five years, with 80 percent required to be established by year five or additional 3:1 replacement is owed for the ones that die.