Westminster, CO Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

Section 13-3-3 of the Westminster Municipal Code imposes a direct duty on the owner, occupant, or agent of any property to remove dead trees or dead, overhanging boughs that are dangerous to life, limb, or property, whether they sit on that person's own premises or on public property abutting it. The duty is triggered by written notice from the Director of Parks, Recreation and Libraries, and the removal must happen within whatever reasonable time the notice specifies, not on a fixed statutory clock. If the owner, occupant, or agent fails to remove the hazard within the time set by the notice, the Director or an authorized representative is empowered to remove the tree or branches directly, at that person's expense.

C. Section 13-3-5 layers a separate penalty on top of the removal-and-lien mechanism: failing or refusing to comply with any notice issued under Chapter 3, including a Section 13-3-3 dead-tree notice, within the time the notice specifies is itself declared unlawful. The chapter distinguishes this hazard-driven removal duty from the routine right-of-way trimming and cost-recovery power the Director holds under Section 13-3-2, and from the disease-control removal and treatment authority for Dutch Elm and Emerald Ash Borer infestations under Section 13-3-4. There is no separate permit requirement in Title XIII for removing a hazardous tree once notice issues; the ordinance instead runs on the Director's notice-and-lien enforcement path.