Camarillo, CA Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- Camarillo Municipal Code § 13.12.060(G)
- Trigger
- Private tree overhangs or blocks street, sidewalk, or sight line
- Who decides
- Director of public works, based on safety opinion
- Owner's first step
- Trim or remove within notice deadline
- If ignored
- City removes it and bills the owner
- Related duty
- Keep planting strip free of weeds and debris (§13.12.060(F))
Summary
A privately owned tree or shrub that overhangs or blocks a Camarillo street, sidewalk or sight line is a public nuisance under Municipal Code Section 13.12.060(G). The director of public works decides whether it endangers public safety, then notifies the owner and sets a deadline to trim or remove it. Miss the deadline and the city does the work and bills the owner.
Any tree or other planting growing upon private property but overhanging, or interfering with the use of any street or public area, or constituting an obstruction to clear vision along the street, which in the opinion of the director, endangers the life, health, safety or property of the public is a public nuisance. The department must notify the owner of the existence of the nuisance and give a reasonable time for its correction or removal. If not corrected or removed within the time allotted, the director may cause the nuisance to be corrected or removed, and the cost assessed to the owner as provided by this code.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 27 Update 1).
Full Breakdown
060(G) reaches beyond city-owned trees to reach private trees, shrubs and other plantings that overhang or interfere with a street, sidewalk or public area, or that obstruct clear sight lines for drivers and pedestrians. The department of public works must first notify the property owner of the nuisance and allow a reasonable period to correct it before taking further action; the code does not fix the trimming itself, so an owner can choose to trim rather than remove the growth as long as the obstruction is cleared.
If the owner does not act within the time allotted, the director may have the nuisance corrected or the tree removed and then assess the cost against the property, the same mechanism the city uses to recover costs under other nuisance provisions of this code. 060(F) requires owners to keep these strips free of weeds, debris or any obstruction contrary to public safety, and bars using soil sterilants there. 630, requires a permit before trimming or removing any tree that was planted in the public right-of-way under an earlier encroachment permit, and requires stumps to be pulled at least one foot below grade when a tree comes out.
060(G) turns on the director's opinion that the growth endangers life, health, safety or property, a homeowner who disputes a correction notice should raise the dispute with the department of public works directly rather than assume the notice is optional.
Violations & Fines
Ignoring a correction notice under Section 13.12.060(G) lets the director order the nuisance corrected or the tree removed at the city's direction, with the cost of that work assessed against the property owner rather than absorbed by the city. The code ties this cost-recovery method to the same procedure used elsewhere in the municipal code for unabated nuisances, so an unresolved bill can attach to the property. There is no stated fine amount in this section itself, only cost recovery for the corrective work performed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who decides if my tree overhanging the sidewalk is a public nuisance?
What happens if I don't trim my overhanging tree after the city notifies me?
Does Camarillo require a permit to trim a tree the city planted in the parkway?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Camarillo
California rules heatmap·Compare Camarillo to another location·View the California landscaping rules overview
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