Kings County, CA Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

There is no tree-trimming permit program in the Kings County Code for routine pruning of trees on private land in the unincorporated area. Property owners may generally maintain and trim their own trees. The County does regulate trees in two indirect ways. First, the public-nuisance ordinance (Chapter 14, Sec. 14-36(6)) declares 'dead, decayed, diseased, dried or hazardous trees' that constitute a fire hazard or danger to public health and safety to be a nuisance, so owners can be ordered to trim or remove hazardous limbs. Second, vegetation that encroaches on County roads, sidewalks, or rights-of-way can be addressed under the County's road and right-of-way authority; the weed-abatement ordinance's definition of 'real property' (Sec. 10-36) reaches 'adjacent sidewalks, parking strips ... and alleyways from fence line to center of the right-of-way,' meaning owners are responsible for vegetation up to the road centerline. Boundary-tree and encroaching-branch disputes between neighbors are handled under California common law and Civil Code, not a County ordinance. In State Responsibility Area parcels, CAL FIRE defensible-space rules (PRC 4291) call for limbing up trees and clearing dead branches near structures.