Dallas, TX Tree Protection: Heritage & Protected Trees (2026)

To get historic status, the property owner submits a request on a form approved by the director of development services, and city council must approve the designation by resolution before it takes effect. Sec. 51A-10.133(a)-(c) requires the owner's written agreement, ties the protection to the specific tree, and requires a certified copy of the council resolution to be filed in the deed records of the county where the tree stands, so the protection runs with the land through future sales.

Once designated, a historic tree may only be removed by a separate authorization from the full city council, not the building official who handles ordinary protected-tree removal permits under Sec. 51A-10.132. The only way around a council vote is the limited defenses in Sec. 51A-10.140, covering a tree that is already dead, diseased, structurally failing, or blocking a utility line or a required visibility triangle. If a historic tree is removed or seriously injured without council authorization, the replacement math is the harshest in the ordinance: Sec. 51A-10.134(c)(1)(B) sets a 3-to-1 mitigation ratio for historic trees, double the 1.5-to-1 ratio for a merely 'significant' tree and far above the 0.4-to-1 ratio for a Class 3 tree. Historic status does not expire on its own; Sec. 51A-10.133(b) says it lasts for the life of the tree except as otherwise provided in that section.