Vallejo, CA Tree Protection: Heritage & Protected Trees (2026)

Chapter 16.504's tree-protection section applies to development review in Vallejo's non-residential zoning districts, where existing mature trees must be preserved once they exceed twenty-four inches in diameter. Before any grading or building permit is submitted, applicants must identify those trees on a tree inventory plan noting type and condition. During construction, the code requires fencing around the drip line of each retained tree or group, bars fill, grading, or construction within the drip line (or six feet of the trunk, whichever is greater), prohibits trenching inside the drip line so utilities must be bored or drilled through instead, and calls for porous paving such as gravel or wood chips where access within the drip line is unavoidable. The code even authorizes a construction-contract incentive program, such as a per-tree fine deducted from a bonus pool, to keep bulldozer operators careful near protected trees.

Removal is discretionary, not automatic. The planning director may approve it only after a qualified arborist's report addresses whether the tree is in poor health and unsalvageable, is a public nuisance damaging utilities or sidewalks, risks falling, is damaging existing improvements like a foundation or retaining wall, belongs to a fire-prone species (the code names blue gum eucalyptus, Monterey pine, juniper, tree of heaven, black acacia, and bamboo) growing within 100 feet of a structure, or is a species prone to limb breakage or toppling.

Replacement is mandatory at a three-to-one ratio, with each new tree at least 15 gallons, except that fire-prone species removed under the 100-foot rule are not subject to replacement at all. The director can grant an exception to the ratio when site conditions warrant. Replacement trees go first on the project site, then on adjacent property with the owner's consent, and only then in the public right-of-way with the public works director's sign-off.