Roseville, CA Tree Protection: Protected Tree Species (2026)

Chapter 19.66 is built around the native oak, the species the Council found central to Roseville's valley grassland and riparian ecology. Section 19.66.020 defines "native oak tree" as any tree of the genus Quercus and species lobata (valley oak), douglasii (blue oak), or wislizenii (interior live oak), or hybrids of them, and a "protected tree" is a native oak measuring six inches or more in diameter at breast height, whether as a single trunk or combined multiple trunks. Non-native species and smaller native oaks fall outside the chapter entirely. Every protected tree carries a "protected zone," a circle running from the trunk out to the tree's dripline plus one additional foot, and "regulated activities" inside that zone include cutting, grading, irrigating, and trenching, except for routine maintenance performed by or supervised by a certified arborist.

Section 19.66.030 requires a Tree Permit for any regulated activity in a protected tree's zone or for removal of the tree, with an Administrative Tree Permit available for minor encroachments under 20 percent of the protected zone that are not tied to a discretionary project. Six exemptions let a protected tree come down without a permit, including storm or fire damage confirmed by a peace officer or fire official, a certified-dead tree, a structurally hazardous tree confirmed by an arborist, and a protected tree on a single-family or two-family lot that already has an occupancy permit.