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

020 applies the chapter to all property within the city's corporate limits, with two narrow carve-outs: lots already cleared and graded with improvements installed under an approved subdivision, and occupied residential properties. 030 defines 'Joshua tree' by its botanical name, Yucca brevifolia, tying the ordinance to the specific desert species rather than trees generally. 040, makes it unlawful for any person to cut, damage, destroy, dig up, or harvest a Joshua tree without the prior written consent of the director of parks and recreation or a designee.

Consent functions as a permit gate: a property owner or developer who wants to remove a Joshua tree from vacant, unimproved, or non-residential land must first obtain written authorization from that department before any cutting or digging occurs. The penalty structure is criminal rather than purely administrative: a violation is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in the county jail and/or a $500 fine, giving the city a real enforcement tool beyond a civil citation. Because the residential-property exemption is broad, the chapter's practical reach falls mainly on vacant desert parcels, commercial sites, and land undergoing new grading or development in the Victor Valley's Joshua tree habitat.