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

Chapter 7-13 of the Watsonville Municipal Code protects designated trees, not every tree in the City. Under Section 7-13.02, the Council, by ordinance, can designate an individual tree or other feature, or an integrated group of trees and features on a single lot or site, having a special character or special historical or aesthetic interest or value. The ordinance describes the characteristics that justify preservation, the particular features to be preserved, and the location and boundaries of a protective site, and the property in that site becomes subject to the chapter's controls.

Designation follows a set path. It starts by resolution of the Council or the Recreation and Parks Commission, or on the verified application of the property owners (7-13.03). The Commission holds a public hearing at its next regular meeting, with notice published at least five days before, and acts within thirty days after the hearing (7-13.04). The Council then holds its own hearing within twenty days, and approval comes by ordinance (7-13.05). A disapproval by the Commission is final unless appealed to the Council, and a rejected application cannot be resubmitted in the same or substantially the same form for at least one year (7-13.06). The Department records the designating ordinance, or notice of it, with the County Recorder (7-13.07).

Once a tree is designated, Section 7-13.08 bars trimming, alteration or removal without Commission approval, and bars every City department from issuing a permit for that work without it. The Commission acts on permit applications within sixty days, and failure to act in that time constitutes approval (7-13.11). For construction affecting the tree, or removal or destruction, the Commission can suspend action for not more than ninety days, and the Council, by resolution for good cause, can extend the suspension for not more than sixty more days. Section 7-13.14 allows only the work absolutely necessary to correct a condition the Commission has declared unsafe or dangerous. Section 7-13.19 holds permits for construction on a designated tree site while designation is pending, and requires approval after 120 days if final action has not been completed and all other laws are met.