Fairfield, CA Tree Protection: Tree Removal Permits (2026)

Section 25.36 of Fairfield's Zoning Ordinance (Tree Conservation) is the city's primary tree-removal permit framework. The ordinance designates as 'protected' all trees on public property, trees planted or preserved on private property as a condition of project approval, trees shown on landscape plans approved by the city, and certain species on undeveloped private property exceeding six inches in caliper at breast height (4.5 feet above grade). Removal is permitted only with a tree removal permit issued by the Community Development Department or Public Works (for street/park trees), and only when one of the ordinance criteria is met: no feasible alternative for reasonable property use, documented utility or structural conflict, dead or severely declining tree, contagious disease threatening other trees, or net environmental benefit to the parcel. Applications typically require a site plan locating the tree, an arborist report for declining or diseased trees, photographs, and a replacement-planting plan. Replanting is required on an inch-for-inch basis (sum of replacement caliper equals the diameter of the removed tree); unauthorized removal triggers 3:1 mitigation. Routine removal of small, common landscape trees on developed private property that are not protected does not require a permit.