Tree Ordinance Analysis
This document is living. Refresh often.
Past Meetings
Wednesday, September 17 city counil passed the first reading of a new tree ordinance that has been pushed through the process haphazardly and manipulatively.
Tuesday, September 23 (6:30) – NREC meeting
Upcoming Meetings
Wednesday, October 1 (7:00) – City Council meeting for second and final reading
Summary
Staff long ago stopped following the spirit of our tree ordinance. Unpermitted removals of healthy, significant trees receive $200 fines. Hazardous exemptions are abused regularly. Replacement trees aren't going in the ground. Our urban forest is suffering. Our Co-Director of Public Works (responsible for trees), Michael Vartanians, showed up 18 months ago and almost proudly asserted "I don't know anything about trees." Now he's rewriting the tree ordinance.
What is being touted as removing red tape is in fact deregulation. It isn't a streamlining, it's a gutting.
Staff began by supposedly researching local cities but wound up ultimately comparing us to Claremont in their final presentation–a city with zero private property tree protections.
This completely new, not revised, ordinance:
drops protection of all non-natives, nothing to stop removal, no replacement, no requirement not to damage/top/overprune, no requirement to have licensed/insured removal
makes on-site replacement (for natives only) explicitly optional in all cases (see 34.5(k)(1), page 32 of the Amended Additional Documents – added just hours before the council meeting where our City Attorney boasted having already had "4-5 public hearings")
dramatically reduces replacement requirements (e.g. only 1 replacement tree for removal of a 20" coast live oak (with no requirement to replace on site), versus 8 replacement trees in Pasadena with 50% or at least 4 to be required on site)
absolves public works of the requirement to pull a permit or notify residents of their intent to remove any tree anywhere in the city
removes the notification and appeal process for neighbors (despite my appeal three years ago exposing a blatantly corrupted and off the rails tree authority)
puts what remains, native removals, behind a single contracted city arborist's opinion (she doesn't take phone calls so I've never actually spoken to her in years of speaking to everyone)
adds, with no details or clauses, fire/insurance defensible space removal/trimming (fire chief begins full scale landscape enforcement of entire hills Jan 2029)
Comparison
| Protections | Application | Replacement | Violations | Penalties | Public Trees | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Healthy | Exceptions | Matrix | On/Off-site | |||||||
| Native | Non-Native | Heritage | ||||||||
| Current (on paper) code |
>4" | >12" | yes? | Notification upon approval, appeal by neighbors | Non-native: 1 per 10" Native: 2 native per 10" |
ambiguous language – director discretion | ambiguous language – requires adherance to ISA standards | |||
| Current (in practice) |
Poison/Earthquake/Fence/Foundation/Accident | ~$400 per for off-site as default pathway | ||||||||
| Proposed (City) Latest 9/20/25 NREC agenda |
>4" | NONE | Notification only upon denial, appeal by applicant | No permit, no plan | ||||||
| Proposed (Community) |
>2" | >8", encouraged removals list | ||||||||
| San Marino summary, trimming, ordinance | >4", >15' height ("heritage" species) >6", >15' height (all other species) |
|||||||||
| Pasadena | 8-12", 6:1 15-gallon 12-18", 8:1 15-gallon |
>50% on-site | ||||||||
| Alhambra ordinance | >12" or >15' | >24" or >20' | ||||||||
| except sideyard | ||||||||||
| San Gabriel ordinance | >6.5" front yard, >9.5" side yard, protected list | aura (age/location), >12" front yard, >19" side yard | ||||||||
| La Cañada Flintridge ordinance | R-1 Single-family RZ >12" Oak/Sycamore | R-1 Single-family RZ (Historic Deodar District) >12" Deodar Cedar | ||||||||
| Non R-1 Single-family RZ >5' height | ||||||||||
| Arcadia | ||||||||||
| Sierra Madre | ||||||||||
| Glendale | ||||||||||
| Claremont | NONE | NONE | Strong heritage program | Strong street program | ||||||
| Los Angeles City | ||||||||||
| Los Angeles County | ||||||||||
Also: Burbank, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Monrovia, Culver City, Glendora, Covina, San Dimas, La Verne, Azusa, Baldwin Park, El Monte, West Covina, Duarte, Irwindale, South El Monte, Temple City, Montebello, Monterey Park, Rosemead
Timeline
2025-09-23 NREC
2025-09-17 City Council
2025-03-25 NREC
Public Comments
Focused on undesirables.
Earlier Council Meeting
- Son wants italian cypress adjacent mother's home removed. [Unclear who owns the trees from comment]
Council Study Session
- Developer having a hard time removing mexican fan palms and tree of heaven ahead of development.
Group Chat With District 1 Councilperson
Wants to remove a mexican fan palm and replace with three natives. Told has to go through the entire process.
Just want to perform defensible space clearance.
Eucalyptus is flammable.
Appendix
Tree Lists
San Gabriel Protected List
Corrections via ChatGPT5:
Cupaniopsis anacardiopsis → Cupaniopsis anacardioides Erythina → Erythrina Podocarpus gracilor → Podocarpus gracilior Fiscus rubiginosa → Ficus rubiginosa Chorisia → Ceiba speciosa (modern accepted name) Sequoia empervirens → Sequoia sempervirens Sequoia giganteum → Sequoiadendron giganteum Liquidamber stryaciflua → Liquidambar styraciflua
San Marino Protected List
Corrections via ChatGPT5:
Cedrus deodara (not deodora) Pinus thunbergii (instead of thunbergiana) Magnolia × soulangeana (proper hybrid notation) Ceiba speciosa (modern name for Chorisia speciosa) Corymbia citriodora (current accepted name for Lemon-scented Gum) Melaleuca quinquenervia (not Melaleauca) Jacaranda mimosifolia (not mimosifloria) Butia capitata (not capitate) Syagrus romanzoffiana (not romanzoffianam) Fixed Latin endings: siliqua, spp.
Arcadia Unprotected List
Corrections via ChatGPT5:
Betula pedula → Betula pendula (Silver Birch) Populous fremontii → Populus fremontii (Fremont Cottonwood) Liquidambar → Liquidambar styraciflua (Sweetgum, standard spelling)
Source: Arcadia website
Palms
The City could provide complimentary pruning of native California Fan Palm and non-native Canary Island Palm and Mexican Fan Palm on private property for safe keeping as a class of heritage trees. They can cover removals as well when desired/warranted.
Fire
"High" and "Very High" are in the hills. Slopes need "mosaic" of native shrubs and trees. Removals must require replantings. Trimming cannot break ANSI standards.
Elderberry
Good native for wildlife, slope stability and fire zones, heavily underplanted.
ADUs
Two-story to spare footprint to save trees where appropriate should be required. Can be appealed. Driveway is not required by state, only external access (walkway down side of primary dwelling).
Public Works – Sidewalks
We don't need public works to rapidly remove trees to place concrete flush. We need them to find solutions to preserve the tree. The solutions are out there and they are not as expensive as the tree removal itself. The City of Trees should be flush with these methods and ideas not sneakily skirting them.
Potential solution: use a root bridge with permeable asphalt atop, in between and flush with two concrete pads on either side of a surface root.
On-Site Replacement
How many removals have gone without replacement?
Replacements
State legislation does not prevent discretionary process for non-development. Development standards can require on-site replacement so long as allowable footprint is allowed.
Notification and Appeals
ragt.ag/south-pasadena/trees/radius-map
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