City of Sacramento, California Tree Ordinance

On August 4, 2016, Sacramento’s City Council unanimously approved a revised tree ordinance that provides additional clarity on how the city manages trees on both public and private property. The ordinance describes trees as an essential part of the city - providing scenic beauty, increasing oxygen levels, promoting ecological balance, providing natural ventilation and air quality improvements, preventing erosion, increasing property values, and improving quality of life. The ordinance combines three prior ordinances into a single ordinance, and updates policies to more stringently protect Sacramento’s tree canopy.  

The ordinance hopes to address equity across the city by using fees collected for tree removal to support city programs to plant and replace trees in low-income neighborhoods that tend to have fewer trees.

The ordinance aims to protect Sacramento’s urban forest through a number of new and revised requirements including: clear rules on when trees may be removed and establishing standing for replacement plans, requiring a 15-day posting of notice of the intent to remove a city tree, the establishment of a tree planting and replacement fund, and stricter fines for removing trees without proper approvals. The ordinance also makes it a misdemeanor to fail to treat Dutch elm disease after the city has tagged a tree.

Publication Date: August 4, 2016

Related Organizations:

• City of Sacramento, California

Sectors:

• Urban
• Land use and built environment
• Frontline Communities

Resource Category:

• Law and Governance

Resource Types:

• Laws

States Affected:

• California

Impacts:

• Air quality
• Air temperature

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